MacGregorSailors.com

Hi All!

Nice article about the science of sail tacking that might be of interest!
https://phys.org/news/2025-07-tackles-d ... euver.html

Best Regards,
Over Easy

"It's more difficult in practice than in theory"

Tell me about it. Loading the car this morning for the 6 hour drive to San Diego, where we'll spend the next two days in a mixture of classroom time and out on the water on a J/24 learning all about sail trimming and tacking.

Can't wait to get out of the 90 degree plus temps with high humidity here during monsoons and back to some ocean breezes on the water!

Hi Tuxonpup!

Have a great trip and training!
It sounds great!

Enjoy!

Keep us posted on your experiences!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

tuxonpup wrote: ↑Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:22 am "It's more difficult in practice than in theory"

Tell me about it. Loading the car this morning for the 6 hour drive to San Diego, where we'll spend the next two days in a mixture of classroom time and out on the water on a J/24 learning all about sail trimming and tacking.

Can't wait to get out of the 90 degree plus temps with high humidity here during monsoons and back to some ocean breezes on the water!

Firstly, we are looking to relocate to maybe Arizona. Yea, the heat. Not sure about that part. Boating? Seems there are more lakes north of you. I could easily be a snowbird. Should I bring my MAC south? So many decisions.

You will learn so much. However, that boat (j24) is a PURE sailboat. I've seen those things glide along with 5mph winds and point right into the wind. It's amazing. But not our boats. We sail Chlorox bottles with a mast. (which was a candidate for the MAC Burgee. See the Mac forum store).

So learn what you have to learn. Skills will translate. I find the MAC is less forgiving of poor sail trim than larger keelboats. So all that knowlege will pay off. My Hunter 34 would sail with poor sail trim. My MAC doesn't. So you will be well served to learn all the details of sail trim and theory.

PLUS...it's not 90 degrees. Enjoy and post your experience so others can benefit.

Hi Russ!

I may have mentioned this somewhere in the past but, and this is just my own personal opinion, before anyone pulls the plug and moves to geographically different places than where they have been happy I’d humbly suggest spending several months there over several seasons, (preferably the worst seasons for that person), first. That way a person can understand for themselves what it’s like before they commit to that transition effort.

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to several places in the world and live in several regions of the US over my life.
Me I like where there is diversity of culture, good infrastructure, educational opportunities, societal tolerance, freedom of expression, equality, inclusiveness and a temperate climate near the East or West Coasts (preferably where I can reasonably get out on the water with room to explore).

My glass is always at least half full rather than half empty mind you so I tend to be an optimistic sort and enjoy what life has to offer.
On the other hand I’ve had acquaintances though the years that didn’t adapt well to some locales they'd moved to and weren’t very happy with their choices… Some liked a mental image they had of a place or region that wasn’t the environmental reality of the actual place once they had to live there.

It depends on what is really important to you and your family.
EVERY place has its advantages and disadvantages.
EVERY place had interesting and boring places.
EVERY place had LOTS of good people and a couple bad apples.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Russ wrote: ↑Fri Jul 18, 2025 6:24 pm

tuxonpup wrote: ↑Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:22 am "It's more difficult in practice than in theory"

Tell me about it. Loading the car this morning for the 6 hour drive to San Diego, where we'll spend the next two days in a mixture of classroom time and out on the water on a J/24 learning all about sail trimming and tacking.

Can't wait to get out of the 90 degree plus temps with high humidity here during monsoons and back to some ocean breezes on the water!

Firstly, we are looking to relocate to maybe Arizona. Yea, the heat. Not sure about that part. Boating? Seems there are more lakes north of you. I could easily be a snowbird. Should I bring my MAC south? So many decisions.

You will learn so much. However, that boat (j24) is a PURE sailboat. I've seen those things glide along with 5mph winds and point right into the wind. It's amazing. But not our boats. We sail Chlorox bottles with a mast. (which was a candidate for the MAC Burgee. See the Mac forum store).

So learn what you have to learn. Skills will translate. I find the MAC is less forgiving of poor sail trim than larger keelboats. So all that knowlege will pay off. My Hunter 34 would sail with poor sail trim. My MAC doesn't. So you will be well served to learn all the details of sail trim and theory.

