Big Mac 65

[Mikey]

Oupps, that was quick, You're in SF aren't you? Got to be late there.
What is the time over there?

[Mikey]

Nope, my mistake, it goes the other way from NY, early evening

[daveme]

Well, after 8 great years, I've decided to sell my Mac 65. It's a 1992 P/H with sugar scoop transom. New genset, 25 gph watermaker, ssb, etc. Visit www.westcoastyachts.us for a complete listing.

or Call at 206 298 3724, dave_melin@hotmail.com

Dave

[the_sphincter]

STOP!

read this thread:
http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9567&

and then this thread:
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums...opic=11902&hl=

which is linked off of it. Then go with the SC 52

[Paul B 101090]

I'm wondering if anyone has any input on a deerfoot 50 designed by Ulf Rogeberg...Not designed by Dashew...Any comments, good or bad would be appreciated...Looking at it as a future cruising boat for my wife & me...
Living in Hawaii, have a ta shing tashiba 36', nice boat, a wee bit small for us...Mahalo
Paul B

Originally Posted by Mikey

A Deerfoot will most likely have a slightly heavier (and longer) keel - ballast ratio. If not, there will still be a difference because we are not talking about dead calm seas, it will "grip/track" better, better directional stability, sort of. Displacement will be higher so it will be less affected (by what would affect a Mac 65 more) = more forgiving - also because of lower SA/Displacement ratio. Mac 65 has a very high aspect ratio and small fin keel, compared with a Deerfoot that must show a difference, especially downwind in heavier seas. Don't know if the Deerfoot has a skeg, but probably, that will make a difference too.

Maybe I am understanding what you mean with Stability incorrectly - I don't see that as only how much it will heel.

Long cruising Deerfoot, fun fast cruising Mac

Mikey

[Roger D]

I have owned the earlier racing version of the MacGregor 65 for almost 20 years and 90% of the comments made about it are based on (diplomatically speaking) lack of information and experience.

My boat has been raced to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Victoria-Maui, Transpac etc. and guess what the upwind "deliveries" are no worse than in any other boat. Yes it is optimized for off-wind sailing, surfs easily, does not require a mountain of canvass like a Swan to reach optimal speeds, is very safe (its tenderness is overrated). For going upwind you reduce sail appropriately to keep the boat more upright to increase speed and comfort - remember that you are creating more apparent wind than a slower boat.

I would prefer a different hull/deck joint - mine is a shoe-box joint; later ones had two outward turning flanges, through-bolted every 6 inches and used 3M5200. Some of the owners with the shoe-box joint have put carbon plugs horizontally every 6 inches in place of the original throughbolts, while filling the joint overlap with epoxy. Once that cured they glassed over the joint. This makes the boat a bit stiffer fore and aft. Some like me have added scoops to surf sooner and longer and to carry a dinghy when sailing inshore.

The racing version came with enough non-structural foam in various compartments to make the boat unsinkable - a tremendous advantage over virtually all other steel, aluminum, fibreglass and wood sailboats in the world.

The racing version is an open interior plan which is a tremendous advantage for circulation - a tremendous disadvantage to privacy. We curtain ours off at the forward end of the salon and at the quarterberth to create visual privacy.

I have only sailed the pilothouse version once on Maui - and frankly I prefer the racing version. Just add an autopilot, a hard dodger and bimini to the racing version and you have the main ingredients for a cruiser. They already have a very large lazarette. And typically they don't come with all the garbage that overloads the pilothouse version - generators, air conditioners, Vacuflush, Chartplotters, Fishfinders etc.

I find these boats very friendly to sail. I am 68 and I still single hand. Just anticipate. But you have a very stable platform for moving about on deck or below deck. They track very well. With the big rudder and keel of the racing version you get tremendous control under power or sail, so very little effort by the autopilot. Around docks I find them much easier to handle than say a 32 foot sailboat because of the distance between rudder and keel.

A Swan they ain't. But then you're not paying for a Swan, or a Dashew (which I love), or a TP etc.

