Unable to pull the daggerboard out, Any idea

lessardmath

lessardmath

.
May 23, 2020
10
Macgregor 26D weekender
Good morning guys.
Just bought my first MacGregor 26D sailboat.
I'm trying to pull the daggerbord out from the top but it stop when it's roughly 12in out.
Is there a bolt or something that I need to remove?
Thanks for your help!
 
sail sfbay

sail sfbay

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Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
Congratulations on your new sailboat and welcome to the forum!!
Might look at the MacGregor Manual Excerpt section 21 attached on centerboard operation and its diagrams to see what is physically holding it up. Also the owners manual section 22 on daggerboard operation in the attached link might help: If these do not help do an internet search on "MacGregor 26D sailboat dagger is stuck" and you will find some threads on this subject. Hopefully a MacGregor 26D owner will weigh in.

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Benny17441

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May 24, 2004
7,164
CC 30 South Florida
If the boat is kept in the water marine growth takes but about a week to form and it can block the keel trunk preventing raising or lowering the keel.
 
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williamtl

williamtl

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Jun 1, 2015
217
Macgregor 26d Trailer Estates, Fl
The pdf posted above appears to be for the swing keel, not the dagger board. My 26D board has nothing holding it up/down once the mast base is out of the way other than the halyard. Not the original owner, but I haven’t seen any evidence of anything that would hold it. I happen to have the board out now to clean and then fill/fix the pox that it has. Needless to say, I’ve been over the board inch by inch. The side walls are smooth top to bottom. The shape you see from above is continued all the way to the bottom. The only exception is for holes for the halyard.
 
lessardmath

lessardmath

.
May 23, 2020
10
Macgregor 26D weekender
williamtl said:
The pdf posted above appears to be for the swing keel, not the dagger board. My 26D board has nothing holding it up/down once the mast base is out of the way other than the halyard. Not the original owner, but I haven’t seen any evidence of anything that would hold it. I happen to have the board out now to clean and then fill/fix the pox that it has. Needless to say, I’ve been over the board inch by inch. The side walls are smooth top to bottom. The shape you see from above is continued all the way to the bottom. The only exception is for holes for the halyard.
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With the researches that I did, I have came the the same conclusion than you... there should be nothing holding it other than it's halyard. The original owner said that he have never had any issue lowering it but that he never tried to pull it out from top. I could try to push it with a car jack or something, but i'm afraid that this would cause more damage that there can be... But thanks for your help.
 
lessardmath

lessardmath

.
May 23, 2020
10
Macgregor 26D weekender
sail sfbay said:
Congratulations on your new sailboat and welcome to the forum!!
Might look at the MacGregor Manual Excerpt section 21 attached on centerboard operation and its diagrams to see what is physically holding it up. Also the owners manual section 22 on daggerboard operation in the attached link might help: If these do not help do an internet search on "MacGregor 26D sailboat dagger is stuck" and you will find some threads on this subject. Hopefully a MacGregor 26D owner will weigh in.

.
Click to expand
Many thanks for the manuals!
 
lessardmath

lessardmath

.
May 23, 2020
10
Macgregor 26D weekender
Been finally able to pull it out. But I have had a little surprise... There is a wingnut that must have felt in the daggerboard pit...

However, the daggerbord seems to be hollow with foam at the front and at the back only. I do have what I could figure out as draining holes at the complete bottom. I'll fix the wingnut hole for sure but should I open it and fill it up with foam inside? Thanks for your advices
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williamtl

williamtl

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Jun 1, 2015
217
Macgregor 26d Trailer Estates, Fl
Wow, wasn’t expecting that. Any idea what the black stuff is on the top? Is that some type of tape under the black stuff? The black stuff looks like it may be ablative paint, but it’s on the part that is mostly out of the water.

The blue paint is on part of the boat that only gets seen by fish and divers. Seems like an odd thing to paint.

Welcome to the world of guessing what the PO (previous owner) did and why. I guess you usually know the “What” but the “why” is the bigger mystery.
 
Hunter216

Hunter216

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Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
lessardmath said:
However, the daggerbord seems to be hollow. with foam at the front and at the back only. I do have what I could figure as draining holes at the complete bottom. I'll fix the wingnut hole for sure but should I open it and filf it up with foam inside? Thanks for your advices
Click to expand
I don’t have first hand experience with this boat so do research BUT I believe the holes in the bottom and top with hollow centre let the board fill with water when it’s down. That keeps it from trying to float UP. The holes and hollow centre are there for some reason. Filling them up without knowing why they are there doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.

Cleaning the goop off and filling and fairing the outside seems like a good place to start.
 
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Ken Cross

Ken Cross

.
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
When we had our Mac 26D I added a block overhanging the daggerboard trunk and removed the fairlead to allow the line to come straight up. This made the board way easier to pull up. I usually had to put a boat hook into the hole to help it slide all the way down.

Sorry, I can't find a picture.

Ken
 
Hunter216

Hunter216

.
Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
Ken Cross said:
When we had our Mac 26D I added a block overhanging the daggerboard trunk and removed the fairlead to allow the line to come straight up. This made the board way easier to pull up. I usually had to put a boat hook into the hole to help it slide all the way down.

Sorry, I can't find a picture.

Ken
Click to expand
Ken am I correct in thinking the holes and hollow centre are normal?
 
williamtl

williamtl

.
Jun 1, 2015
217
Macgregor 26d Trailer Estates, Fl
I believe the holes are normal and it is designed to allow water in and out depending on being raised or lowered. If you sealed it up, you would have to have some way other than gravity to get it down.
 
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Ken Cross

Ken Cross

.
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
Hunter216 said:
Ken am I correct in thinking the holes and hollow centre are normal?
Click to expand
On our boat we had holes and I assume hollow center. It only weighed about 15 lbs (I'm guessing) but took a pretty good pull to pull it up out of the water. It was way easier once I mounted the block. The only downside was I had to remove the screws holding the block in place to completely remove the board.
 
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lessardmath

lessardmath

.
May 23, 2020
10
Macgregor 26D weekender
Many thanks for your help guys! it is very much appreciated for a newbie like me!
 
C

Crazy Dave Condon

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Jun 8, 2004
10,385
-na -NA Anywhere USA
MacGregor centerboards were known to have holes allowing water to fill the centerboards. Former dealer for them but long ago
 
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