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Hi Michael
list to starboard? As I recall ( boat sold in 2019) my 27 had a slight list to starboard. I think that was due to the fuel tank ( usually kept full) and the original battery stowage which was in the starboard cockpit locker, with 2 x 110A/h .
I modified that by fitting one 75 A/h sealed battery under the aft end of the portside main cabin bunk, dedicated for engine starting, and the 2 x 110 A/h for the navigation and domestic circuits in the bottom of the central compartment under the fore cabin bunk. A pair of 35 sq. mm. cables came back to the 0/1/off/both switch next to the cabin entrance. That was sufficient for an emergency engine start in the event of the dedicated battery going down. That installation was particularly good when I fitted an electric windlass, as the supply cables were very short: full power available for lifting the anchor, as very little voltage loss, and no need for 12 metres of (horribly expensive) 70 sq. mm. cables back to the main batteries.Happy sailing for 2022
Bob.
I agree with Chris.
Don’t forget the option of reinforced plastic, alternative to DZ or bronze. (Marine quality bronze is so expensive that it’s not really an option!).After years of corrosion, there is virtually no way that you can unscrew the valve from the skin fitting, so simply get an angle grinder to work on the mushroom head of the outside. Go carefully, not letting it get too hot, and concentrate on the middle. Stop at the first sight of gelcoat. When you have a full circle of plastic visible, you can prise off the collar outside, and drive the threaded part inside the hull.
Black Magic was the star of the Macwester stand at the Amsterdam boat show, when new. Philip Hamers was the importer/sales agent for the Netherlands. Can’t remember if he kept the boat for himself, or sold on to a customer.
I will have a look in my old photos, see if I can find anything.
Did he say just the seacock ( valve) or was he saying that the skin fitting ( the kind of giant hollow bolt that is clamped to the hull), should be checked as well ?
What material are they ? Brass, plastic? Any chance of a photo.As a general rule, I would advise that you have the boat ashore to do that. After years of service, the chance of getting the different parts unscrewed without any issues is pretty slim. Almost inevitably the only answer is to use an angle grinder to carefully remove the head of the skin fitting on the outside, and remove the old assembly from the inside.
Even trying to do that on a tide, with the boat drying out on the hard can be pretty stressful, especially for the engine inlet which is very low down, so you don’t have much time to work on it, unless you are in Jersey with more than 10 metres of tide range.
Hi Don.
I replied to that issue on this forum 26 December 2020. Please read that. Just note that Stuart Roy has retired from doing surveys.
My opinion is that it is impossible to unscrew the keel bolts on a MW 27 without removing most of the interior, and the reinforcement structure of the support blocks under the keel bolt nuts, which are very solidly glassfibred to the hull moulding. This is due to the fact that there is a shoulder half way down the keel bolt, which is tightened up to the inside of the hull moulding during the fitting of the keels, before putting the top support into place, and fibreglassing it to the hull.
Your surveyor is probably being over cautious. Ask him if he has ever heard of a Macwester 27 having the slightest problem with keel bolts. If he insists, consider another survey from someone with longer experience, to examine just the keel bolts.
I worked for Macwesters at Littlehampton from 1972 ( when the 27 started production) until 1978, and owned a 1976 Mk 2 for some 25 years.
I believe that somewhere in the archives there is the drawing of the design.
You might like to have a look at an article that I wrote some years ago about rubbing strake replacement, which was republished in the Spring 2019 Macwester Journal p22/23
It can be accessed on the Clubhouse page of the website- Library-Journal archive.
Don’t hesitate to come back with more details or pictures.
Hi Susan,
What year is your 27? Is a Mk 1, with wooden toe rails on the edge of the side deck?
From the pictures, the laminate that you refer to seems just to be for the back of the cupboard to the underside of the deck, so not part of the structure. There were sometimes galvanised mild steel square reinforcement plates under the nuts for the fixtures for some of the deck fittings. They could have rusted. All 27’s had 1/4” galvanised roofing bolts fixing the inner half of the rubbing strake the the hull/deck flange. They inevitably rust over time, especially if the wood has become too “ripe”.
Apart from the Macwester 27, which had considerably deeper draft, and profiled keels, pretty well all twin keel yachts of the 60’s and 70’s were not brilliant performers going to windward. However, don’t be discouraged, there are some basic issues to remember in order to get the job done.
Don’t try pointing too high. 50 degrees if the water is reasonably flat, and accept 55 if it’s getting choppy.
Keep moving : steer your way over the crest to avoid being stopped by the bigger waves.
Keep some shape in the sails to be able to get some power to keep the speed up. Avoid sheeting in too tightly, or having the boom amidships, especially with the mizzensail, which will act like a wind vane and push the bow to windward.
Reduce sail (reef the main) in good time, to avoid heeling excessively, as leeway is increased considerably if not. When it really gets to blow, consider jib and mizzensail only
If you find that progress is really not good enough, don’t be too proud to use the cast iron 4 cylinder staysail at 1300 to 1500 rpm, and then you can sheet in and point up to the wind!
Don’t forget that the Ford uses a camshaft timing belt that should be replaced periodically.
I found the following about the 1.8 XLD:http://www.frazier.co.uk/tech/data/cambel18.htm
Other sources say that for the XLD , the cam belt should be replaced every 600h which doesn’t seem to be much. On cars, the consensus seems to be 5 years, or 60,000 miles.The worrying thing is that cam belt failure gives absolutely no warning before it comes, and usually causes serious damage to the engine.
I believe that some rebuild parts for the 1.6 Ford ( pistons for rebore size) are difficult to source.
be sure that everything is available before starting the project if you go for having your existing engine overhauled.
Hi Peter.
The original engine for the Wight was the Newage /Tempest BMC 1.5 D. Does that mean that your current engine is a replacement, or was your boat a custom build on a bare hull bought from MW? I personally always liked the BMC 1.5, which runs very sweetly. It has few failings, and will usually give good long service.
My current boat ( a 1986 Moody 37) has a Thornycroft T90 which is also based on the BMC1.5 D
A good friend who has a Moody 422 had a Thornycroft based on the Ford 1.6D. He had issues with oil consumption and therefore blue smoke under load. He had it professionally rebuilt, fuel pump overhaul, etc. After a couple of years of intensive use, despite scrupulously respecting service intervals, the oil consumption issues were back again. He decided to rebuild using a Ford 1.8 , which has the same physical dimensions for the engine block, so the mounting brackets could be reused without modifying the engine beds.
The lubrification and fuel injection pump are much better design, and have a reputation to be much more robust. Time will tell. Some accessories like the alternator and raw water pump drive are a bit different, but nothing that difficult to fix.Does that help you?
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jr5lk2xew79jtdl/AABxesyeXgJjxqyhCJ7NCylha?dl=0
An article which was published some time ago in the MOA Journal
