Why Sailors Love to Hate the MacGregor 26

[dlandersson]

Nice poiont.

Did anyone ever buy this boat actually thinking it was an ocean cruiser?

[Strange]

People have sailed the oceans in less!

[NiceAft]

By “less”, you mean smaller; those craft are much sturdier than a Mac.

Mad Mike spoke about sailing one to Hawaii, but talk is the nearest any Mac came to making the trip. He intended to make many mods. The rudder for one needed a lot of modification.

We do have a member who goes from Puerto Rico to BVI on his every year.

[dlandersson]

And another member who is envious each year

We do have a member who goes from Puerto Rico to BVI on his every year.

[Be Free]

I can verify that the number is at least two.

[Ixneigh]

Re less: was it Capt. Blighe who held the record for most ocean miles in an open boat after he and his officers were put off the Bounty? Apparently he was a very skilled sailor, so sure, skill can probably make up for vessel deficiencies.

[OverEasy]

Hi 45Plus+!

I think you got it!
I’d rather have a ‘guarded’ realistic practical review than that form any extremist holier-than-thou sailing/performance purists any day of the week!

It not like every one who (attempts) to own a “performance” sailboat ever actually gets to use it enough to actually get good at sailing it.
Sooo many “performance” sailboats just sit in the marina or on mooring balls the majority of the time awaiting the “perfect” conditions for a good sail… which generally coincides with not being available to take advantage of the occurrences. Then in salt or brackish water environments these “performance” sailboats develop a nice thick layer of marine growth that substantially reduces the aforementioned “performance”.

A purist dolt at the local marina party tried to make a snide remark that MacGregors weren’t ‘real sailboats’ to which I replied that his 36 foot sloop wasn’t either as it has spent most of its life the past several years traveling more distance vertically with the changing tides than it has horizontally under sail! After a long pause he cracked a smile and laughingly admitted that it was true! To which many of the other performance sailboat owners there also agreed that it sure is better to be out and about on the water enjoying a boat that stuck in a slip or tied to a mooring the majority of the time bobbing like a cork!

“Performance” is often grossly overrated and underutilized in most things in life. Hyper efficiency in just about anything is just a waste of time and resources in the real world. It seldom works out well for anyone in any endeavor. Those that attempt it in businesses repeatedly fail, those that attempt it in products find that their customers don’t like the lack of margin or capability’s in real world use, those that attempt it in personal life often find only frustration.

A real world environment in business, product and life requires margin and reserve capability that is adaptable to changing circumstances… the one constant life offers is ‘change’. Boating is like that too. The Mac offers a lot of margin and adaptability to changing circumstances on multiple levels as Mac owners are quick to recognize and utilize. Got a nice sunny pleasant weekend open but no wind… then go motoring! A good breezy day provides the opportunity to go sailing downwind as far as one likes without worrying about having to tack upwind as one can drop sails and motoring back at speed while enjoying the sunset. Having the space and options our Macs provide us with makes for a whole lot more use, fun and enjoyment.

But to each their own…..

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[kmclemore]

This should add fuel to the fire....

From:
https://greatlakesbikeskiboat.com/most- ... -sailboats

[Strange]

That guy gets it. And that table at the end tells the story. Exclude the first 4, and look at the average per year.

I’d say WE WIN!

Either that or we ARE (ugh!) CONFORMISTS,

[Russ]

This should add fuel to the fire....

From:
https://greatlakesbikeskiboat.com/most- ... -sailboats

It is fire but in a good way. Fair description of the Mac 26/X/M

The MacGregor 26 allowed owners to sail in the morning, motor at highway speeds in the afternoon, trailer the boat home at night, and avoid marinas entirely. It was a boat for families, inland sailors, and people who wanted versatility rather than purity. Critics focused on what it wasn’t; buyers focused on what it did. Selling roughly 38,000 units across its variants, the MacGregor 26 stands as one of the clearest examples of market reality beating tradition. Whether loved or hated, it got tens of thousands of people on the water—and that is the ultimate measure of popularity.

[NiceAft]

Two things we owners know:

(A) Our boats, in comfort, can go places where keel boats either can’t go, or go with difficulty.

(B) Our compromise boats have good resale value over the years.

But we already know all of this

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

I hope everyone’s coffee is as good as mine was today, heck, I hope it was even better!

The critics of a Swiss Army knife and a MacGregor 26 have a lot in common…
They haven’t really lived with either and found that having practical useful capability far outweighs singularity in real life.

A 12” Bowie knife might be considered a ‘real knife by some would be rednecks but unless one was really up to regularly planning on hand-to-paw combat with a grown bear it’s pretty much less than useless (even at dealing with a bear ). In real life I’ve found that brains, creativity, capability and adaptability consistently out performs brawn and singularity of function…. time and time and time again.

At our marina we are known to have the highest regular ‘getting out & about’ use rate of any boat berthed there (with the exception of the Tow-Boat franchise ( ) , the Dolphin Watch & Floating Tiki-Bar operators). This includes a lot of variety of boats ranging from a lot of 15-to-30 ft sport power boats, to 25-to-50 ft sailboats, to 25-to-45 ft cruisers (About 150+ boats). And we aren’t even really trying!

Our Mac26X is just so easy to use vs a lot of other boats. Our cabin let’s us stay out overnight, we have a generally civilized head, one can take a comfortable nap inside out of the sun while one captains the boat, the cockpit provides a nice wind break and comfortable seating, the high free board lets us manage the variety of waves and swells encountered, the stability is excellent (especially when the ballast is filled), the 60 hp outboard speed is adequate to get us to where we want to go, the ‘lack of draft’ lets us explore the shallow estuaries, when we have time we can go out regardless of the wind…. (But ya’ll already know all this ).

So like an experienced practical person I’d choose an appropriate Swiss Army Knife over a single purpose Bowie Knife type any day of the week and twice so if I was going hiking into the distant backwoods (like in my distant younger days ). Let the ‘would-bes’ lug around the useless oversized jewelry… I’ll use the knife to cut my rope, can opener to open my can, screwdrivers to tighten the screws, the file my fish hooks or take the burrs off things, use the tweezers to pull my splinters, the sewing awl to mend things, the saws to trim things, the fish hook puller when needed, etc… while the guy with the Bowie knife wanders around the woods trying to find a bear to fight with … while avoiding the DNR Rangers out there to protect the bears ( who want nothing to do with people +99.9% of the time ).

Best Regards,
Over Easy