MacGregorSailors.com

This is crazy! I've been Mac bitten again when I thought I was done!

I sold our 26X Loala a year ago and I seem to have gotten the itch again. But I don't want another 26 tub. Now I'll admit that my family did have a lot of fun fishing and cruising around the lake but I couldn't get it to go faster than about 9-11 mph downwind. So my question is what is the fastest 25-26 Mac that was made? In looking at some used 25 ft Macs I've seen some swingkeels that had ballast and some that did not. Are those without the ballast faster because of the hull design and heavier keel? (Just guessing here...)

Or was the 26S the fastest?

Anyone with experience know?

Obviously I'm not attracted to cats.

TIA

The Macgregor 65/70's are the fastest, but probably not what you are looking for. Second best is the 26D.

~Rich

Thanks Rich!

How do I identify a 26D?

A lot of ads on Craigslist just say MacGregor 25 or 26 ft sailboat for sale.

Is there a window configuration or something that would indicate the "D"?

The D had the single window right?

Yeah if I remember right that one has the nice lines on the bottom....

Hmmmm......

The D model that has the M style daggerboard, was made from 1987 thru '89. in 1990, they changed to the S model, or X style centerboard.

~Rich

26D Brochure

26S Brochure

~Rich

Rich,

Is it believed that the 26 D or S are faster than the Mac 25's?

Wish I knew where to find the PHRF ratings & could see for myself...

Found something on the net says PHRF on the 26 is 233 and the 25 is 232.

Hmmm.....

Nice!

Thank you!

Loala, Just because I named my Boat Hot Tub, doesn't refer to Just Tub. I Like to think it as a Tub that can go fast under most condition ,as in motering or Sail.
As to your question, it depends on your water depth and that will relate to the daggerboard or swing Keel. I would say the Mac.D would win over Deep waters and The Mac.S over shallow waters such as SW Florida.
Dave
PS: You won't get the D or S over 9 mph. , maybe for a few seconds surfing down a 6-10 ft. wave.

Loala wrote:This is crazy! I've been Mac bitten again when I thought I was done!

I sold our 26X Loala a year ago and I seem to have gotten the itch again. But I don't want another 26 tub. Now I'll admit that my family did have a lot of fun fishing and cruising around the lake but I couldn't get it to go faster than about 9-11 mph downwind. So my question is what is the fastest 25-26 Mac that was made? In looking at some used 25 ft Macs I've seen some swingkeels that had ballast and some that did not. Are those without the ballast faster because of the hull design and heavier keel? (Just guessing here...)

Or was the 26S the fastest?

Anyone with experience know?

Obviously I'm not attracted to cats.

TIA

From what I've heard, the D has a slight edge in speed over the S because the daggerboard leaves a much smaller hole in the bottom of the boat to create drag - much smoother bottom than the S even with the keel tucked up there...I can see that. However, the D boat also has a daggerboard trunk in the cabin at the end of the galley, and the S doesn't. We picked an S because of what Dave said, sailing in Florida waters where there are shallows and oyster bars and manatees and such...want the keel to swing up out of the way instead of sticking in the mud...

The 25 may actually be nearly as fast as the two 26's because it isn't water ballast, and overall weight is probably significantly lower - like 500-600 pounds. If I remember what I read, the keel on the 25 weighs in the neighborhood of 600#, and the water ballast taken on by the D/S weighs about 1200# - has to be more weight on the D/S because the weight doesn't stick down as far in the water (less righting moment). So that difference in weight under sail, not to mention the weight associated with the extra foot of boat, the added weight of a keel and hardware on the D/S boats...and I'd bet there is a significant difference in weight between the two boats when configured for sailing! This is easy enough to check out by looking at the brochures...

But also, as Dave said, hull speed on either the D or S is still ~6.5-7 kts max...

If you want really fast, go with a catamaran - MacGregor made the 36 which was a 20-kt-plus boat in good winds...!!
I'm thinking about buying one of those later on just for the fun of it! (but don't tell the Admiral!)

TIA,

I did exactly the same thing. Sold my X-boat and lasted about a year. I then picked up a 26D.

You are talking fastest under sail, correct?

The 26D, without a doubt, the fastest trailer-able Macgregor mono-hull ever built. This is the dagger-board model, I'm speaking of. The 26S is a very close second (swing up centerboard model) and I've had a couple of them clean my clock before. (although I blame the skipper, more than my boat for these events)

I absolutely love the 26D, not only because it is a fairly fast boat, but it surprises me every time I sail that the D-boat is so responsive. She'll tell you immediately if she likes your sail trim, or not.
Another thing I like about the D boat (and this, likely, goes for the S too). She is a very quiet boat. She doesn't sound like Niagara falls at the stern, when she gets some speed and she barely leaves a wake.

I never could get used to the wheel steering on the X. I thought it would be cool, but then I found myself missing the tiller. I get good feedback from a tiller and have a better sense of the steering, particularly during tacks.

And, for towing, launching and recovery, the boat is a true pleasure. The dry weight is around 1600 pounds, so with trailer you're looking at maybe 2100 something. Add in my gear and my GMC Sierra 1500 barely know it's pulling anything.
When towing from Southern California, to Lake Mead Nevada, I get 15mpg

So................ if you don't mind the lack of standing head room (although the pop top helps this) and you don't care how fast you can go under power, the 26D is probably the simplest and best trailerable, ever built. (I've owned a non Macgregor trailerable sailboat also, so have some experience here).

I've had my 26D for around 5 or 6 years now and have no plans to ever get rid of her.

Best breezes,
Steve K.
Mac 26D "Three Sheets"

I've had my 26S with the swing centerboard for 14 years. I am a "newbie" to this forum, although years ago I used to follow the e-mail lists, until I ran into too many "flamers" - keelboat sailors who told us we were crazy and would all kill ourselves with our water ballast, plus a few Mac owners who were just plain rude.
Just to add my 2 cents to this discussion about speed: I believe that for any "displacement" boat (one that doesn't "plane" above the water) there is a "hull speed" which is the maximum speed the boat will go no matter how much power you add, and mostly this maximum depends on the length of the boat on the waterline. Adding more power just causes to bow to rise and the stern to sink, in effect digging a deeper "hole" in the water. Of course, there is an occasional exception when the boat will partially "plane out" while riding down the surface of a following wave. For my Mac, the hull speed is probably about 7 to 7 1/2 knots, maybe 8 1/2 to 9 mph. I've seen it go up to about 10.5 mph when I've had 4-ft following waves on Lake Erie.

And we wouldn't be complete if we didn't point out that the blue hulls, especially Quebec's shiny mirror-like version, are faster than the white ones!

vizwhiz wrote:And we wouldn't be complete if we didn't point out that the blue hulls, especially Quebec's shiny mirror-like version, are faster than the white ones!

...when being towed by an