Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 26X by Mark Chamberlain

Year built	2001
Location of boat	Alaska
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	Gery
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, great value for the money, easy to launch and load, easy to sail, lots of room.
Gear that's been added	Chart plotter gps depth fish finder. 2 nd battery,added fuel tanks, would not go without rooller furling. Anchor ball for lifting anchor from 200 ft
Structural or complex improvements
The boat's best features	Weight, price , room, towing is easy, lots of room in cabin, speed of 17 mph with honda 50
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Keel gel coat too thin, pull up on sand beaches and it will rub through quickly, could use extra thick coating in that area. Transom drain plug hole needs to be twice the size, clogs up.Good option would be built in fuel tanks by factory to keep weight low and cut down on the spare fuel tanks I carry.Rudder gets stuck on occasion, pivot pin needs design improvement, Trailer need to be beefed up, load says 3100 lbs, I exceed that, need option for heavy trailer for person like me that go for 10 days at a time and load up on gear.
Sailing characterisitcs	A beginner can sail it very well, very forgiving boat.
Motoring characterisitcs	rough water ( 3 ft seas) need to head into waves,boat pitches at slower speed, speed up or fill ballast to stop this. I cruise at 14 mph most time, boat handles that speed well with good fuel economy, about 5 miles per gallon. I will cruise as much as 3 hours under power to get to areasI want to fish or sail in.
Liveability	Plenty of room for two on extend stays on the water, I would not spend 4 days out at a time withmore than 3 persons on it. I would get a propane stove not the alcohal one, its cheaper too. also need two burners for the extended stays on it.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Gery Berg In Vancouver BC, was the best, the rigging he did was excellent, not one problem, very competitive in price buying in Canada.Talked me out of things he did not feel I needed.Gery is the second highest volume dealer for mac.
Other comments	Great boat, the 2001 seems to have had a number of past problems fixed. A little thicker gel coat on the boat and a heavier rated trailer option would be my main complaint, of course with only 6 of these in Alaska not many are traveling the rough roads and extended boating range we need here.I do power a lot to get to areas I need to fish or sail in, 30 miles one way, the ability to handlea 70 hp and keep balance would be nice some day.But that is just a wish list, the boat draws attention at every launch, as many at 10 persons have gathered to talk about it at the ramp in Valdez AK. Many compliments on how sharp the boat looks. I would buy it again!!!

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