Capt. Mooron wrote:

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
|
| "DSK" wrote
|
| Funny you should mention this. Just yesterday I happened to walk by a
| Mac 26X and a Mac 26M parked on their trailers. Except that one was
| painted blue, there was not an iota of difference in the hull design.
|
| That's understandable as they're using the same molds for the hull.

The Hell You Say!... I have it on good advise that yearly models can be
completely different in quuality, style and performance! ;-)

CM


Sorry to intrude on your trip, Mooron, but can you be just a little more
specific? Do you dispute ANY of the differences noted below?

The truth is that the 26M has a completely new hull. Differences
include the fact that:

A. The swing keel and the (200 gallon) longitudinal open cavity built
into the hull for receiving the keel (when the keel was retracted
upwardly into the slot) has been eliminated in the 26M, eliminating the
drag produced by the large open cavity.

B. The 26M incorporating a vertically retractable dagger-board instead
of a swing keel.

C. The hull of the 26M has a deep-V forward configuration for minimizing
pitch, particularly when motoring. Thus, the 26X had a much "flatter"
bow configuration.

D. The ballast of the 26X was exclusively water ballast, the water being
let into the ballast chamber prior to sailing the boat. The 26M has
a combination of water ballast and permanent ballast built into the hull.

E. The hull of the 26M has an additional layer of fiberglass, and over
100 additional pounds of resin; chain plates have been added, the
hull-to-deck joint has been modified, and the deck structure has been
modified for greater rigidity.

F. In the M, a traveler has been added for providing greater control of
the mainsheet.

G. The M has an axially rotatable mast, mounted on two sets of
bearings, permitting it to rotate with the luff of the mainsail.

H. Flotation has been added to upper sections of the mast to provide
further resistance to "turtleing." (This is in addition to the righting
forces provided by the water ballast and the permanent ballast.)

Both models incorporate the usual Mac features such as positive
flotation, trailerability, ability to move over very shallow water,
ability to be brought to the shore and beached, ability to plane under
power, etc.