powering a 26X in swells

[steven]

Any hints on using the motor with lots of wakes and/or swells? It seems that the boat makes sudden jerks to port or starboard unless the water is almost flat. I've got ballast empty and keel all the way up. Should I fill the ballast and sacrifice speed for stability?

 

[Bob Gribbin]

Squirrelly at speed

My boat is squirrelly under power at almost any speed above 10 mph - no matter whether balisted or not. It runs a bit better with a touch of center board down, but in any kind of turbulent water - wind, waves or wake - I still have to manage the helm. I run with a Johnson 50 and can get her up to about 26 or 27 empty in flat water. Running that fast she does track better, but that is much faster than a comfortable cruising speed of about 12 or so.

 

[Kevin]

Hunting

My Mac is always hunting course. I've moved weight forward and back, changed trim on the engine, played with the centerboard... everything I've read indicates we are not alone. It is a nature of the beast. For my part I only motor with empty ballast when conditions are ideal. At other times (wind/waves, etc) I like the feel better with ballast.K

 

[dan]

Go for STABILITY !

Steven........ The Mac will ride high in the bow and is very squirrely without ballast at low speeds in any chop. Go for stability in dodgey conditions The ballast levels the boat out and makes for  safe piloting with the sails down. happy sailing....... dan

 

[Ray Heath]

Rudder Down

When running in an inlet with a following sea I do much better with a rudder down. Without it it is much easier for the boat to broach. I guess I could try to run with empty ballast and match to wave speed but I don't feel it would be safe to do so.I would love to hear other comments on rough water operation..Ray Ray

 

[Brian Betts]

Powering in swells

When confronted with winds, swells, and rough seas in my MacGregor 26X I've always opted for adding ballast. I've found my boat to be quite tender when confronted with even minor sea conditions without ballast. In most cases, I've been considerable off shore when confronted with these conditions where safety was the bigger concern rather than maintaining speed. I've found that with the rudders down or the center board (keel) down the boat gets real squirley and un-safe at any speed above 3-5 mph. Not something I would suggest.I just got back from a trip where I put 60 miles on the boat off-shore all without adding a drop of ballast. The conditions were perfect and I did most of the boating in the morning before the seas could build.Happy boating