Is the macgregor 26 on Sea really so bad as they say

[Tanqueray]

I did not own one, but I test sailed a 26x as I was thinking about purchasing a 26M.

A nice owner took me out on Lake Michigan on his 26x with a 20 or 30 HP outboard.

I don’t know what he did about ballast (this boat and the 26M use water ballast). I think he filled the ballast tank, but I am not sure.

We sailed some, and I thought the boat really bounced around in the waves.

We motored some and the boat would not get up on a plane and seemed to wallow in the waves under power.

The boats seem extremely lightly build (deck hardware,etc.).

In the end, I chose to not purchase a 26M, but my circumstances may be different than yours. I did not need a trailerable boat, and being on Lake Michigan, I wanted something more substantial.

Greg

[john61ct]

I thought it was clarified that the OP was not asking about the 26X/26M powerboats with sails, but the more actually sailboatish 26S

I could be wrong. . .

But the two types are so radically different, it's very confusing for one thread to mix discussions of both.

[Tanqueray]

Originally Posted by john61ct

I thought it was clarified that the OP was not asking about the 26X/26M powerboats with sails, but the more actually sailboatish 26S

I could be wrong. . .

But the two types are so radically different, it's very confusing for one thread to mix discussions of both.

Maybe so. Didn’t mean to further confuse things. I missed the clarification.

A earlier model 26 would certainly have different sailing characteristics. Can’t put a 50Hp outboard on it thought

Greg

[john61ct]

I believe the 26S continued production after the X was launched, maybe even concurrently with the M.

And yes, 10HP putt putt

[CF32907]

Hi all, CaptVR here again, just want to put a few things in proper light. I'll do this as a listing....
1. A Macgregor 26X has a PHRF of 220, this can very some depending on location in the states. A number of responses said with a high PHRF the boat does not point well, it is tender and don't sail well. The PHRF has nothing to do with these items, it is a handicaping system so all vessels racing has an even chance. Other vessels that have the same PHRF as the Mac26X are the Pearson 26's, Hunter 27's, SanJuan 24's, so what these people are telling you is that all these boats I've just listed are terrible sailing boats, same PHRF as the Mac26X... Macs sail just fine....The people making these comments need an education. I think most are jealous because they have no advantages that the Macs have
I've had mine over to Bahamas 4 times. Down to Haiti by way of Great Inagua and over to Cuba. Is my Mac26X standard, no lot of mods, went up to 5/32" standing rigging from 1/8. Split backstay with adjuster. Heavy cunningham, that will actually flatten the main.
All my trips in the upper and lower Caribbean have been safe and un-eventfull.
For those that say the boat is built light, including some owners. You have never built boats, you really don't know. The boat is built as heavy or heavier than your contemporary Hunter, Irwins, Catalinas. When you look at the weight, don't forget, you have to ad 1250lb's of water ballast to make up the ballasted weight of the other boats.
I've built 6 boats and 2 planes, I have inspected 1000's of boats for insurance companies.
Boats will put up with more than the people will. I don't understand that they believe there vessel is as fast in light air. Can't be guys. If your displacement is 3 ton means your pushing 3 tons of water out of your way moving forward, I have a semi planing hull, I get full advantage of the wind pushing my 3,500lb boat your sails have to move your boat and tons of water.
A displacement boat is not any safer than a shoal draft in ruff weather, in some cases they are more comfortable. Safety has nothing to do with it.
For those that say I wouldn't have a shallow draft. How about one of the most notable Ocean crossers, an Oyster 56, that is a shallow draft fin keel boat folks, it does just fine not being a displacement hull. It's also a couple million to own...
95% of the vessels safety and survivability is your Captains knowledge and 5% vessels construction. When I got my 200 ton license, I had verified 2000 sea days, and that was 30 years ago....
I had a 65' schooner "Altair" I sailed between Florida and Trinidad from 79 thru 86, took 7' of water just to float the boats.. I still checked weather and duck in holes along the way, you know, not one time did I say, weathers getting bad, lets go anyway and get the snot knocked out of us, no matter what boat you own, chose your weather.
My point being, I'm now retired, I wanted a boat easily trailered, easy to put up the rigging, out cruising and storms come up, run real fast (20kt's) to harbor, and with a foot draft, run into tide flats where I'm protected. Many times I'm having a cup of coffee inside a sand rift watching all these guys saying I don't have a real sailboat, while there bobbing up and down, bouncing off a shallow bottom not being able to hold onto a cup of coffee where there anchored.
I wouldn't trade my 26X for any of there boats, I'm a retired boat builder and marine surveyor of over 50 years. I'm 72 and very opinionated, of coarse being a marine surveyor, that's what I was paid for, my opinion.
Oh, by the way. The Mac26 hull deck joints are seal bonded and bolted 6 inch centers with 1/4" SS bolts. The Columbia's, Hunters, Irwins ETC, most are screwed together.
For a quick summation, if you want a great little boat that does things well, not great, but well. Is easy to trailer, rigging goes up quickly, save money with no dockage when not cruising.
Sail safe, don't care what make boat you have, use it and promote boating. Like a famous person told me, (mom) don't say bad things about folks and their boats. For the 1000's I've inspected, I would guarantee you that I can come up with many short coming on your vessel, regardless of the manufacturer.
Safe Sailing All: Capt Vince Rakstis, Ret St.Petersburg, Fl.

