MC FASTRACK

Some of you have asked about our sailboat and since the next series of posts will be about coastal BC it is time to share a few pictures. Here she is with a hard dodger covering the companionway. She is still 65 feet (20 meters) because we had not yet added the 2 meter extension. More than one third of the mast is missing from this photo.

This aerial view was taken under a 3000 square foot spinnaker as we were about to round Cape Flattery into the open Pacific ocean and turn left for Hawaii. This was in June 1992 and the boat was still 65 feet long and did not yet have a hard dodger.

Below is a shot of her anchored in 2006 at Sydney Spit, Sydney Island, BC. She has been extended by a 5 foot (2 meter) scoop that carries our dinghy, and adds to speed under power and sail.


She is an Ultra Light Displacement Boat (ULDB) , just under 12 feet (3.5 meters) wide and has a depth of 9 feet (2.7 meters). The keel is fiberglass and is massively supported by transverse stringers in the hull. There is a 9,600 lb. (about 4363 kilo) lead bulb at the bottom of the keel, giving tremendous righting moment. She can heel to 130 degrees without capsizing and if she ever did capsize would right herself very quickly. She has enough foam flotation in various compartments to make her unsinkable in the event she is ever holed and flooded.

The rudder draws about 8 feet (2.4 meters), and is fiberglass with a massive rudder post with tremendous strengthening where it passes through the hull and deck.

Capable of speeds to 25 knots (50 km/hour) under spinnaker, I have averaged 17 knots (34 km/hour) over 3 hours when sailing her singlehanded with only white sails in 25 knots of wind on a beam reach.

With an 85 horsepower diesel engine she cruises under power at 9-10 knots . burning 3 gals. (12 litres) per hour, a very economical rate of consumption.

We have largely converted her inside to a cruising boat with sufficient storage and water for us to live aboard for extended periods. While not luxurious, she is commodious, fast and comfortable.

What does the name mean? Probably that Roger is cheap (or is frugal a more polite term?). When we imported the boat to Canada and registered her there was already a registered vessel named FASTRACK - in fact it was even a Vancouver sailboat. But Roger loved the graphics spelling out her name on the hull and didn't want to replace them. So the boat is built my MacGregor and an abbreviation of Marie-Claire is MC so why not call her MC FASTRACK. Some Scots might take issue with Mc versus Mac but then we can always fall back on the abbreviation of Marie-Claire. We bought the graphics for "MC" and stuck then on each side - and the name stuck. So that's what she's called.