dagger board rope

[hopboat]

2009 mcgregor 26 going out for first sailing

the previous owner had a knot in the dagger board rope.

the rope runs through a steel bracket.

this knot was taken out when we were inspecting the boat for sale.

should there be a knot in this rope to adjust the extension of the dagger board???

and if so; at what length from the board end should it be

regards russ

 

[Simon Sexton]

@hopboat ,

Good afternoon! I'm not personally experienced with MacGregors, but I do know a descent amount about swing keels. I've taken a look at the schematics of your boat, and it looks like the keel system is designed to allow the keel to swing down into a ninety-degree angle perpendicular to the hull, which is where it should be; there is a small lock guard that stops it from swinging any farther. I believe the previous owner had the knot there to ensure the operator that the keel was all the way down, as swing keels are known to get stuck when the pivot-point gets filled with algae and other sea-gunk. The knot also probably was there to function as a stopper just in case the guard inside the pivot-pocket on the keel that prevents the keel from swinging too far forward were to break, so you would have that knot keeping the keel at the proper ninety-degree angle. I have sailed with a good friend of mine who owns a 30 foot swing-keel Hunter, and he actually spliced a little wooden block made of teak instead of putting a knot into the dropping line. It's all up to your preference! I hope this helps!

God Bless,
S.S.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Yes- re do the knot. If you lose it it could be tough to find the end

Simon- the 26 came in two versions- the 26X was a swing keel, The 26M is a dagger board true dagger

 

[Simon Sexton]

Ahhhh yeah, I just looked back and the one I looked at was the "X" model. That's pretty interesting! I didn't think there were daggerboard boats bigger than sixteen feet.

 

[Ken Cross]

On our old Mac 26D the daggerboard could fall all the way out of the boat without that stopper knot.
We modified ours with a turning block above the daggerboard trunk instead of using the fairlead (Not sure if the M boat is done the same way or not) which made pulling the board up WAY easier.
Ken