So I am a newbie to Macgregors and sailing so pardon my ignorance. My wife and I were at the lake today taking out Basic cruising course and I noticed something on the other 's that mine doesn't have. Looking for a little advise from someone here.We recently bought our but have yet to have it in the water. We been cleaning, tuning and all that other stuff.
Anyway when I was looking at the other 's at the marina they all seemed to have this attachment for the mainsail sheet. The one boat I have been on had it too mine doesn't. Am I short this piece or what? It would almost appear that the previous owner just attached to the eye strap. That doesn't look right to me as it appears to be just fibreglass that it's attached to.
That eyestrap is all mine has. A 4:1 reeving arrangement using a fiddle block with cam and snap shackle at the bottom and fiddle block at the top is all there is. The helm guard was not standard equipment, AFAIK. The bail on my boom looks to be a few feet from the end, and there is another hole set near the end. I suspect the original attachment to the boom was near the end, not where it is now.
Just to be clear, is that pic your boat, or another one showing that metal clip? In other words, you're saying yours does not have that metal clip on the Helm bulkhead? The clip should definitely be there. That's where the main sheet block attaches.
The larger bow shaped piece is an optional grab-rail. If ordered from the factory the part that you list as missing is not installed, as the mainsheet hooks to the top of the grab-rail. You can see my Admiral with a firm grip on the grab-rail, with the mainsheet attached.
Yours is factory. If you look in the manuals(click on resources in the blue bar above) you'll see how they came from factory. The Stainless hoop with eye for mainsail attachment is an add on(and on my must have list). The stainless hoop is called a pedestal guard. They are sold for all sailboats with wheel steering ( West Marine etc carry many) The provide additional mounting for instruments etc. as well as working as a handhold. Blue Water Yachts sells a nice one for the which mounts to the sole of the cockpit (as well as the pedestal) and has a fold-up table as well as a new mainsheet attachment point.
Willy
PS: I have sailed my unmodified with the mainsail attached to the little eye on the pedestal, and it works fine. I wonder what the pro's and con's are of having it 6-8" higher? As a dingy sailor I like the mainsheet coming up into my hand instead of down.
I love forums that are helpful like this! I have been on too many other forums for other sports etc that have lost the spirit of helpfulness and community. Thanks again to all for your responses.
Time to go sailing now that I know it won't rip the pedestal out of the boat
Ok, I'm with you. My boat doesn't have the grab rail either, just the eye strap screwed into the pedestal, and it works fine. Just be careful when jibing, uncontrolled it puts a lot of stress on the pedestal and eye strap. Th grab rail would be nice, if not too expensive I may buy one, mainly to help mounting electronics, which I don't have at the moment, not even a compass. But my first mod will be to add a second battery, I'm nervous about anchoring overnight and killing my battery. I'm good on installing all the wiring and switches, I'm just not sure how to physically mount the battery (should probably start a new thread on this).
I only recently twigged that these guards werent standard myself. seems there variations on theme too? Mine then must be BWY, I assumed is was factory as UK import? anyway, you can see the tray behind the charger that rotates 90deg. incidentaly the hole for the mast crutch has a eye strap as part of it (year 2000) . With the guard in place, its awkward using the original eye, so the using the guard, the block is little bit high but no big deal. .
's that mine doesn't have. Looking for a little advise from someone here.We recently bought our 
