MacGregorSailors.com

Ok hello everyone! Im thinking of buying a macgregor 26x/m and would like some questions answered!

Ok i like the macgregor 26 because ;

it looks good, it sails and powers, you can take it in shallow water, you can beach it, You can trailer it, it has more berth than other boats its size.

Right now the questions.

1. First and formost i see a lot of sailers on other forums slagging off these boats sailing abilities but not specifically saying where it fails! They say it is not safe ofshore or in any kind of rough weather etc. Further supporting this is the fact that people on this site seem to be incredibly scared of inclement weather conditions, all talking of how they had to power home fast!
Why is this? where does it fail when other similarly sized boats can survive? After all trailer sailers of this size have crossed the atlantic etc. So what happens to this boat in the rough or high winds? Why is it anymore dangerous than a conventional trailer sailer?

2. It is claimed that this boat can do 25 mph with a 50hp engine and can pull most any water skiier! Surely this must be wrong! I have a 115hp on my 6m rib weighing almost half this boat and can only just break 30mph. Also i did have a 4m rib with a 50hp and i could only tow a sub 10 stone skiier! So how can this 3000lb boat get 25mph and tow adult skiiers!?
experiences please!

3. It is claimed that this boat can be trailed by a regular family car. I own a volvo v70 2.5 l turbo petrol car and here in the uk that is a big family car. Will this tow a macgregor 26? I doubt it. Anyone know?

Ok , rant over all answers and experiences will be greatly recieved! Thanks

SEARCH this website. These questions have been answered before, many times...

1. It is not more dangerous than any other trailer sailer. But, then most people wouldn't seriously consider taking any trailer sailer on a major crossing. The thing to keep in mind is that trailer sailers, Mac includes, are just not designed for that. Can they be modified for that? Could yet get lucky? Sure...

2. A typical Mac will not do 25 mph with only 50hp. Ok, you might if you stripped the boat, but that won't likely be the way you use it. People have, however, skied behind a Mac with a 50hp. Personally, I can't see that being as much fun as skiing behind a Mac with a 90hp, which will get you over 25mph, even with the mast up...

3. Can it be done? Sure, people have launched this boat with incredible small cars. Would I do it? NO! Is it going to be hard on the car? YES! Longer wheel base vehicles would be better from a stability standpoint. Also, and maybe the biggest issue, you have to stop all that weight somehow. If your trailer has brakes, this is somewhat less of a problem, but your Volvo was not designed to stop that much boat...

enw wrote: Further supporting this is the fact that people on this site seem to be incredibly scared of inclement weather conditions, all talking of how they had to power home fast!
Why is this? where does it fail when other similarly sized boats can survive? After all trailer sailers of this size have crossed the atlantic etc. So what happens to this boat in the rough or high winds? Why is it anymore dangerous than a conventional trailer sailer?

I do not think "incredibly scared" is the right term for what I have seen on this board. Many Mac owners buy for pleasure sailing and power cruising. The fact that you have the option to motor out of bad weather is probably just an option that is used out of experience. The Mac can handle bad weather but why stay in it when you do not have to? I have been in some rough weather that turned even worse in other sailboats where I did not have the option to motor away from it. I would not want to put my family through that when it is avoidable.

The 26M sails a bit better than the X, but it has so much freeboard to get 6' standing headroom that you really have a more difficult time sailing upwind than other similar sized boats. Many Mac 26's have sailed the many Alaskan narrows. Some would rather do these in a Mac than other "pure" sailboats, because of the ability to power through the tides. As for offshore: I wouldn't want to cross the ocean in a J-24, or Catalina 22, either? Remember that a J-24 sank in the nationals last year. Macs have positive flotation. The Mac does not come with the full roached mainsail, electronics, and other goodies that 20'+ sportboats, and Hunters or Santana's come with. You pay for that stuff too. The Mac's 1450 lbs. of ballast is a lot to try to race with, and is too high to be as effective as a 600 lb. bulb keel below the surface, not to mention the extra engine weight. The Mac heels easily initially , but then stiffens up at 10-25 degrees for some exciting sailing. The sides of the Mac are very thin above the waterline, but the lay-up work is excellent. Good fibreglass lay-up requires rolling polyester into woven cloth layers. A 1/2" of single layer chop spray is not as strong as a 1/4" of hand rolled resin. This is something Roger Macgregor does right. His claims of ease and speed are exagerrated generally, and the quality of finish is lower than Hunter's, but I believe the hidden stuff he does right: Deck to hull, and so on. It is not a small bluewater cruiser like a Flicka, or Ranger, but try parking one of those in your garage.