PLUS...it's not 90 degrees. Enjoy and post your experience so others can benefit.

I moved here in January of '95, which is the perfect month to do it. Went from blizzards up North to shooting hoops with a friend on an outdoor court here for the next 3 months. By May you'll see temps over 100, but it's a 'dry' heat, as they say, no humidity. Monsoon season arrived on cue this year, first week of July, humidity plus 100 degree temps, with occasional thunderstorms. This will run into September, when it will dry out again, with the 100 degree temps subsiding in October.
The boat being up at Lake Powell gives us a vacation spot at the opposite end of the state, so we get to drive through actual season change in the fall and spring, with the occasional snow passing through Flagstaff. It's a pretty ideal snow bird climate, avoid summer if at all possible.
I would definitely visit on a shoulder season, check out Lake Powell, come down through Flagstaff, take the route through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona, visit Phoenix if you must, then come down through Tucson and check out the Sahuaro National Monument, be sure to drive up Mt Lemmon to Summerhaven and check out the alpine cabins and little ski area an hour above the desert floor.

Re:sail trim. Powersailors are unforgiving of poor sail trim. Mine has made me a much better sailor in that regard.
Re: relocating. Guy near me moved in a few years ago. Bought a nice house. Planned to open a business. Got totally fed up with the county government here, and now they are moving again.

Ix

Spent the morning going over principles in the class room, then sailed off the dock and took turns tacking on beam reaches across the bay, then sailed back into the dock to grab lunch.
After, we quickly went over right of way and then spent the afternoon in stronger winds jibing downwind on broad reaches and close hauled headed back upwind.
I like the tiller feel, hated the traveler in the middle of the cockpit we didn’t trim once. Tomorrow we head out to the ocean, weather permitting!

Sounds like you are getting a lot out of this class.

It's a PURE sailboat and yes, a tiller provides physical feedback. I guess that's why dinghy sailing is so much fun. Immediate response to the captain.

Doesn't look like they even have a motor installed on that boat.

Russ wrote: ↑Sun Jul 20, 2025 5:51 am Sounds like you are getting a lot out of this class.

It's a PURE sailboat and yes, a tiller provides physical feedback. I guess that's why dinghy sailing is so much fun. Immediate response to the captain.

Doesn't look like they even have a motor installed on that boat.

Nope, this is my first time docking by sail, not even a battery on the boat for lights.

Speaking of dinghy sailing, we of course wouldn't drive 6 hours to a body of water without bringing the trusty dingyak for a sunset paddle across the bay!

tuxonpup wrote: ↑Sat Jul 19, 2025 5:01 pm Spent the morning going over principles in the class room, then sailed off the dock and took turns tacking on beam reaches across the bay, then sailed back into the dock to grab lunch.
After, we quickly went over right of way and then spent the afternoon in stronger winds jibing downwind on broad reaches and close hauled headed back upwind.
I like the tiller feel, hated the traveler in the middle of the cockpit we didn’t trim once. Tomorrow we head out to the ocean, weather permitting!

It sounds like you are having a great time and learning a lot.

Don't worry about not doing any sail trim yet. This is like your first day on the driver's education range. Right now you are just learning how to drive around an empty parking lot where your mistakes won't matter. For now, it doesn't matter where you go as much as that you can make the boat go in the general direction your instructor requires.

I'm sure the instructor has adjusted the sail trim so that it will work for what you need to learn right now without having anything else to distract you. Think of it like learning to drive in a car with an automatic transmission. Right now all you need to control is the steering, acceleration, and braking; two hands on the wheel at all times and your left foot is getting bored. When adjusting sail trim is added you will be driving a manual transmission and having to think about when or if to change gears and how to smoothly operate the clutch. Don't worry, you'll get there.

I'm with you 100% that having a traveler in the middle of the cockpit stinks. I have to warn you though, not having a traveler stinks almost as much. It's one of the few things I missed when I moved to the .

I almost forgot. You are going to make the pilgrimage to Costa Mesa while you are so close, right?

Hi Tuxonpup!

Sounds like you are having a fun start in your classes!
Nice pictures!

Great idea to bring your dinyak thingy with you for some nice personal time on the water!

Best Regards,
Over Easy