First sail on 26X

[svscott]

I've been bringing my recently purchased 1998 26X back to seaworthy the past few weeks and I made it out sailing on Presque Isle Bay yesterday. I want to sail a few hours with a little bit stronger wind. My initial impression is that there is very little helm feedback in light wind conditions and it is difficult to fine tune the sails (unlike my 26D that gives immediate feedback on every fine tune adjustment).
The wind was a light 5 to 7 knots but we had a weather front moving in and I didn't want to be cold and wet with gusting winds, so I didn't stay out too long.

The furling genoa has a few pretty bad bends midway up in the plastic luff extrusion from how the PO had it stored at the boatyard and they didn't straighten out as I was hoping they would once I had the sail filled. The sail also still had a half turn on the extrusion when it was pulled out, meaning the plastic extrusion was facing aft and not forward as I would expect it to be. I could rotate it by hand but it wouldn't stay.
The sailing was very easy and predictable though. As a cruising boat, I think the X will be just fine.
I need to buy a couple snap shackles and a whisker pole (or I'll steal them from my old boat when needed). The main sheet came rigged with some questionable carabiners with no load rating printed on them to attach the main and boomvang. I'll sail the boat a few more times before making any other changes.
My boat neighbor already hauled his fishing boat out for the year and he is letting me use his slip (with marina manager's approval) for the remaining few weeks before end of season haul out on 10/29. I can't believe I own two Macs now but it's so cool having them side by side in the slip!

[Jimmyt]

Looks like a good day on the water! Glad you got to sail it this season!

[Tomfoolery]

Is that boat documented? No State numbers on the bow.

[svscott]

Is that boat documented? No State numbers on the bow.

Yes, all of the legal transfer stuff was done at a local notary and it's totally legal but I don't actually have a PA registration number yet. The Covid has processing backed up by up to 90 days. I was told to just keep a copy of the filing documents! I've seen several boats without state reg numbers this summer.

[Tomfoolery]

Is that boat documented? No State numbers on the bow.

Yes, all of the legal transfer stuff was done at a local notary and it's totally legal but I don't actually have a PA registration number yet. The Covid has processing backed up by up to 90 days. I was told to just keep a copy of the filing documents! I've seen several boats without state reg numbers this summer.

I was actually referring to federally documented (no reg. numbers), but I think you said in the engine thread that it came from a different state. So guessing (now) that you or the seller removed the numbers, as they don't carry over when changing states, of course.

[Russ]

Looks great!

It will be nice to hear more comparisons between the boats.

[svscott]

Is that boat documented? No State numbers on the bow.

Yes, all of the legal transfer stuff was done at a local notary and it's totally legal but I don't actually have a PA registration number yet. The Covid has processing backed up by up to 90 days. I was told to just keep a copy of the filing documents! I've seen several boats without state reg numbers this summer.

I was actually referring to federally documented (no reg. numbers), but I think you said in the engine thread that it came from a different state. So guessing (now) that you or the seller removed the numbers, as they don't carry over when changing states, of course.

You're right. I was told to remove the NY boat registration # before using the boat. Even with a blow dryer and denatured alcohol, removing those stickers was ridiculously difficult.

[NiceAft]

A two Mac owner, impressive.

Can you post a photo of what you are posting about the extrusion in the Genoa luff being placed incorrectly.

Also, recently Pennsylvania announced the largest brown trout in state history being caught in Lake Erie near Presque Isle; over twenty pounds. Good luck https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquir ... utType=amp

[svscott]

A two Mac owner, impressive.

Can you post a photo of what you are posting about the extrusion in the Genoa luff being placed incorrectly.

Also, recently Pennsylvania announced the largest brown trout in state history being caught in Lake Erie near Presque Isle; over twenty pounds. Good luck https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquir ... utType=amp

That trout is impressive! There is some really good fishing around here. Steelhead, walleye, perch, pike, and bass are all pretty abundant. I'm not a patient enough fisherman and it takes too long to get to the known fishing spots with the D so I don't try very hard. Maybe next year will be different.

As for the genoa luff, I don't have a picture yet but I can try to explain it. When the genoa is fully out, where the bolt rope slides into the plastic extrusion faces forward and the plastic piece is behind the leading edge of the sail, facing aft. Basically, the sail cloth is leading the way, not the plastic piece... perhaps that's normal but it doesn't seem right.
I hope that makes some sense. If not, I can sketch it and upload a pic of that

[WinSome]

The extrusion should straighten if laid out in the warm sun and given a bit of persuasion after a couple hours of warming. It sort of has a memory. Just don’t overdo it the back-bend. ( it’ll be a bit brittle due to age. )
Re: furler not letting sail out! Is the furler line filling the drum and stopping the furler from that last half turn? May need to experiment with that idea. Maybe it’s worth a new furler line.
Nice to have two Mac’s. Enjoy.

[Tomfoolery]

Re: furler not letting sail out! Is the furler line filling the drum and stopping the furler from that last half turn? May need to experiment with that idea. Maybe it’s worth a new furler line.
Nice to have two Mac’s. Enjoy.

Or the fleet angle is not zero with the line at the center of the drum. That would cause the line to pile at one end, resulting in sticky operation when the drum gets full (mostly at one end).

[svscott]

I went out sailing on the bay for a couple hours with a good friend and our 8 year old kids last night. 6 to 10 mph WNW wind showed me to actually sail the boat and get some heel going. My friend's autistic daughter got concerned about taking into the water while leaned at about 15 degrees so I had to keep the boat fairly flat.
Last night, the furler seemed correct and didn't have that half wrap, so I'm guessing I had the furler line tensioned too much or something like that. Before splashing the boat, I already replaced the furler drum line because the rope the PO had on there was the super cheap stuff that degrades and falls apart... and that cheap rope was already falling apart.

[Jimmyt]

Looks like nice sailing conditions for an inexperienced crew. Water looks fairly calm and the wind wasn't too bad, but enough to sail. Looks like a good time to me!

[NiceAft]

Great shots, thanks, but pull in the main sheet, you're luffing.

[Tomfoolery]

If you want to reduce heeling, get new sails. Those look original, as are mine, and old, cheap sails give as much heel as drive.

Also, that open spot at the tack fitting looks like the foot is too far forward, and/or the sail isn’t hoisted all the way. You have sail slides, which weren’t OEM, and they bring the sail back a bit from the mast. But the tack fitting also has to come back to match. I drilled a hole in the boom slot and reattached the tack fitting there, so the sail is flat in the tack area.

There’s a post or two, or an entry in the mod section, where I went through the process. If you feel like looking.