We have just started to search for our frist Mac. We are looking for either a 26x or 26s. I would like to know what problems to look for. Also what other trailable we might want to look for. We want to be able to trail it behind a regular car not some gas hog, we also need it to be easy to sail and load. We are in our early 50s with little sailing exspearance
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M
Mike
Just a few notes on water ballast
One big question is how much of a compromise are you willing to live with. Having owned sailboats of various types from the mid 1960's on, I have reached several personal conclusions. 1 A powerboat is a powerboat and was never meant to be under sail. 2 A sailboat is a sailboat and was not meant to be under power except when needed to maneuver safely. 3 A sailboat with a bilge full of water is half sunk already. Water ballast is effective only when the boat heels over to the point where you are lifting the flooded area above the water line. Your wetted area is greater because you must have a larger amount of weight with water ballast as it's center of weight lies ABOVE the bottom of the boat. An iron swing keel of only 2 foot depth and weighing 700 lbs. will exert a 350 pound righting momment a foot BELOW the BOTTOM of the hull. A much lighter and effective method of achieving stability. Also you must take into account the fact that when a water ballasted boat heels over, half the water ballast is on the down wind side and helping to lower that side of the boat deeper into the water. Result?, a larger wetted area meaning more drag and a major loss of performance. If you want to both sail and trailer your boat you might consider a Mac 25. A used 25 and the cost of customising and refitting will still be less than a 26 and the performance under sail will be better. If you want the speed of a large outboard, then you might be happy with power boat. In boating, any compromise is a major one. Sail and power have always been like oil and water. Choose what you want, no fault in wanting either one. But like so many things in life you can't have everything you want, (unless you want to buy two boats). Happy sailing and avoid that lee shore, Mike
One big question is how much of a compromise are you willing to live with. Having owned sailboats of various types from the mid 1960's on, I have reached several personal conclusions. 1 A powerboat is a powerboat and was never meant to be under sail. 2 A sailboat is a sailboat and was not meant to be under power except when needed to maneuver safely. 3 A sailboat with a bilge full of water is half sunk already. Water ballast is effective only when the boat heels over to the point where you are lifting the flooded area above the water line. Your wetted area is greater because you must have a larger amount of weight with water ballast as it's center of weight lies ABOVE the bottom of the boat. An iron swing keel of only 2 foot depth and weighing 700 lbs. will exert a 350 pound righting momment a foot BELOW the BOTTOM of the hull. A much lighter and effective method of achieving stability. Also you must take into account the fact that when a water ballasted boat heels over, half the water ballast is on the down wind side and helping to lower that side of the boat deeper into the water. Result?, a larger wetted area meaning more drag and a major loss of performance. If you want to both sail and trailer your boat you might consider a Mac 25. A used 25 and the cost of customising and refitting will still be less than a 26 and the performance under sail will be better. If you want the speed of a large outboard, then you might be happy with power boat. In boating, any compromise is a major one. Sail and power have always been like oil and water. Choose what you want, no fault in wanting either one. But like so many things in life you can't have everything you want, (unless you want to buy two boats). Happy sailing and avoid that lee shore, Mike
M
Mike F
Hi Bob!
I personally don't agree with the other Mike's comments about water ballast. If you do enough reading on the Internet you will always find a few people who come up with some kind of dooming statement about water ballast, but the truth is weight is weight whether it is iron or water, a pound is a pound is a pound. As for where it sits in relation to the bottom of the boat of course the lower it is the better, but without going to a weighted bulb keel or shoal draft keel, the water ballast is the same as lead in any other boat. Volvo 60 class ocean racers use water ballast, they have a tank on each side of the boat where water is pumped in or out depending on the tack, that water ballast is not bellow the water surface when heeled over, but this is irrelevant to wetting surface(which really is only an issue of getting what, another 1/2 knot of speed out of your boat? most mac owners are cruisers at heart not racers anyways) Gravity pulls straight down the difference of half your ballast being 1 or 2 feet off center has little to do with a boat with such a small beam. The studies of macs all point to a tender boat in the first 5 degrees of heel which turns rock steady beyond that. Heeling factors involve much more than ballast, hull design is the biggest factor. Do a little more research and you will find many excellent articles that dispel each myth of water ballast. The nay sayers were rampant when this technology first came out, over the years there are fewer and fewer of them and most of the originals now have been won over and see the inherent benefits of