[CF32907]

Originally Posted by BayCoastal

I owned a MacGregor 26M for a couple of years and sailed it on the San Francisco Bay. I can say from experience it is not a great boat for strong winds or currents. It is very light so even though it will point high to the wind if there’s even modest current it’s hard to make progress. A positive is that they usually have 50 horse or more engines so it’s very easy to dodge weather if you need to or go to plan B to get where you're going. It would be much better as a lake boat.

The weight, length type have nothing to do with the tide carrying you. Your boat will move the same as a boat or a log. The current only relegates adjusted speed and direction over the bottom. A Mac wont be any different than any other boat in that existing current. Capt. Vince Rakstis, Ret.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

He's looking for a day trailer/sailer to play along Med beaches on nice days and go shallow up near beaches not a full keel heavyweight lump that needs a marina berth.

Full Keeled heavyweight lump or slug!? Thanks funny!

This just shows you the difference between folks that have actually sailed fast boats and those that haven't

All monohulls are heavyweight lumps or slugs to a beach cat racer that's used to speeds that peak in the mid 20's

Downwind with a spinnaker is quite the sleigh ride when your boat weighs 300 lbs and has the same sail area as a 6600 lb Bristol 27

So if a person with that experience decides to buy a monohull, it really doesn't matter whether it's top speed in 7 knots or 10 knots, it's still a heavyweight slug

My last beach cat was rev 1 of the Nacra F-17. (bought new in 2001) We didn't have the lifting boards then but could still hit mid 20's downwind with spinnaker. Plus they were singlehander boats back then meaning even lighter loads.

I had the optional jib that I used on distance races. Here's the latest version and it's trailerable!!

These boat also have many things you can learn to adjust for more speed starting with the rotating mast, downhaul handled from the trapeze, main and jib sheets handled from the trapeze, mast prebend that can be adjusted on the water, rudder alignment, mast rake, rig tension, batten thickness in jib and main, traveler location which can also be adjusted from the trapeze. Then since the Skipper and crew are the ballast that is also adjustable and very important. Never a dull moment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1rZUMkisjA&t=9s

Even the sloop rigged Hobie 16 can reach low 20's in the right conditions and is great family fun! Also comes with trailer and usually beach wheels

Kids will soon get bored quite quickly poking around at 4-7 knots on any trailerable monohull. Lets get real here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39YCsV1o49o&t=11s

[Moinak]

Having been a previous Mac owner, we sailed our Mac 25 almost exclusively in salt water. We sailed out of Valdez into the somewhat protected waters of the vast prince William sound. It was our first, learner sailboat. Number one disadvantage was, it is very tender. On a few occasions we simply could not sail. Raising the sails would simply lay us over to the point that it took the fun out of it. Weather helm was terrible in a stiff breeze, fighting the tiller constantly will get on your nerves in a hurry. To mitigate things, I rigged a down haul to the foresail and added a small storm jib. I also had a deep reef put into the main. This really helped a lot and allowed us to sail in a little more wind. Other than that it was a great learner. We often did multi day trips 20 to 30 miles out from any marina, easy to do in Alaska. Easy boat to handle in light to moderate wind, easy to maintain, and very easy on the pocket book.

[JBP]

No one has asked the most important MacGregor question, how often do you plan to launch it and what tow vehicle do you have? MacGregors excel at being the biggest easy to launch sail boat you can pull with an ordinary car. (The Hunter water ballast boats being similar) Yes, MacGregor made compromises in sailing qualities, sturdiness, and amenities to achieve this, but if you are going to launch 10 to 20 times a year, those may be compromises you are willing to deal with. My Jeanneau 23 costs less, sails better, weighs more on the trailer, has a taller, heavier mast which requires more work to raise, has a "real" head and galley, but it is a PAIN to launch and retrieve. I only do it once a year, so the sailing, build quality, and amenities were more important than easy launch/retrieve.

