MacGregorSailors.com

I think many of these mod suggestions are excellent, but I also disagree with making the Mac something it is not. When you start talking about adding a fixed keel, that is just taking it too far IMO.

I replaced a traditional keelboat with my 26X. The O'day was just a little bit longer and beamier but the overall density of the boat was substantially more, about double really. Double sized mast, rigging, heavier sails, thicker fiberglass in many areas, etc.

I ended up with a Mac for three major reasons:

1. Shallow Draft - for Florida waters. My O'day had a wing keel but still drew about 3 ft. Sure, it pointed upwind better and was much less tender.. but I had a couple times I got grounded which weren't much fun. You never get stuck in a Mac but as everyone knows, the stock CB and rudders are not very strong and would not survive heavy weather for long.
2. Fast Outboard powersailor - A 50HP Outboard is great for coastal cruising, but you may not be outrunning pirates with it either, not like a fast cruise ship that can still go more than twice as fast. But when you start talking fuel consumption for Ocean voyages, you probably can't afford to stow (or pay for) the amount of gas that outboards, especially the big outboards would need to burn up on long distances. My inboard 10HP motor in the O'day got about 25 nmpg of diesel (almost a whole order of magnitude less fuel consumption than a 50HP)..and you sure don't have to worry about the prop ever coming out of the water since it is a few feet forward of the stern instead of behind it like with an outboard.
3. Lightweight and easily trailerable - I think the O'day weighed right about double the 26X and still isn't really considered a great bluewater boat which likely would be even heavier. Also, I would never think of singlehandedly stepping the O'day mast like I can do so easily with the Mac.

So I think once you start seriously compromising these three design principles, you may as well outfit a different boat which was designed that way to begin with.

And as other folks mentioned, the nice big open 26X cabin which is great for coastal cruising with my big family of 6....lacks the stiffness an Oceangoing boat should have with its thicker glass and structural bulk heads.

My 26X is the greatest and most versatile family cruising boat I have ever seen..which is perfect for coastal cruising. But why try to turn it into a blue water cruiser when it would be so much easier (and probably less expensive) to just buy a blue water boat to begin with?

Bill Teplow encountered no adverse weather (aside from becalming) on his 24 day trip in the Potter. Doing the trip in a Mac would have been a piece of cake.

So your point is, if you're blessed with good weather the Mac might have made it. But since you can't predict weather 24 days in advance, you're trusting the situation to good luck. Same whether you're in a Mac or a Potter, BTW.

The fact that somebody's done it in conditions which turned out to be favorable, without killing themselves does not make it any less foolhardy.

Let the flames begin.

To my mind, there isn't much that simply isn't possible...

The rest is just a risk v reward calculation which is very personal and therefore results in a different answer for each of us.

There is one other factor, of course, that is knowledge. For example, I don't know enough about open ocean passages to actually run the numbers, so to speak... Sure, I can think about what I'd need to eat/drink/sleep, etc., for X days. But, I can't speak to the risks of failure of components, which I'd guess is among the biggest risk factors... So, I simply can't adequately calculate risk.

Quite frankly, personally, I can't see the reward being worth the risk enough to even care to "run the numbers"...

I'd be quite happy crusing the Bahamas for a week or two...

Around and around we go.

Until the day someone risks his or her life sailing the mac across to Hawai'i, or some other place of equal danger, all this speculation is talking heads!!

Maddmike said he'll be sailing to Hawai'i in June. The best of all weather to him.

Please keep in touch. Many of us are really interested in a trip like that. I will be watching for your website. Good Luck, God bless.

The stock 26M, I do not think, can handle that kind of stress. You will have to do some major mods. Please let us know what is done.

Some people do not have the "Blue Water" days needed. Their are several ASA schools that offer Offshore Passagemaking (ASA 108) on their own boat. "A 10 day passage of 900 nautical miles from Ft. Lauderdale to the magical island of Bermuda, and then return." $ 3,595 Here is a link http://www.bwss.com/bermuda99.html
I am very much interested on making the Mac a stronger boat.

I guess I dont see the 'reward' aspect of trips like this - but I appreciate the poster above who pointed out this is a very personal thing

It doesnt prove anything about the boat or crew if you make this trip, so I guess people who feel they get some reward from this are talking about something else I dont get.

Please keep us posted as to your progress. We take the Mac out into rough weather but haven't got the guts to go too much further than 20-30 miles offshore.

Bill Smith

Guts....says you...brains....says I!

But hey...many people call me crazy every day....and that makes me feel good.....Fair winds

I'll bet if we were all honest...we'd admit that we've all thought how great it would be to just start sailing and keep going. I think most people have an adventurous spirit but dont have the nerve so when someone actually talks about doing it we get defensive. There are those who bungie jump, hang glide, and all those exciting things and many call them nuts. The ones I think are crazy are the ones who drive to work everyday in rushhour traffic.

Dont let anyone run you out of here. I am dying to hear about the plans and trip.,

I don't know if I would necessarily call it nerve....more like time in a lot of cases...related to the "age of responsibility". Pretty much once you settle down and start a family, you've thrown out any such possibilities until you are retired (don't recall Lin and Larry Pardey ever having any children for example). And once you are retired, you are typically getting on in years and not as confident of your personal physical abilities to make such a trip. Of course, that is a big generality and there are plenty of "mature" folks making adventures like this. I hope I am up to it in 15 or so years! (although likely in a bigger boat than a Mac) But lets face it, its a vicious trade-off...if you can make a trip like this in your twenties, you have the physical ability but not enough experience. Do it in your sixties, and its vice versa.

In the mean time, I like to think of myself "practicing" for the big one in my Mac with all the kids, and the short coastal events that we can fit into our ridiculously busy lifestyle.

With this thread I have to keep coming back to the "Silk purse from a sows ear" post.

It is certainly do-able to sail a Mac around the globe. No argument there. What I have a problem with is the shopping list of mods that seem to be being presented in a manner that "seems" to disregards the wisdom of economy.

Kinda like spending $26,000 to restore a 1986 Chrysler Le baron. Why not just go buy a 300 m. Granted I spent around $3500 restoring a 1976 MG Midget, Plus the $1500 purchase price (20 years ago). But I see it as a 5k investment that kept me from having to buy the boss a Mustang 5.0 convertable.



Bottom line is its not my money, but I cant concieve of how someone would arrive at a Macgregor as the best suited boat for circumnavigation wether based on price (before and after outfitting) or capability.(before and after outfitting)

I am compelled to repeat, I find it mildly disturbing that the laundry list of mods is being presented or accepted as rational course of behavior/thinking. My vote is that this is a fun ruse. Just my opinion and by god y'all are entitled to it.