Hello enw,

If you're in the UK, get a boat that's made over there. Shipping is too high from California.

The boat won't go 25mph with a 50hp motor. However, it will do 24mph if you take everything off, including the sink stoppers, and have it piloted by a 10 year old Mexican kid with a bottle of beer. It can pull a water skier off a dock if he has two large skis and if he isn't too fat. (BTW, how much does a stone weigh?)

We are incredibly scared of weather because of the odd chance of taking a lightening strike on the noggin. We race for shore to get home and watch HBO reruns.

The Mac sails all right unless you are in a race with different types of boats. In tight quarters, one gets the sensation of going backwards.

One wouldnt want to cross oceans with this boat because huge waves would knock the windows in, it would fill up with water, and then you would starve to death. Even if the weather was nice, it would take too long and you would probably starve to death.

The boat can be trailered for several hundred yards with a Ford Torus. For longer trips, people use SUVs and pickups. Not sure about a turbo petrol car.

People have, however, skied behind a Mac with a 50hp. Personally, I can't see that being as much fun as skiing behind a Mac with a 90hp, which will get you over 25mph, even with the mast up...

wouldnt this invalidate insurance and warranties? I thought it had a 50hp official limit? Can it handle a 90hp?

thanks for the replies everyone and keep them comming

enw

Greetings from across the pond...

- Many of the people posting bought the Mac as their first boat (myself included) and are more safety concious than someone who has keel boated for 30 years. Note that you dont discuss running for shore on a keel boat forum because you basically cant do it..at 5 mph, outrunning a Tstorm just isnt happening.

The Mac does not point into wind too well....something like 45-50 degrees at best without Mods.

- Our friends in the UK are used to towing with a lot less HP and vehicle than US, and usually for shorter distances. Turns out I towed Catigale with our Volvo V70 2.3L estate for the first year - towing was fine, launching was ok, retrieving the boat was difficuly - this was a manual transmission model - an automatic would have been much better. Im still on the original clutch on that vehicle (now at 160,000 km) but am amazed by that..I only towed it to our local launch, about 10 miles away on country roads.

You MUST have surge brakes on this combination in my opinion.

If you're in the UK, get a boat that's made over there. Shipping is too high from California.

sloop. We have a delar in the uk, they are just alot more expensive over here ( i suppose about $38000 for the basic boat which is $19000 over there!). Do you know how much shipping is to the uk? However even at this ridiculously inflated uk price the mac is still cheap when compared to similar trailer sailers!

Greetings catigale and thanks for the towing info. Do you know what the offdicial towing limit for you volvo is?

Thankyou everyone also for the sailing info.

With respect to the 90hp post earlier i would very much like to hear from those aho have used engies over 50hp and those who know whether it is recommended and invalidates insurance and warranties.

enw:

Plenty of great material on this forum. Spend some time reading and you will be rewarded or entertained at the least.

Most who bash these versatile boats are inexperienced with modern, light, trailerable motor/sailboats. The MacGregor meets most of the manufacturers claims, but then Roger never mentioned crossing the pond. I dont think most experienced Mac owners are willing to ride out dangerous storms or risk their lives and boat with such foolish thinking. We all hear claims of stretching the proverbial Nats behind over a rain barrel but some sober investigation will render more truthful results. Many on this board have extensive experience with multiple MacGregor Models, and are willing to share the best and better of owning a Mac.

