Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 21 by Mike Lovatto

Year built	1974
Location of boat	Torrance CA
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	16-22 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?	Yes..although when I purchased the boat it was the price that lead me to this Macgregor. I drug her out of a California desert where she sat for six years and home to a family of raccoons. I paid $300 for her, trailer,motor and all. After evicted the raccoons, brought her home and fixed her up. Being that there is not a lot of wood on her she clean up was easy. The gel coat came back some what and with a fresh caot of cheery red paint on the bottom she looks great.
Gear that's been added	She is cutter rigged so I added antichaffing gear to the shrouds and forsays
Structural or complex improvements	I replaced the through hull with brass
The boat's best features	Simple straight forward design. The Venture 21 has a plaining hull and handles well in all seas. the boat is lite (1200lbs) and trailer well. Also launces and retrieves easily.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	I do not like the main sheet traviler design. It is cumberson to use and in my opinion one dimentional. I will replace it with a single point block and cam cleat setup. The hull seems thin in comparison to other mfgrs.
Sailing characterisitcs	The cutter confiuation looks great but does not transition well when tacking. I usual fly just the staysail. The boat points very high and sails better when there is ample counter weight on the windward side. The 1974 model is short on free board and sits low to the water giving concerns to possible swamping. I'v had the boat blown over once but she recovered quickly (stupidity on my part) All and all she sails great and is a good first boat for beginners like me.
Motoring characterisitcs	I power the Venture 21 with and old Honda 7.5 short shaft. It does OK but a long shaft would do better.
Liveability	NONE!
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Yes.... They were helpful and sent me some spec of the boat free of charge.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Private party
Other comments	Here's a hint to the fellas have a boat and want to keep it..... Name the boat after your wife. I will be harder for her to get rid of the Vicky Lynn or the Betty Sue....etc.

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