[Supers0nic]

Originally Posted by DanielCZ

Hello Everyone,
when it comes to trailerable sailers, the Macgregor 26 comes often to mind, but it seems to have a bad reputation. In a scenario of daysailing in the region of the Medditeran Sea, in coastal areas, how much sense does this boat make? I saw some as charter in Croatia, I heard of people who crossed from Italy to Greece with the boat, but at the same time more often this is reported to be a boat for lakes rather than sea, and as not sea worthy, does anyone has actual experience with the boat, was someone sailing, motosailing it in the Medditeran Sea? I understand its not a pure sailboat, nor is it rigid enough for rough conditions, its not about performance under sail, but rather as a family coastal boat and strictly as a daysailer, so only sailing when the weather forecast is good, and by evening safely anchored. Would be interested to know if this limited scenario is plausible with the MacGregor, or if even for this scenario the boat is just not suited, thanks.

I sailed with my father in law for quite a few years on his McGregor 26. Mostly on Fishers Island sound in Connecticut USA. We did encounter some heavy weather on several occasions and the boat handled it just fine. It sailed well and motored very well making it easy to outrun storms. Super easy to trailer and surprisingly large accommodations. Definitely a great boat for your intended use.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Full Keeled heavyweight lump or slug!? Thanks funny!

This just shows you the difference between folks that have actually sailed fast boats and those that haven't

All monohulls are heavyweight lumps or slugs to a beach cat racer that's used to speeds that peak in the mid 20's

Downwind with a spinnaker is quite the sleigh ride when your boat weighs 300 lbs and has the same sail area as a 6600 lb Bristol 27

So if a person with that experience decides to buy a monohull, it really doesn't matter whether it's top speed in 7 knots or 10 knots, it's still a heavyweight slug

My last beach cat was rev 1 of the Nacra F-17. (bought new in 2001) We didn't have the lifting boards then but could still hit mid 20's downwind with spinnaker. Plus they were singlehander boats back then meaning even lighter loads.

I had the optional jib that I used on distance races. Here's the latest version and it's trailerable!!

These boat also have many things you can learn to adjust for more speed starting with the rotating mast, downhaul handled from the trapeze, main and jib sheets handled from the trapeze, mast prebend that can be adjusted on the water, rudder alignment, mast rake, rig tension, batten thickness in jib and main, traveler location which can also be adjusted from the trapeze. Then since the Skipper and crew are the ballast that is also adjustable and very important. Never a dull moment!

Even the sloop rigged Hobie 16 can reach low 20's in the right conditions and is great family fun! Also comes with trailer and usually beach wheels

Kids will soon get bored quite quickly poking around at 4-7 knots on any trailerable monohull. Lets get real here.

Whatever..

[bcboomer]

@thomm

All really good points. And a Ferrari can outrun a motorhome!

Which one would be best for taking the family for a weeks holiday?

[Selah Way]

Originally Posted by DanielCZ

I would really like to get some first hand experience here, did some one owned, or still owns a Mac 26?

We have a Mac 26M. This is our 3rd summer with her. We do a lot of day cruising, but we have also sailed from Olympia almost to the San Juans. This year we plan to take her to the San Juans and up into Canada.


The Puget Sound is not as rough as the ocean, but we have hit some pretty rough weather and we are comfortable in our Mac. We saw the video above before purchasing our Mac 26, and have spoken with Roger MacGregor at length on the phone before he fully retired. I was impressed with his knowledge and skills as a sailor. He was very generous with his time on the phone, especially considering we purchased our Mac from her first owner and Roger had nothing to gain by spending his time with me.



BTW, the previous owners sailed her off the coast of California, so she has been on the ocean as well as Puget Sound.


I know that a lot of serious sailors don't think much of the MacGregor sailboats but we love ours. We've also noticed a change of attitude from some we've met along the way - once they've seen us sailing and also have spent time with us at anchor, they are more impressed than before.


When we first purchased her, we were totally new to the Mac 26M and we were hungry for any advice we could find. On one of the sailing forums (thankfully I don't recall which one) there was a discussion about how to install an anchor light since the mast is filled with styrofoam. One person responding said that he drilled into the mast bit by bit, and cleared out the styrofoam to thread the wiring for the light. In another discussion, someone said they cleared out the styrofoam under the V-Berth in order to make more storage. There is a reason it is there! She was designed not to sink, as other videos on YouTube will show you. So know what you are doing before deciding on any modifications. Yes, there are not a lot of frills that come with this boat. That's how Roger kept the price down. We've added a lot for our own comfort and she is uniquely ours.



We don't worry about what others think. We want to be out on the water. We want to sail. We love being able to motor at a good pace when there is no wind. We feel safe in her. And she sleeps all of us comfortably when we are out for more than a day. Hope this helps a bit.

[Agprice272]

Having a planing hull, I imagine it would pound when sailing a beat. It is so light, it just would have no drive through the waves on a beat either. With the high, straight freeboard, hard chines, and lack of rocker, I bet it would heel hard. Pounding really is the most fatiguing action for me on a boat. I think you could motor out of the way of most bad weather.

I would stick with daysailing or short, island hops.

[boatman61]

The great thing about chines is they go over then the chine bites and away you go..
Thats why the French love em, plus they're easier to build.