90 hp topic

enw - let us talk reality here. Almost ALL boats do not want to go out in 20+ knots winds. Yes, some people have taken there Mac's out in 35 miles per hour winds. I really do not want to and with good judgement, you don't have to. Like you mentioned, compaired to what? A proven blue water cruiser? A Hunter 25? The weak points, like other boats, are the daggerboard and the swing rudders. Not really supprising is it. How weak? Almost all boats have NEVER had them broken. These are coastal boats. Almost always used for weekends, not full time cruising.
on edit: I worry about my rudders when at the dock because I have hit them before when up and dragging the bottom. I have also cut mud with the daggerboard while at anchor. I think that this is where most of the damage comes from and with them down over 5 mph.

Speed is as noted as above. You can set the motor up for cruising or speed. Mine is set for cruising 14 X 10 SS prop Mer 50ph bigfoot. Top speed 17 miles per hour loaded for 1 week cruising. With this prop, gas milage is good at cruising speeds of 5 mph. I get over 12 to 14 miles per gal. This is about as good as it gets. On my 850 mile Florida loop cruise, about 3/4 of it I could not go over 8 mph. This was due to sea conditions, weather or speed restrictions.

Sailing into the wind she is not good. To much above water and not enough below. Down wind, powering, at anchor for a weekend or longer, Can't beat it. An inexpensive, easily to maintain and cheep to use boat for its size and class. Great boat for shallow water. You can motor in 1/2 m and anchor in less than 1/3 m.

Towing. The bigger the better as noted above.

My view.... A naval architect that builds long distance heavy trawlers and well known sail cruisers told me once that all cruising boats fall into two categories... they bob like a cork or they wallow like a log. Both are completely safe if the boat is built and outfitted correctly. People that spend $300K to $900K on a cruise boat usually also want every home appliance known to man aboard because they value comfort more than most. For them the boat that wallows in a blow is better, because it's more comfortable, especially if you are not out in an open cockpit, but buttoned up nicely in a pilot house or salon. For those more economy minded, or those that like to go fast when the weather is good., they will put up with the ocassional discomfort of a rough weather passage to get what they really want... speed, economy, or maybe more options for haul out in foreign marinas.

I can see where the above architect is coming from, even if it might be oversimplified slightly. I've had the X out in 40 mph winds gusting to 50 from a downburst in the Gulf of Mexico, not on purpose but in an unforecast storm front. It was rough, but tolerable, and nothing broke on the X or her crew. The X is a bobber, she floated high on breaking waves, never plunged through them, or took any over the transom when we finally furled and ran for an inlet under power.

Prudent seamanship, with the exception of certain long distance racers, requires that skippers avoid rough weather if possible, simply brecause it accelerates the wear and tear on rigging both running and standing, and it increases the chance of accidental injury to the crew. Mac sailors may be smarter than most if they understand when to come in out of the rain as it were, by limiting their heavy weather exposure to the amount they are comfortable with, and the confidence they have in the comfort of thier crew. That says nothing about any limitations of the boat itself. Macgregor boats may be great survivors in a hurricane at sea ... I just don't want to find out myself... and have heard no storm reports of such. Doesn't mean it can't happen. The boats are very light in places, heavy in others, but it all adds up to strength where it's needed. With the ballast on board they will be self righting.

Other boat owner groups are just flat out envious of our Mac's capabilities. Many of us have moved down in size and amenities from much larger boats to appreciate the capabilites and the perhaps untested potentials of the boat. Other boats were designed with water ballast to be more trailerable, but the Mac does that is designed and built for speed too.

Your tow vehicle needs to weigh at least as much as the boat, be capable of carrying a 350 lb tongue weight. Should have a heavy duty radiator, bigger althernator, and transmisison oil cooler. AWD or 4x4 is a definite advantage with a marginal vehicle when towing on soft surface, or up a wet ramp. Trailer brakes are a necessity for the lighter vehicle for safe over the road travel.

Wow - you got lots of great feedback there, newbie ... welcome! The only thing I'll add is about your question on horsepower.

Search on the terms [90 hp], click the All Words button, and read for hours.
Other useful searches would be on [reinforced transom] or [oversized].