Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 23 by Keith Berglund

Year built	1982
Location of boat	Lake Lavon, Texas
The boat is sailed on	Rivers
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2001
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Most definitely! I previously owned an American Fiberglass A-16 and wanted to upgrade. The first time I saw a Venture / MacGregor 23 I knew I had to have one.I�ve never been sorry for the purchase. She�s the prettiest girl on the lake.
Gear that's been added	I�ve added a VHF radio, new depth sounder, and rewired the electrical distribution. In addition, I�ve replaces or refinished most of the mahogany.
Structural or complex improvements	Fortunately, my boat was in pretty good shape to start with.I did fair and refinish the keel, fill some gelcoat blisters, and then add several coats of Interlux 2001/2002 barrier paint.
The boat's best features	Where to start?I never fail to get complements on the boat where ever I go. It�s not your mass production � cookie cutter Cal 22 type boat. I�ve had motor boats slow down to take pictures. Other than that I like the way the boat sails. It�s not a racer, but will hold it�s own with similar sized boats.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Not much.I did have to repair some gelcoat blisters. The stock rudder could use some improvements. I need to add reefing points to the mainsail and would love to add roller furling to the jib and for�sail.
Sailing characterisitcs	It sails OK. It�s not the fastest, but I don�t mind. I�m more of a daysailor-cruiser than a racer. With the upturned bow, it cuts through the bay chop better than some and provides a dry ride.I wish it would point a little better, but I seem to get +/- 45 degrees (or thereabouts)
Motoring characterisitcs	Like many sailors I only motor in and out of tight marinas and channels. I have a long shaft Johnson 6hp Sailmaster and it pushes the boat along at 5 to 7 knots OK.
Liveability	The brochure said that it would sleep four or five. I�d like to meet those five! They must be REAL little or REALLY good friends. In reality, I have slept two comfortably with plenty of room for gear. This boat is fantastic for daysailing and pretty good for long weekends. I�ve been out with one other person island hopping for four days. We had fun, but that was enough.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	N/A
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	N/ABought from and individual.
Other comments	I don�t ever anticipate buying another boat. For what I do, I don�t need anything larger and there isn�t another boat out there as pretty. Some would find the amount of external wood a problem, but with the new varnishes such as Cetol, you can go many years between coats. The wood is part of the boat�s personality.There is an entire Yahoo group detected to this boathttp://groups.yahoo.com/groups/venturenewportThere are tons of other 23 owners there that are glad to share their know-how and experiences.

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