Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 36 by Jerry Jaksha

Year built	1982
Location of boat	San Carlos Mexico (Sea of Cortez
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2000
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. It is a great boat for an ex hobie sailor in the Sea of Cortez -with some modifications.
Gear that's been added	We have 2 15 hp merc bigfoot 4 strokes hanging off the rear-Thinking about moving them forward of the rear tube.
Structural or complex improvements	I built a 200# removable hard deck. Four 40# fiberglass/nidacore sanddwich panels on two stringers from center tube to rear tube.Then added a steering helm in front of the rear tube. used a simple pulley and spectra line setup hooked to the rudder crossarm. The hard deck and the helm are the best addons.Also built a 10x8 shade structure - a necessity! It hangs from the standing rigging on the front and off poles at the rear.
The boat's best features	Nice fast relaxing ride in 8' waves, 20 kt winds. Great diving and fishing boat.The manuverability is terriffic when both motors start- always a problem.We relax on lawn chairs on the deck when sailing, and use an airbed on the deck when camping in a cove.The hard deck, standup helm, and shade make it a very livable camping boatl.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Waterlogged daggerboard fell down too low and caught a rock, can openered the trunk, but were able to motorsail back to port 2 miles at 16 kts with one hull half full of water. Very exciting, but did not sink. Next daggerboards will be weaker than the trunk.Am considering foaming the floor of the hulls 8" deep because when it started to sink the rear end went down because of no flotation in the rear of the boat and two heavy motors in the rear.It rides low in the rear (700# of motors, deck etc will do that.)So moving the motors forward might shift the balance and make it easier to work on them.
Sailing characterisitcs	Very stable, great sailing in 20-25 kt wind. A bit wet of course.Doesn't point very well. but reaches are outstanding.Hard to tack initially, but now we can tack regularly.
Motoring characterisitcs	12 kts max. Turns on its own center.Some cavitation, but not bad with the motors in line with the hulls.
Liveability	Lots of space on deck. Good camper, but very bare bones. There are bunks down below, but used only if we have to.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	" We made a catamaran? "
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any
Other comments	Don't plan on trailering and setting it up. Plan on leaving it in the water or nearby on a wide trailer. We put crossbeams in the trailer and store it 1/4 mile from the dockThis is no Hobie- lots of setup time.

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