this technology. Let's face it water ballast is the best thing that ever happened to the trailer sailer. With out this system in place thousands of trailer sailers would not be able to enjoy sailing. In addition just look at the sales numbers of Mac water ballasted boats in comparison to others to see that their must be something right about these boats. However Bob, my main concern with your post is that you plan on towing with a "regular car". While a 26 whether a classic or an x will fit the other two requirements of being easy to sail and load and un-load, towing with a regular car is not going to happen, at least not for very long or safely at all. Those mac's weigh around an average 2200 lbs. Once you start puting in all the stuf you want to have in the boat it is easy to bring that trailer weight up to 2500-3000 lbs. This weight is well beyond the recommended towing capacity of any car I can think of and well, well, well beyond the reality of safe towing. Remember that let's say you have a vehicle capable of towing 4000 lbs and you are going to tow a 2500 lb boat behind it. In ideal conditions such as flat, low altitude back country roads this will be fine until you add anything unexpected or higher highway speeds into the equation. Towing that boat on a highway at 65mph would be asking for trouble (Winds), any mountain driving would be out of the question (Not enough power) , and God forbid running into icy or raining conditions or a sudden traffic emergency would put you right on the edge of a disaster. (Jack knife) Even though you are under your ideal towing capacity, in an emergency or less then ideal situation you might find the boat towing the car instead of the other way around. We towed our mac 26d with a 1999 4 door blazer with a towing capacity of 5000 lbs, but you definetly always knew that boat was behind you. Now we have a 2002 trail blazer with 5800 lb towing capacity, it is much better, not because of the increase weight you can tow, but because the trail blazer is a much heavier and larger vehicle which makes towing much safer. (Bigger is always better when push comes to shove in towing) Another thought to take into consideration is the massive amounts of wear and tear on transmission and brakes you will put on a car maxxing out its towing capacity. If you are really going to tow with a car, I think you will need to reconsider your boat and possibly look at a smaller mac, like the 21 (1100 lbs) or the 17 (800lbs). Keep in mind that much of what I have written assumes you want versatility and safetly in towing your boat, things could vary a bit if your situation is different or if you are willing to take some risks, if you only have to go a mile or two down a back road to and from your house to the boat launch, then sure, maybe you could get away with it forever, but once again that would be under ideal conditions with no problems encountered. All it would take is one slippery boat ramp or your trailer wheels slipping off the edge of the ramp and you would be looking for a kind face to tow you out amongst the crowd of angry boaters waiting to use the ramp you have just tied up. I hope this helps you a bit, feel free to post any other questions you may have.
I personally don't agree with the other Mike's comments about water ballast. If you do enough reading on the Internet you will always find a few people who come up with some kind of dooming statement about water ballast, but the truth is weight is weight whether it is iron or water, a pound is a pound is a pound. As for where it sits in relation to the bottom of the boat of course the lower it is the better, but without going to a weighted bulb keel or shoal draft keel, the water ballast is the same as lead in any other boat. Volvo 60 class ocean racers use water ballast, they have a tank on each side of the boat where water is pumped in or out depending on the tack, that water ballast is not bellow the water surface when heeled over, but this is irrelevant to wetting surface(which really is only an issue of getting what, another 1/2 knot of speed out of your boat? most mac owners are cruisers at heart not racers anyways) Gravity pulls straight down the difference of half your ballast being 1 or 2 feet off center has little to do with a boat with such a small beam. The studies of macs all point to a tender boat in the first 5 degrees of heel which turns rock steady beyond that. Heeling factors involve much more than ballast, hull design is the biggest factor. Do a little more research and you will find many excellent articles that dispel each myth of water ballast. The nay sayers were rampant when this technology first came out, over the years there are fewer and fewer of them and most of the originals now have been won over and see the inherent benefits of this technology. Let's face it water ballast is the best thing that ever happened to the trailer sailer. With out this system in place thousands of trailer sailers would not be able to enjoy sailing. In addition just look at the sales numbers of Mac water ballasted boats in comparison to others to see that their must be something right about these boats. However Bob, my main concern with your post is that you plan on towing with a "regular car". While a 26 whether a classic or an x will fit the other two requirements of being easy to sail and load and un-load, towing with a regular car is not going to happen, at least not for very long or safely at all. Those mac's weigh around an average 2200 lbs. Once you start puting in all the stuf you want to have in the