Permanent ballast on 26M

[Highlander]

Highlander:
-I will think about to take away the permanent ballast next winter when onshore.
-It would be nice to save 136 kg trailerweight and when sailing without ballast. When it is really windy I also can add 88 kg to the orginal ballast.
Bertil

PS I will use an electric winsch to lower und take up the CB with the 200 kg keel.

I,m confused here
U want to remove 136kg permanent ballast & replace it with a 200 kg D/B ! ? u r adding trailing weight not removing it !

The boat doe,s not sail worth a sh_t with-out ballast unless u have lot,s of rail meat & even that,s debatable , unless u r sailing in ultra light winds ?

So I,m trying to figure what u r trying to gain here !!

J

[Bertil Rafting]

To Highlander and others:
-My keel gives me more righting moment than the ballast.
-And when it's really windy I can almost double the RM with the ballast and at the same time using the keel at depth appr 2,1 m.
Bertil

[sailboatmike]

To Highlander and others:
-My keel gives me more righting moment than the ballast.
-And when it's really windy I can almost double the RM with the ballast and at the same time using the keel at depth appr 2,1 m.
Bertil

2.1meters??

That would make the DB about 2.5 meters long so there is still a decent supported amount in the keel case when its fully down

Not sure how that will work, be sticking a LONG way up from the top of the cabin when fully raised.

[Lee Ward]

[Baha]

Please refer to "world's most modified Mac" video on youtube.

Actually, I try really hard NOT to change things on my unless it has been made clear for at least 2 seasons that I need it. In the UK, we have guys who own perfectly good yachts of all shapes and sizes and never sail them, they just tinker around and sit in the cockpit with a mug of tea. This is not my idea of fun....

[Y.B.Normal]

Not sure how that will work, be sticking a LONG way up from the top of the cabin when fully raised.[quote][/quote]

You can't raise the board higher than the cabin top as the mast step overlaps the daggerboard well, and the board raising block bracket goes across the db well.

[Lee Ward]

BWY website outlines a build they did of a 26m with a weighted daggerboard starting at the factory during the original layup. Thier project should be studied by anyone attempting something similar. The boat was named Perla Negra I think.

[BOAT]

The weight they used is way too heavy for a stock boat - it would break a stock dagger board and would also damage the trunk:



You could build a stronger dagger board that can lift a forklift like they did - but without a stronger trunk you risk damage to the hull - in the stock configuration the DB breaks before the hull does, but you put this bad boy in your trunk and now all bets are off - :



if this thing hits something your taking out the bottom of your boat

There are those that do mods to the ballast to improve sailing performance but the extra size needed on the end of the DB means loosing a lot of power boat performance. Filling the DB all the way with lead is a bad idea because when the DB is up most of it's weight would be above the waterline - thus making the boat MORE unstable. You can only mod the lower 20% of the DB to make anything effective - and that detracts from the planing hull speed under power.

The biggest improvement in performance for the MAC M boat is actually easy to achieve - the sails. Sails make the most improvement over any other mod when it comes to performance.

The best way to improve the performance of your M boat is with sails.

[sailboatmike]

I would have to agree to the statement that sails give the biggest improvement in performance.

Its like a plane with a bad wing design, get the basics right before messing with other things.

My stock sails are 3.9 oz dacron, that may be great for very light winds but they will soon stretch and become baggy under load losing drive and creating extra heel instead of pushing the boat forward, its the extra push forward that lessens the heel as the sails turn wind into forward momentum.

After the sails I would be looking at the standing rigging and getting mast rake, prebend and shroud tensions right, We have all read the angle of rake recommended in the setup manual, but after reading many peoples accounts Im not sure if the recommended rake is optimum as many people report improved characteristics from lessening the rake, I guess thats one you just have to play with to find what really works best. I do find it a bit strange that with so many of of these boats built no one is able to give a optimum setting, I guess thats because they are not used for racing much so nobody really bothers optimising the rig, most are just happy to pull up the sails and if it goes somewhere all is good