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Seaworthiness of Mac26
"Jeff Morris" wrote in message ...
"Parallax" wrote in message om... Granted the Mac26 is not an offshore boat, but what can she do? One poster said he would not take one out of sight of land so lets consider this. First, most boat accidents happen within sight of land because thats where the boats hit stuff, like land. So, out of sight of land, aside from an occasional collision, weather is the major hazard so let's examine the possible hazards. Hurricanes: Any Mac owner who finds himself in a hurricane is the victim of his own stupidity. I cannot envision any possible excuse to find oneself in such a situation. This could be said of any sailor. However, Hurricane Bob ran up the coast so fast that New England had about 24 hours notice. What would a Mac owner do if he were more than 24 hours from his trailer, other than call his insurance agent? Unexpected storm, like the Storm of the Century: Actually, most mariners should have expected it. I was due to leave that day for a sailing trip but two days before had noticed an odd low in the Western Gulf. CG posted small craft warnings. I put off my trip. Within 24 hours there were local gale warnings. I know of no small craft operator on any reasonable (for a Mac26) passage of say 48 hours that got caught in this and injured who can honestly say they had no warning. NorEaster: I have no experience with them. Pacific storms: No experience Thunderstorms and line squalls: These are legit hazards because they are fairly unpredictable and isolated. snip A Mac26 can do all of this and better since it has more power and speed. If the storms direction can be ascertained, it can easily power around it. Since most such storms occur near the ocean/land interface, safe harbor is probably close for powering too at 17 kts. Why does everyone use "17 knots" as the speed of a Mac 26? The high speeds mentioned on the web site were only achieved with a stripped down boat, no ballast, no mast, rigging or sail, limited fuel, no water and limited safety gear. One very light skipper. If you read the boards, you'll find that most mac owners report speeds of around 12 mph or less for a loaded boat, worse if heading into a chop. And they report it can get very sloppy. While that is still somewhat faster than most "normal" sailboats, its really only a little faster; I've been on a number of boats that can power all day at over 7 knots, or 8 mph. I have noticed that such isolated storms do not greatly enhance the wave height because they are so local and short lived. Storms imbedded in a front can be associated with big waves but these are obvious on a weather map and avoided. This means that a Mac26 can power away from such a storm at speeds greatly in excess of the speed of a REAL sailboat. You're assuming that that boat was in very protected water to start. What if it was in the ocean and the was 3-4 foot chop to start? In this case, the mac won't be that much faster than a real sailboat. You seem to have ignored a large category of weather: What about days that are simply windy and rough? Every year I usually find myself in 30 to 35 knots, seas 4-6 feet. Usually it is outside of the range predicted, though not completely unexpected. How well does the Mac handle this? Can it make headway to windward? It certainly can't do 17 knots, it might not be able to do 7 knots. And what would happen of the engine wouldn't start? Another point about going out of sight of land: Why go out there if you can avoid it? After a few minutes, all the waves look the same (ok, so theres an occasional crazy one). The interesting stuff is near land. This all depends on where you are - in New England one often goes 3 or 4 miles off just to go down the coast to the next harbor. With a light fog that's out of sight of land. All teh times I have gone out of sight of land was because it was the fastest way to get somewhere or the only way for my 4' draft. With the Mac26 very shallow draft, it is not limited in this way so should spend far less time on such unnecessary passages. Many of the truly great sails I've had were in condition where I would not want to take a Mac 26x. If this doesn't appeal to you, if you only seek the pleasures of a completely protected bay, then maybe a mac is the right boat for you. Jeff: I use 17 kts because that is reported by several ppl on Mac26 cruising sites. As far as what a Mac26 owner would do if a Hurricane was approaching and he couldnt get his trailer to his boat, the question makes no sense. When she is not being sailed, she IS on the trailer. However, in the unlikely case of her not being on the trailer but in a slip, he does what all other sailboat owners do, checks to make sure his insurance policy is paid up, then considers if he can secure her better. During hurricane season, I leave my S2 in a state of hurricane readiness (summer is just too hot to sail all the time, I sail in cooler weather). For the occasional 35 kt "storm", I am certain a Mac26 can handle it. One web site talks about sailing a lot in such weather in a Mac26, dunno if he really does. Here, if I see fog, I get very cautious, even light fog. I been lost in fog enough to know how fast light fog becomes pea soup. Generally, foggy conditions are also very light wind conditions so it is not any more a hazard to the Mac26 than to any other boat. I am also not assuming "very protected water" but the open Gulf of Mexico. The NE gulf is VERY shallow and gets a nasty chop. Still, a 50 hp motor sure beats my old 6.5 hp Yanmar 1GM on my S2 (replaced by a 13 hp 2GM). |
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