boat it is easy to bring that trailer weight up to 2500-3000 lbs. This weight is well beyond the recommended towing capacity of any car I can think of and well, well, well beyond the reality of safe towing. Remember that let's say you have a vehicle capable of towing 4000 lbs and you are going to tow a 2500 lb boat behind it. In ideal conditions such as flat, low altitude back country roads this will be fine until you add anything unexpected or higher highway speeds into the equation. Towing that boat on a highway at 65mph would be asking for trouble (Winds), any mountain driving would be out of the question (Not enough power) , and God forbid running into icy or raining conditions or a sudden traffic emergency would put you right on the edge of a disaster. (Jack knife) Even though you are under your ideal towing capacity, in an emergency or less then ideal situation you might find the boat towing the car instead of the other way around. We towed our mac 26d with a 1999 4 door blazer with a towing capacity of 5000 lbs, but you definetly always knew that boat was behind you. Now we have a 2002 trail blazer with 5800 lb towing capacity, it is much better, not because of the increase weight you can tow, but because the trail blazer is a much heavier and larger vehicle which makes towing much safer. (Bigger is always better when push comes to shove in towing) Another thought to take into consideration is the massive amounts of wear and tear on transmission and brakes you will put on a car maxxing out its towing capacity. If you are really going to tow with a car, I think you will need to reconsider your boat and possibly look at a smaller mac, like the 21 (1100 lbs) or the 17 (800lbs). Keep in mind that much of what I have written assumes you want versatility and safetly in towing your boat, things could vary a bit if your situation is different or if you are willing to take some risks, if you only have to go a mile or two down a back road to and from your house to the boat launch, then sure, maybe you could get away with it forever, but once again that would be under ideal conditions with no problems encountered. All it would take is one slippery boat ramp or your trailer wheels slipping off the edge of the ramp and you would be looking for a kind face to tow you out amongst the crowd of angry boaters waiting to use the ramp you have just tied up. I hope this helps you a bit, feel free to post any other questions you may have.
K
Kevin
Mike x 2
I disagree with much of what Mike said and agree with all of what Mike F. said. All of life is a compromise. Even true sailboats offer compromises in some areas: J boat or coastal cruiser. Ski boat or party barge. We could spend our lives seeking a companion who's beautiful, smart, funny, loving, great cook, great mother/father, adventuresome, safe, frugal, spontaneous, quiet, outgoing, demure, fun loving...we could be very lonely while we search. Define your mission (or anticipated goals) and then research. Take some rides if you can. There are so many great boats out there, enjoy the search. Look through the archives and read what OWNERS of marques say. Most Mac owners would buy again and have no regrets. The boat fits the bill for them. I live in NM and sail lakes. I go to different lakes and frequently tow. When it's windy, I sail. When it's calm I motor or pull toys. I spend weekends on the boat and enjoy the room. Sure, some day I will live near (or on) the water and would choose a different boat. For me, for now, the Mac 26x works. No, it's not the best sailer (nor the worst) not the best power boat (I've been on some boats that had far worse manners)not the best appointed... Decide what you need. Talk to people who have experience (direct, real, extensive experience) with the boats they are touting or bashing. Purchase it right and if it isn't what you need, make sure you can get out. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. That's what sailing is about, too. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the Mac. I own one. I'll be honest. There are others out there who will share their experiences with their boats. BOL K
I disagree with much of what Mike said and agree with all of what Mike F. said. All of life is a compromise. Even true sailboats offer compromises in some areas: J boat or coastal cruiser. Ski boat or party barge. We could spend our lives seeking a companion who's beautiful, smart, funny, loving, great cook, great mother/father, adventuresome, safe, frugal, spontaneous, quiet, outgoing, demure, fun loving...we could be very lonely while we search. Define your mission (or anticipated goals) and then research. Take some rides if you can. There are so many great boats out there, enjoy the search. Look through the archives and read what OWNERS of marques say. Most Mac owners would buy again and have no regrets. The boat fits the bill for them. I live in NM and sail lakes. I go to different lakes and frequently tow. When it's windy, I sail. When it's calm I motor or pull toys. I spend weekends on the boat and enjoy the room. Sure, some day I will live near (or on) the water and would choose a different boat. For me, for now, the Mac 26x works. No, it's not the best sailer (nor the worst) not the best power boat (I've been on some boats that had far worse manners)not the best appointed... Decide what you need. Talk to people who have experience (direct, real, extensive experience) with the boats they are touting or bashing. Purchase it right and if it isn't what you need, make sure you can get out. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. That's what sailing is about, too. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the Mac. I own one. I'll be honest. There are others out there who will share their experiences with their boats. BOL K