They are tremendous value. If you have a lot of money go for a Sundeer or a Dashew 80. If you have a more normal budget look seriously at a MacGregor 65.

[neelie]

To Roger D. and any other Mac65 owner,
Can I contact you offline for some advice regarding a Mac 65. We are seriously considering one as a cruising sailboat for a couple.
Thanks.
niels

[Roger D]

You can contact me through my website www.sailingnow.biz .Although the boat is no longer used in my business the site is still running.

Cheers,

Roger

[Jez350]

Does anyone on this forum have any photos or footage (preferably onboard or sailing) of "Joss", the '84 Mac 65 that set the record for the PV race in 1985? Please send me a pm if anyone has anything or knows a link to it.

Thanks in advance...

[Roger D]

4 sets of photos of JOSS hauled out about 1997. These photos focus on midships aft because I was planning to add a sugar scoop to MCFASTRACK her sister.

Set 1 shows the fiberglass fin and the lead bulb. You will see that the rudder is dropped to check and grease the bearings. Both JOSS and my boat had a massive composite rudder post with heavy reinforcement at the upper end and at the hull. You can see the upper end in the 3rd photo of set 2. Finally in set 1 you see the sugar scoop added to JOSS - I think about 3'6". I put a 5' scoop on mine.

Set 2 shows the angle of the scoop from the side-view. Photo 2 shows my 65 on a trailer in Newport Beach where I bought her in Nov 1991. You can get an idea of the rake of the original transom on the racing version 65.

Set 4 shows the traveler that the owners installed.

If you are seriously interested in JOSS contact me by e-mail and I will pass along the phone number I have for the then owners.

I owned my boat for 20 years and loved every minute of it. A big boat does require money for TLC - so that is a less enjoyable part of it. Also you can not haul these boats on lifters or tidal grids because they are not designed to sit on their keel. The fiberglass fin is mighty sturdy, even overbuilt. But the fin is bolted to fore and aft members inside the hull and the bulb is bolted to the fine. I have seen the boat on a lifter but is is not advised. At a minimum you will have to refair the hull to fin joint.

BTW we raised her from British Columbia to Maui which involves a fair amount of beating, as well as reaching and running once you get down to Lat 46 and the trades (after going around the Pacific high AND WE DID NOT SEE ANY FLEXING.

Roger

[Jez350]

Thanks for those Roger. So I see in the photo the way both boats were slung in the cradly is the correct way for them to be dry docked for any period of time? I'm thinking about anti-fouling & general maintenance times. Everything here is hard-stand making it difficult. I would plan on having her as a cruiser/racer, doing some local offshore 1 div events & maybe even a major if I can afford to do so. I'm totally lured by their shape & looks, not to mention their impressive perfromance as well. Marina fees are very expensive here so I'm considering my options. The previous owner you mention - would that be Camille Daniels? I would very much like to contact her regarding her experiences & the bottom issue you spoke about. There is just so much negativity about them on the nett & it is very difficult cutting the crap from reality.

Jez

[Jez350]

Sorry Roger I see the hard stand for Joss. Do you have any full shots or front shots of her? If she's not sitting on her keel then how is she supported?

Jez

[Jez350]

I must admit it has a pretty crappy traveller setup. Why weren't these racing versions fitted with a better mainsheet design? It's hardly adequate for long distance racers such as Joss?

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Jez350

The previous owner you mention - would that be Camille Daniels? I would very much like to contact her regarding her experiences & the bottom issue you spoke about.

The boat was owned by Dick and Camille.

Joss was not a stock boat. There were modifications done. I believe Alan Andrews did the engineering on those mods. You might contact him if you are considering doing something similar.

[Roger D]

I don't have a frontal shot. I did have other photos, including some of the interior but they were lost over the years. To my recollection they moved the inner forestay aft about 1-2 feet to pen up the distance between it and the forestay but I no longer have those photos.

The double sink photo shows how on my boat we overcame the really awkward standard sink arrangement.

You can contact me by e-mail to get the last phone number I have for Camille. mcroger@shaw.ca

Great boat to single hand.

Roger