Re Hudson River Sailing with no Keel
Hey, Mark, I sail my "69 Venture 21 on the Hudson in northern Westchester County, and their is nothing unique to the Mac design to make it a particularly worse trailer sailor in the Hudson. Most Macs have a keel (referring to the title of your post) -- albeit a swing keel -- except for the water ballasted and daggerboard boats, and even those sail the river with no problem. In my opinion, the macs are no worse off in the river than the hundreds of swing keel catalinas, odays, tanzers and hunters which are out there too. That said, I do recognize that, because you often must contend with the current, more or less so depending upon where you sail, a heavy ballasted, full keel boat tracks much better and tends not to get thrown around or overwhelmed when the wind and current team up in one direction. Just my .02; feel free to email me directly if you have any questions. jason. jschmidt@egsclaw.com
