Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 23 by Greg Pecaut

Year built	1978
Location of boat	leroy, Mi
The boat is sailed on	The Great Lakes
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2006
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Well this is my 3rd Vn 23 so I guess yes. As I am always addding extras to the boat I have more than one so I can at least have one for sailing. There is so much you can do with one of these that it is hard to say if sailing or working on them is my favorite passtime. I have taken evrything off and repainted 2 of my 23's. I am adding a wood interior to one of them. I couldn't stand the carpet inside them. I'm also adding an anchor locker in the bow, water tight with a drain at the bottom and a deck pipe for the rode. Added bronze hold downs for the pop top. Added a good compass to the bulkhead. Added all new wiring and shore power for a battery charger. Added roller furling to the Yankee jib. Added a Gennaker, 150% Genoa, Asymitrical spinnaker, and Storm jib. Added rails and cars for the jib sheet fair leads. Added clam cleats with fairleads for the gennaker. Ran all halyards back to the cockpit. Added a down haul to the jib/staysail (inner jib, blue
Gear that's been added	See above
Structural or complex improvements
The boat's best features	Trailerable, cutter rig, easy to tow, easy to work on. Simple cheap boat.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Hulls seem thin on newer models. Trailer should have had a roller to help support the bow weight of the boat. Better yet, they should have kept them as heavy as the earlier ones. Would have more room inside if made with a bench seat down each side like on the port side, then have the table mounted off the swing keel trunk. Better securement for the rudder wouldhave been nice too. Oh I already replaced all this hardware with a stronger system.
Sailing characterisitcs	More sail area is nessasary in light winds, but then I'm a butt head and won't turn on the engine untill I have to. It could have been a little heavier. A 30' LOA 8'6" beam version would be a big up grade. Too bad it didn't come in a gaff rigged version.
Motoring characterisitcs	I've used a SeaGull 40 featherlight to a 10 Hp Honda on these boats. Keep the engine light. The 10 Hp isn't much faster than the 1.2Hp but I use it because it has an altenator. Extra weight on the stern does effect the pointing ability of these boats. Also it is easier to have the fuel tank built into the engine when it comes to saving room in the cockpit.
Liveability	2 people max for over night trips. Maybe 2 kids in the vee berth too. 5 adults is cramped and will not be a good trip. I've tried it for 3 days and won't do it again.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Look for a private sale. You will save a bunch. PO's are willing to answer questions dealers neither want to answer nor can.
Other comments	Never should have quit making this boat. Some day some one will make a boat like her again. For us old traditionalists.

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