Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 22 by David Sylvestre

Year built	1973
Location of boat	Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2004
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, it is a good entry-level cruiser for someone who does not want to spend a ton of $$ of pay for marina slips, haulings, etc. It's a great boat for keeping on a shallow water mooring. It faster than it looks, too. I've had it over 6 knots many times, and have hit 7 knots in about 20 knots of wind. My boat has a 130 Genoa, so it has more power than it needs. Can be a difficult boat to sail in winds over 20 knots since, in my opinion, the rudder should be 1 foot longer (I modified mine that way) and the keel should be wider and weigh an extra 100-200lbs to prevent side-slipping when sailing fast. Best wind for this boat is about 15kts.
Gear that's been added	I bought the boat at the 4th owner, for about $1200. It did not come with a trailer, but included the sails and worthless old outboard. The boat was a mess when I bought it -- filthy. I cleaned it up, tore out all the old (moldy) interior wall carpeting and much of the interior wood, repainted the entire inside, rebuilt the swing rudder, and re-glassed the swing keel and added halyard clutches to control from the cockpit, and boat a used 4 HP outboard, and replaced the main shrouds, stitched up some rips along sail seams. It was a lot of work, but now I have a decent and fun boat for total invesment of about $2000.
Structural or complex improvements	The original rudder was missing when I bought the boat, and it came with a homemade version created by the prior owner. I think it was about a foot too short, so I added a 1 ft extention piece to it. Sails better now.
The boat's best features	Low cost, simple to sail alone or with 1 crew, and faster than it looks. I often sail alongside 25-30 expensive boats and keep right up with them. Shallow draft with swing keel is ideal for sailing in bay with many islands and sandbars. Let's me go anywhere with little worry of running aground.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The boat is too light for heavy winds/ocean sailing. There's not enough weight below the waterline. The keel should weight 600 lbs or more for the boat to sail well in 20kts winds, which are not unusual in RI.
Sailing characterisitcs	See above. Great in 10-15 knots. Start to have troubles holding a steady course as it approaches 20kts. Really gets whacky above 25kts with high seas. This aint no distance ocean cruiser! But great for a bay.
Motoring characterisitcs	My motor shaft is too short for the boat, using the motor mount area that built into the stern. Propeller is just below the waterline. I need a motor mount that will sit the prop down another 6 inches at least. Working on that.
Liveability	Good for camping with 1-2 people. I would not try to actually live on it. That would be like living in a small tent. The pop top is a nice feature.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Never have. They don't make my old boat anymore.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	I bought it from a guy who took terrible care of the bought and had no title, and told some fat lies about condition of the outboard, age of the sails, condition of the keel, etc. It was a quite an experience, but it all worked out in the end.
Other comments	I like it, but I'm shopping around now for a trailerable shoal draft cruiser with swing keel, of a design that's more appropriate for 20kt winds and some ocean sailing. I like the Seidelmann 245 that has shallow draft and weighs 3.000 lbs with 250ft of sail area.

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