J
Jerry Crowder
Water Balast Boats
Hunter makes a nice water balast boat in the same size, but more pricey. For the money, a used 26 (D, S, or X) is great. I have a '94 26 swing keel. Not as much of a tub as the X, but not the nice 6 foot headroom. Drawbacks, it doesn't handle as well as a full-keel, lead/concrete balast boat. But I am now use to the Mac's nuace and I'm Ok. Seeing as this is your first sailboat, you should be ok. Pluses: It weighs 2400lbs, on the trailer (no gear) That's nice for a car with rear wheel drive, or small truck. Plenty of room for the wife, dog and occasional cat. The 26 s/d are easier to get in and out of salon to cockpit (less steps up). With 4 knee sugeries, and a once separated foot on wife, this is very good! GET THE MAST RAISING SYSTEM! about $100.00. Worth it every cent!!!!! Shop around, I'm not sure where you are located. But, there are great deals to be had. If you'd like to talk some more. email me at vcrowder@bellsouth net. -Jerry
Hunter makes a nice water balast boat in the same size, but more pricey. For the money, a used 26 (D, S, or X) is great. I have a '94 26 swing keel. Not as much of a tub as the X, but not the nice 6 foot headroom. Drawbacks, it doesn't handle as well as a full-keel, lead/concrete balast boat. But I am now use to the Mac's nuace and I'm Ok. Seeing as this is your first sailboat, you should be ok. Pluses: It weighs 2400lbs, on the trailer (no gear) That's nice for a car with rear wheel drive, or small truck. Plenty of room for the wife, dog and occasional cat. The 26 s/d are easier to get in and out of salon to cockpit (less steps up). With 4 knee sugeries, and a once separated foot on wife, this is very good! GET THE MAST RAISING SYSTEM! about $100.00. Worth it every cent!!!!! Shop around, I'm not sure where you are located. But, there are great deals to be had. If you'd like to talk some more. email me at vcrowder@bellsouth net. -Jerry
M
marc
look into a mac 25
i'll have to agree with mike on the whole water ballast thing....i use to have a m19 (built on the same principle of the 26)...it was a good motor boat, during sail on a light wind was nice as long as the water was calm...if seas get rough on you on prepare yourself for a three coupon ride, the water ballast keeps the center of gravity to high up for an enjoyable cruise through rougher water and trust me you will encounter days like it whether you wnat to or not...i assure you as a sailboat the mac 26 is equal to a tupperware container...
i'll have to agree with mike on the whole water ballast thing....i use to have a m19 (built on the same principle of the 26)...it was a good motor boat, during sail on a light wind was nice as long as the water was calm...if seas get rough on you on prepare yourself for a three coupon ride, the water ballast keeps the center of gravity to high up for an enjoyable cruise through rougher water and trust me you will encounter days like it whether you wnat to or not...i assure you as a sailboat the mac 26 is equal to a tupperware container...
D
Doug
Things to keep in mind
I have a '95 26S and it does just about everything I want it to. I can motor, sail downwind, and dock in water less than two feet deep. It has plenty of room inside. (I once had ten adults in there one cold November eve - tight, but not cramped.) It will not beat most other boats across the line in a race, but it's not designed to. It is easy to sail, with only a few stock sail controls. I've added extra items to mine such as an electrical panel and more line controls. Chances are if you get a used anything, it'll have owner added extras. I've had it out on mildly rough seas (4-5ft) in the Chesapeake Bay and it has performed well, considering its design. As far as towing is concerned, I agree with the other respondants that a larger vehicle is necessary for longer trips. It doesn't weigh much for its size, but it will catch the wind, be it natural or 18-wheeler made. Unless your car is a '72 Kingswood wagon, I'd say don't do it. Plus, at the ramp the water ballasted boats are 1000-1200 lbs. heavier. If you car is front wheel drive it probably won't make it up most ramps. Good Luck, Doug
I have a '95 26S and it does just about everything I want it to. I can motor, sail downwind, and dock in water less than two feet deep. It has plenty of room inside. (I once had ten adults in there one cold November eve - tight, but not cramped.) It will not beat most other boats across the line in a race, but it's not designed to. It is easy to sail, with only a few stock sail controls. I've added extra items to mine such as an electrical panel and more line controls. Chances are if you get a used anything, it'll have owner added extras. I've had it out on mildly rough seas (4-5ft) in the Chesapeake Bay and it has performed well, considering its design. As far as towing is concerned, I agree with the other respondants that a larger vehicle is necessary for longer trips. It doesn't weigh much for its size, but it will catch the wind, be it natural or 18-wheeler made. Unless your car is a '72 Kingswood wagon, I'd say don't do it. Plus, at the ramp the water ballasted boats are 1000-1200 lbs. heavier. If you car is front wheel drive it probably won't make it up most ramps. Good Luck, Doug
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