Macintosh 47

[Jim Jones]

I am interested in buying a Macintosh 47. There doesn't seem to be much out there about these boats.

From what I have read about them these are a solid boat.

Any known trouble or weak spots on these boats? Anything to particularly look out for?

Any issues ever reported on thier keels? Should the keel be taken off to make sure everything is good ? A bit of preventive maintenance goes a long way so I dont mind spending the money to take the keel off to make sure its all good down there. Any thoughts about taking the keel off? Worthy to do or not?

Standing rigging on this boat was replaced in 2018. Overhauled engine with 1500 hours, so that appears solid.

What should i be looking at in terms of trouble spots?

[Jim Jones]

Lots of googling and digging to find out any info on these boats. Again not much out there. Not a lot of them built so thats why I guess.

The boat I am looking at is listing as "Shoal Draft Version" - 5ft8".

Other Mac 47's list the draft as 6ft. Is 4" draught between one and the other enough to call one a "a shoal draft" and the other a "deep draught". Technically yes one is 4" shallower.....but seems very little to have this so called distinction between the various hulls out there - few as they are.

I am wondering if there is any difference really - maybe the people measuring the draught of their boat are slightly off. 4" seems very small to have two different versions of the same hull. What do the pros think about this aspect ?

[Jim Jones]

Well this is not going well....... no one knows anything.

[Jon Neely]

I was told this by an owner but this is not first hand experience.
From what I was told the Mac 47 or atleast the ones built after 87 where built in the taiwanese yard of Hansa schiffbau. The only other boats to be made at this yard where Hans Christian 33 which is what we own. Hc33s where built here up to 87. When Hans Christian moved production to shin fa the guys at Hansa wanted to captiolize on the booming performance cruiser market so they built the MacIntosh. The Hansa yard is considered by most who have actually worked on the boats including myself to be the best quality production boats ever to leave the east. I have worked extensively on boats from the Hansa, shin fa, ta shing, king dragon, tayana and cheoy lee yards and I can say the Hansa craftsmanship and choice of material is the best by a good margin. Now with all of that said this is just what I was told, I have never gotten on a Mac 47 to confirm this but after a little digging this seems to hold water for any boat built 87 or after. For this reason I would give the Mac 47 more interest than most due to the superior yard that made it. I hope this helps.

[flee27]

Yacht World list one for sale in Greece. 110K seems cheap for a boat of this assumed caliber. Also assuming this boat is in decent shape.

Good Luck in hour search.

Foster

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Jim Jones

Lots of googling and digging to find out any info on these boats. Again not much out there. Not a lot of them built so thats why I guess.

The boat I am looking at is listing as "Shoal Draft Version" - 5ft8".

Other Mac 47's list the draft as 6ft. Is 4" draught between one and the other enough to call one a "a shoal draft" and the other a "deep draught". Technically yes one is 4" shallower.....but seems very little to have this so called distinction between the various hulls out there - few as they are.

I am wondering if there is any difference really - maybe the people measuring the draught of their boat are slightly off. 4" seems very small to have two different versions of the same hull. What do the pros think about this aspect ?

sailboat data shows deep draft of 7.33 ft, which would be 1.6' less than the shoaldraft. I wonder if the builders were flexible about what draft buyers wanted.

I remember seeing one of these boats and thought it looked pretty good. A very moderate performance cruising boat from a good yard. $110,000 for one of these seems very low if it is in good condition might ba quite a bargain.

[wingssail]

After reviewing the Yacht World listing for the boat in Greece, it seems like a lot of boat for that price. Obvious fomr the photos it is a former "world cruiser" which is undergoing some refurb to enhance its saleability.

One suspects that most of the equipment is well used but probably quite operational.

As for checking the keel:

A good boat yard could unbolt the keel and lift the boat clear for an inspection of the bolts.

I personally feel that a boat this well built probably has a strong keel attachment. One could remove and inspect the nuts on each keel bolt (one by one) and look for any hints. Close inspection of the hull and hull keel joint and looking for signs of previous hard grounding is warrented. (part of a good survey)

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by Jon Neely

I was told this by an owner but this is not first hand experience.
From what I was told the Mac 47 or atleast the ones built after 87 where built in the taiwanese yard of Hansa schiffbau. The only other boats to be made at this yard where Hans Christian 33 which is what we own. Hc33s where built here up to 87. When Hans Christian moved production to shin fa the guys at Hansa wanted to captiolize on the booming performance cruiser market so they built the MacIntosh. The Hansa yard is considered by most who have actually worked on the boats including myself to be the best quality production boats ever to leave the east. I have worked extensively on boats from the Hansa, shin fa, ta shing, king dragon, tayana and cheoy lee yards and I can say the Hansa craftsmanship and choice of material is the best by a good margin. Now with all of that said this is just what I was told, I have never gotten on a Mac 47 to confirm this but after a little digging this seems to hold water for any boat built 87 or after. For this reason I would give the Mac 47 more interest than most due to the superior yard that made it. I hope this helps.

great information there, thanks very much.

