Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 22 by Nick

Year built	1976
Location of boat	Michigan
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
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	2005
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. The Venture 222 (what MacGregor called this boat then) is a very nice, forgiving little sailer.
Gear that's been added	Weather instruments, windvane, vhf radio, porta potty.
Structural or complex improvements	Planning on removing the "aftermarket" bowsprit a previous owner had installed to make the boat a cutter rigged sloop. Don't need it and it recently took out the rear window in my van.I also plan to remove the NUMEROUS thru-hulls that, again, a previous owner had installed. I agree with Don Casey that "the fewer holes in your boat, the better."I also plan on making a vee-berth extension so my rapidly growing 12 year-old can sleep comfortably.
The boat's best features	Ease of towing, ease of launching, ease of sailing.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The current kick-up rudder has an annoying tendency to not want to stay down. I've had to jury-rig it with bungee cables. When the full rudder is down, it sails great. If the rudder kicks up, it's a pain.Also, there is a little leak (just a trickle)around the keel bolt in the bilge. I understand this is very common. Rather than try to tear everything apart, I just put a couple towels by it to soak up the water. Seems to work fine.All the deck hardware needs to reinforced. Very light.
Sailing characterisitcs	I try to only sail when the wind is under 15 mph. She's a little boat and a bit tender until she finds her groove. This past weekend we had her well above hull speed several times. I think she sails nicely. We have a full complement of sails including a spinnaker which we haven't flown yet. For me, the self-tacking storm jib is a bit superfluous; if it's blowing that hard, I'm heading for shore!!!
Motoring characterisitcs	I just use an old Evinrude 6hp as a kicker to get in and out of the anchorage. Seems to push the boat along just fine. At this point, for a boat this size, I think more motor would be over kill.
Liveability	Not a "liveaboard", but we had the whole family on board this past weekend for an overnight. Three of us are six feet or over. AND we had the dog and cat with us.Extremely tight, but we had a good laugh and got to experience life on the water. Wouldn't make a big habit of it, but it was doable.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Never dealt with them.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Purchased from owner.
Other comments	Our boat is named, "First Step" and is exactly that. She's helping us get comfortable with sailing and living on board. She's small enough to take just about anywhere, yet big enough to give us some comfort as we sail about.Very much enjoy owning and sailing this boat.However, the boat projects NEVER end! :-)

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