Finally took delivery last night of our 04 M

[Paul S]

Blue hull #360. Some reason there was a ladder installed (not ordered). Not sure if this is now standard or what.

Pleased with the new head door design. We will see how it works in the real world.

The new 'radar arch' style rear mast holder is pretty cool.

Fit and finish is a lot better than the first M we owned (never took delivery #225)

Looking forward to seeing any other minor updates that may be in store as mid year changes.

Already a good size rust spot on the trailer. Time to break out the POR-15.

Time to break out the drill and have some fun

Paul

[Mark Prouty]

Congrats on the New M. Better have a mast with a channel on this one. What kind of motor did you go with?

[Paul S]

It better

[Kevin]

Dwen is hull #326. She had the ladder installed unordered too. Dealer charged for it just the same. Not the one I might have chosen, but it works and certainly not worth quibbling over. Don't really like trying to board from there anyway.

I'm really interested in what you find when you loiok of the channel. I haven't made the effort yet.

[Paul S]

Took a closer look at the boat. Not super impressed with the prep. Overall it is good. but has a lot of gelcoat flaws, wax residue everywhere. Trailer lights (3 light bar) in box inside boat, not on trailer. Box o'parts and lines inside boat without any indication what the heck they are. Lots of water/ice in bilge. Fiberglass/gelcoat dust everywhere..including inside interior lights. Several surface rust areas on trailer already.

Question though, on the roller furler...should the fairleads and cam cleat for the roll up line be installed...or is that extra. As you can guess..there were none installed

No show stoppers..but kind of takes the wind out of the sails

Paul

[Paul S]

What kind of motor did you go with?

Honda 50 HP

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

It's interesting to see the number of boats they are making. The "M" has been over a year on the market and they are just now shipping hull #360. Hull #1 of the "X" was made in July 1995 and by December 1995 when my hull was made they were on #405. Their volume is quite a bit lower with the "M". Maybe they'll bring back the "X" if this keeps up.

[Paul S]

Not sure if the hull S/N resets every year... like, for example...do '03 go from #1 to 500...will '04 go from 501 to 1000 or...1-500 all over again? Logically it should start all over again at 1.

If July is the start date..is seems in line (if the hull S/N resets to 1)

Quantity doesn't always equal quality. Maybe they are putting more work into each boat than they used to?

Paul

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Are they having production problems limiting supply or is the demand less? I think the overall run of the X was almost 800 per year...although its certainly possible that demand trailed off in the last couple years of the X boat (part of a reason for a re-design). I would guess that from a manufacturing point of view, the M is not all that much different than the X so you wouldn't think it was a production delay.

[Joe 26M Time Warp]

Congratulations Paul,

on the roller furler...should the fairleads and cam cleat be installed

Our first, hull #32 came with the CDI but nothing was installed. Our new one, hull #358 wasn't ordered with a furler so obviously I'll have to install it myself.
Who's boat is that in the pic's? Here's a couple of notes about the differences I see comparing the furler in the pics to Time Warp (both our boats) installation.
1. I chose the starboard side for the furling line.
2. Not sure of the pic but, be extra carefull the first fairlead is located at a right (90 degree) angle from the rotational axis of the drum and the furling line is centered to the opening of the CDI drum. Mine was sighted by eye and works fine - no micrometer measuring needed, but the drum determines where the first fairlead goes.
3. Your pic shows a cam cleat where I used a lance cleat. We thought our setup was fine with the original (3/16"?) - 1/4" rope and the cleat mounted outside the lifelines. Sure it can be tougher on the hands than a 5/16" or 3/8" line, but that never seemed to bother us. I can't tell from the pic but some people increase the rope size and the cleat in the pic looks big.
Our setup makes for a very different sized line that stows on the starboard stanchion, it's never confused for anything but what it is. Using the lance cleat mounted on the vertical (outside) of the boat means the line runs through without unintentionally locking it, or ever being out of the cleat. We can stop at any point (amount of genoa deployed) by pulling up slightly on the line, engaging the cleat.
4. Unless your dealer agreed to install it for you, you'll have to do it yourself. But look at all the fun choices you would've made him make for you that you now get to do yourself.
Happy setup, and sailing.
Measure twice - drill once.

[ezaction]

It's interesting to see the number of boats they are making. The "M" has been over a year on the market and they are just now shipping hull #360. Hull #1 of the "X" was made in July 1995 and by December 1995 when my hull was made they were on #405. Their volume is quite a bit lower with the "M". Maybe they'll bring back the "X" if this keeps up.

I picked up #401 on Feb 20th.

[Joe 26M Time Warp]

Dimitri, I think you nailed it here.

... is the demand less? ... overall run of the X was almost 800 per year...although its certainly possible that demand trailed off ... the M is not all that much different than the X

Although Duane and others might have high hopes, the X didn't have the kind of competition the M does in start up, or the same kind of market conditions.
The earlier 26's weren't 50HP powersailors like the X. The M faces lots of dedicated X'ers without that much more to offer, and over the years some other manufacturers have picked away at MacGregor's market share.
Combine that with a weaker economy generally, and I'm not sure who is really surprised about a first year run of 400 boats, rather than 800. And don't forget our first (hull #32) wasn't received until May and when we got it they hadn't even published a manual yet.