I keep hearing the same thing - these Mac's were made very well and solid.

I have bought Hull no.4 - its a 1987 Hull. So called shallow draft of 5ft 8".

Deal is done subject to survey being good.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by wingssail

sailboat data shows deep draft of 7.33 ft, which would be 1.6' less than the shoaldraft. I wonder if the builders were flexible about what draft buyers wanted.

I remember seeing one of these boats and thought it looked pretty good. A very moderate performance cruising boat from a good yard. $110,000 for one of these seems very low if it is in good condition might ba quite a bargain.

This is the Mac 47 I have bought. It is hull no.4. Survey will be done soon but we have agreed on terms and everything surrounding it as long as the survey is good.

I missed that sailboat data of the draft. Will have to go back and look again. I like the layout of this boat. This is the 3rd different layout I have seen of the Mac 47. The interior of this boat needs some work - got some water staining on her here and there and some general scuffs around the wood work. I plan to take all the varnish off, sand it all down and re-varnish the interior wood work.

I am also planning to take the keel off - so far no one recommends this but I want to be sure. I have no experience at this but I would think that at 35 years old taking the keel off for an inspection and reseating/sealing with modern sealants would be no bad thing?

I am going to get the mast stepped so we can check everything to do with the mast and replace whatever needs it.

Finally I am going to do a complete makeover on the electronics - replace everything with 2021 electronics package and NEMA 2000 backbone through the boat.

Then I will be heading down the Red Sea and onto the East coast of Africa.

[Jon Neely]

Sounds good. I didn't know they had bolt on ballast. How acceable are the keel bolts? Having lowered on keel on a 28' I can tell you that it's no small feat. The biggest problem was to get the thing to let go. Might be easier on a boat with more ballast. I lowed our first boats keel to check the studs. Lowered it on hydraulic jacks. When you stand the boat use the jacks and a large plate of metal at their full extension so you have room to lower under the keel. Use as many stands as possible to support the boat. Otherwise I have seen boats lifted off their keel in a travel lift, probably with a boat of this size that would be the better method. Keep us looped into the process.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by Jon Neely

Sounds good. I didn't know they had bolt on ballast. How acceable are the keel bolts? Having lowered on keel on a 28' I can tell you that it's no small feat. The biggest problem was to get the thing to let go. Might be easier on a boat with more ballast. I lowed our first boats keel to check the studs. Lowered it on hydraulic jacks. When you stand the boat use the jacks and a large plate of metal at their full extension so you have room to lower under the keel. Use as many stands as possible to support the boat. Otherwise I have seen boats lifted off their keel in a travel lift, probably with a boat of this size that would be the better method. Keep us looped into the process.

The plan is to take her into Turkey for a refit. Will take the keel off there and also step the mast - will find a yard with good rep to do the work. Wondering if peeling the hull and putting a VE coat on her or even an epoxy coat would be worth considering? Turkey would be the right place to do this for cost reasons + the skill set to do it right. If I did peel the hull it is purely for longevity reasons - saves doing it 10 years down the road - this is my forever boat - I wont be changing boats so want to take the time to do it right and make her as stout as I can within reason.

I saw another Mac 47 that had its hull peeled and coated with VE - I thought that, that sounded like a good idea. Clearly someone else did too. Maybe they had a problem to fix and my hull doesn't need it - will see when I get there. Beyond that i dont think there is much else to do to her.

I plan on flying up there soon to take delivery.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Jim Jones

The plan is to take her into Turkey for a refit. Will take the keel off there and also step the mast - will find a yard with good rep to do the work. Wondering if peeling the hull and putting a VE coat on her or even an epoxy coat would be worth considering? Turkey would be the right place to do this for cost reasons + the skill set to do it right. If I did peel the hull it is purely for longevity reasons - saves doing it 10 years down the road - this is my forever boat - I wont be changing boats so want to take the time to do it right and make her as stout as I can within reason.

I saw another Mac 47 that had its hull peeled and coated with VE - I thought that, that sounded like a good idea. Clearly someone else did too. Maybe they had a problem to fix and my hull doesn't need it - will see when I get there. Beyond that i dont think there is much else to do to her.

I plan on flying up there soon to take delivery.

Congratulations and good luck!

[Gone Gypsy]

Congrats!
You have purchased a boat with good bones. We own the last in Machintosh series, #16. This is an encapsulated lead keel. No bolts. Our boat is the ‘deep’ draft at 6’4”. Best to use 6’6” for navigation or berthing. Send me a PM with contact info. We are connected to a couple other owners. It’s a small club!
Mike

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Congratulations and good luck!

Thanks for your well wishes.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by SJ2581

Congrats!
You have purchased a boat with good bones. We own the last in Machintosh series, #16. This is an encapsulated lead keel. No bolts. Our boat is the ‘deep’ draft at 6’4”. Best to use 6’6” for navigation or berthing. Send me a PM with contact info. We are connected to a couple other owners. It’s a small club!
Mike

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your msg. I will send you a PM.