Mac 26M mast down - Transport

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bentnielsen

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Nov 22, 2009
2
Macgregor 26 Trailer
Am I the only one who find it hard to lower the mast (26M) with roller furler and transport the mac on the freeway. with out damaging the Mac.
1: Does anyone have and idea howe to fasten the wire to the mast fast
2: Do I have to manufactor a support below the mast for transport

If I don't come up with a way to make it more easy and faster, I will demast it.

As you can see I need input, tks.
Viking:cussing:
 
Paul Brinkley

Paul Brinkley

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Oct 18, 2007
707
Macgregor 26S Lucama, NC
Viking- There are various mast-raising (& lowering) systems which greatly reduce the effort required, and speed up the process. Check (1) the MacGregor website, (2) the Ask a MacGregor Owner forum on this site, and (3) the macgregorsailors.com website. There is a lot of info available on purchased and homemade systems. -Paul
 
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Stan Breaux

Stan Breaux

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Feb 8, 2007
141
Catalina 36 MKII Pensacola Beach, FL
I leave all of my shrouds connected

I have a 26S without roller furling. It still takes me an hour to rig my boat from the time I pull in.

I leave all of the shrouds attached to the mast and to the boat except for the forestay. I coil the shrouds as best I can and use zip ties to keep them coiled/ pinned onto the lifelines. A couple of shrouds can usually just be run along the mast along with the halyards and bungee corded in place.

Hope this helps.
 
Sumner

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
A couple things might help. One is if the furler is hanging out past the end of the mast at the front of the boat it needs support out there. Some guys have cut large diameter PVC pipe in half length wise and use that sticking out past the end of the mast.

Also if the mast isn't supported in the middle it will flex up and down a lot....


... Make a simple crutch for it like in the picture above.

We also like the bungees with the balls on the end to secure all of the rigging. They are fast and easy to use (see picture above also).

For now at least since we don't trailer often and when we do it is a long ways we are going to just unpin the furler/forestay up the mast and move it back along the mast and bungee/tie it there so that it isn't hanging over the front. I can pull the pin at the top of the forestay in less than a minute.

I also have pictures of the mast raising system on our S here.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-index.html

....and they have ones as has been mentioned from the factory for the X and M.

Good luck,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake
Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links
 
dscribner

dscribner

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Nov 9, 2008
1,338
Pearson-O'Day 290 Portland Maine
I built two things that help us a lot. One is the gin pole with the block & tackle permanently attached. This means I never have to use the main sheet to step the mast. I have a line attached to the front of the mast that clips to the pole and the block line goes to the anchor cleat. The other thing is the mast cover. I made it out of Sunbrella (thank you Ebay) and sewed straps every 24". There is also a barrel that supports the roller furler. Our record is 25 minutes from stopping the truck to pulling the fully rigged boat to the ramp. This is with all lines lead aft, boom attached and mainsail hanked on. (well, slotted, but "hanked on" sounds more sailorie). Not bad for a 25 foot boat with a 29 foot mast!
 

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Sam Salter

Sam Salter

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May 20, 2004
151
C&C 26 Ghost Lake, Alberta
I work part time at a Macgregor Dealer.
A new mast raising system for am M is $265 retail (...or thereabouts!)
Always remove the forestay, sail and furler (as a unit) at the head end move up the mast. Tape mast, stays and furler liberally with electrical tape.
Not sure about centre support. Some owners make one, others let it bounce around.

sam :)
 
Sumner

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
dscribner said:
Sum and Ruth have it down. Go no further!
Click to expand


Ruth still wants to copy you and make the mast cover you made pictured above. You did a great job on that. We've run out of time now to do it though.

We were suppose to be in Florida by now. We're still going. I finished bottom painting yesterday and Ruth finished the neatest bug netting that covers the cabin and cockpit. She worked or it every day for over a month. She is covering new cockpit cushions now. Hopefully this time next week we are packing and leaving soon thereafter,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links
 
Freedom77

Freedom77

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Jul 29, 2010
1,392
Macgregor 76 V-25 #928 Lake Mead, Nevada
Sumner said:
A couple things might help. One is if the furler is hanging out past the end of the mast at the front of the boat it needs support out there. Some guys have cut large diameter PVC pipe in half length wise and use that sticking out past the end of the mast.

Also if the mast isn't supported in the middle it will flex up and down a lot....


... Make a simple crutch for it like in the picture above.

We also like the bungees with the balls on the end to secure all of the rigging. They are fast and easy to use (see picture above also).

For now at least since we don't trailer often and when we do it is a long ways we are going to just unpin the furler/forestay up the mast and move it back along the mast and bungee/tie it there so that it isn't hanging over the front. I can pull the pin at the top of the forestay in less than a minute.

I also have pictures of the mast raising system on our S here.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-index.html

....and they have ones as has been mentioned from the factory for the X and M.

Good luck,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake
Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links
Click to expand
Sumner should be in the boat accesories business. Better yet he should start building the Sumner 26. Fair winds...
 
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