[Paul S]

Congratulations Paul,

on the roller furler...should the fairleads and cam cleat be installed

Our first, hull #32 came with the CDI but nothing was installed. Our new one, hull #358 wasn't ordered with a furler so obviously I'll have to install it myself.
Who's boat is that in the pic's? Here's a couple of notes about the differences I see comparing the furler in the pics to Time Warp (both our boats) installation.
1. I chose the starboard side for the furling line.
2. Not sure of the pic but, be extra carefull the first fairlead is located at a right (90 degree) angle from the rotational axis of the drum and the furling line is centered to the opening of the CDI drum. Mine was sighted by eye and works fine - no micrometer measuring needed, but the drum determines where the first fairlead goes.
3. Your pic shows a cam cleat where I used a lance cleat. We thought our setup was fine with the original (3/16"?) - 1/4" rope and the cleat mounted outside the lifelines. Sure it can be tougher on the hands than a 5/16" or 3/8" line, but that never seemed to bother us. I can't tell from the pic but some people increase the rope size and the cleat in the pic looks big.
Our setup makes for a very different sized line that stows on the starboard stanchion, it's never confused for anything but what it is. Using the lance cleat mounted on the vertical (outside) of the boat means the line runs through without unintentionally locking it, or ever being out of the cleat. We can stop at any point (amount of genoa deployed) by pulling up slightly on the line, engaging the cleat.
4. Unless your dealer agreed to install it for you, you'll have to do it yourself. But look at all the fun choices you would've made him make for you that you now get to do yourself.
Happy setup, and sailing.
Measure twice - drill once.

The boat in the pictures is the dealers demo #10 2003.

On the furler...I paid for accessories to be installed. Not just supplied..If there is extra parts (fairleads, cleat, etc) it shoud be brought to the buyers attention. I have no problem paying for extra parts. Just tell me about it. They do that with the jib...they tell you the blocks and sheets are not included..cost extra...no reason they can't do it for this too.

I have Zero, zip, nada experience installing sailing hardware. Was a powerboat owner for 13 years. How the heck am I supposed to know how to install sheets and hardware on a boat. That is why we have dealers...to assist the buyer with choices and provide installation. You buy an optional radio for your brand new car..they dont just provide it in a box in the trunk of your car for you to install.

The fuel line to the gas tank was not installed either...Am I expected to hook up the fuel line too?

The combination lock was provided without a combo...Am I supposed to guess what it is??

Like I said..it is not a show stopper. I will let the dealer have one chance to correct it. With the several items not installed, numerous gelcoat problems, rust on the trailer, wax residue everywhere..feels like I bought a used boat, not new.

I had higher expextations.

Paul

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

The Hull numbers for a given model are sequential, they never reset.

The "X" started at #1 in July of 1995 (model year 1996 boats) and the last ones rolled out in December of 2002 with if I recall correctly something in the #5600 range. That represented the production of the factory for model years 1996 through 2002, 7 years, average of 800 boats a year. The 2003 "M" run was certainly less than 400 boats if there are 2004 model year ones out there with hull numbers in the high 300's. I'm not saying this is bad, it's just an interesting observation that the 2003 sales volume of the "M" was half what it was with the "X". No bad reflection on the "M" intended, but this had to be a big hit to the factory and the dealers pocketbooks.

Here's how the code breaks down. My hull # is MACX0405L596.

MAC - Macgregor
X - Model
0405 - Hull #
L - Month Manufactured A=Jan L=Dec
5 - Year Manufactured
96 - Model Year Specs built to

[Mark Prouty]

Took a closer look at the boat. Not super impressed with the prep. Overall it is good. but has a lot of gelcoat flaws, wax residue everywhere. Trailer lights (3 light bar) in box inside boat, not on trailer. Box o'parts and lines inside boat without any indication what the heck they are. Lots of water/ice in bilge. Fiberglass/gelcoat dust everywhere..including inside interior lights. Several surface rust areas on trailer already.

Being a MacGregor owner, I know corners are cut to keep the price down and I accept that; however, the problems here reflect a severe lack of quality control at the factory. This reflects very pooly on the MacGregor line. I speak for myself but others may agree that for sake of pride in the MacGregor line the factory needs to hear about your problems. If enough people complain maybe they'll attempt to address these quality issues. In comparison to the whole boat building process, these issues seem minor yet they are major issues to new owners. There is always "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." Maybe MacGregor will surprise you and offer some sort of compensation.

Is someone asleep at the wheel at that factory!
Call or write the factory. Let them know of your problems!

On the furler...I paid for accessories to be installed. Not just supplied..If there is extra parts (fairleads, cleat, etc) it shoud be brought to the buyers attention. I have no problem paying for extra parts. Just tell me about it. They do that with the jib...they tell you the blocks and sheets are not included..cost extra...no reason they can't do it for this too.

I hope the deal comes through for you on this. You paid for it installed!