Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 21 by Lou

Year built	1977
Location of boat	on trailer, Salem oregon
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
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	2011
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	absolutely.... a great boat to learn how to sail with. good for weekend camping and also for longer periods if the weather is nice...
Gear that's been added	I got the boat with only winches on it. I upgraded the rudder, added boom vang, preventor, jiffy reefing system, deck organizers, self deploying bow roller for the anchor, mast raising system, all controls running to the cockpit, johnson lever on the forestay, windtex, swim ladder, porta pottie..... still adding as time goes on
Structural or complex improvements	resealed all of the deck hardware and refinished all the wood, including the rudder.
The boat's best features	it is a exceptionally well outfitted boat that is dry and easily handled in all types of weather. its nice that it is small enough to be able to trailer it to different destinations for additional sailing opportunities and different scenery, yet also be big enough to camp out on comfortably for a few days at a time. the roomy cockpit is nice as it allows for more living space with a boom tent erected. I really like the swing keel design, as this allows the boat to be beached or motored in shallower waters....
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	I dont have any problems with this boat or the macgregor brand.... I would like to buy another one. if I had one wish, the one thing i would change would be adding 6 inches to the cabin headroom. for a 6 ft man, its a bit tight but managable.
Sailing characterisitcs	its a very easy to sail boat. the characteristics can be tuned in or out of it by adjusting the rigging and shifting weight fore or aft as needed. it is a comfortable boat and quite fast due to its light weight.
Motoring characterisitcs	I have a 7.5 johnson 2stroke, and it motors well with no problems. by raising the swing keel, the boat will go surprisingly fast just motoring along without sails up...
Liveability	the liveability is good. learning to be comfortable useing the portapottie is the only challenge that we encountered. in the daytime the portapottie is kept in the cabin, and then at night it is moved to the cockpit under the boom tent. privacy is aquired by placing the companionway board in and closing the hatch. cooking is done with a butane stove. for two people the boat is a great weekender
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	I have not dealt with macgregor, but I hear they are nice people to deal with....
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	bought from private party....
Other comments	I really love this boat and I have more into it than I could ever get out of it, but it is a nice boat, it sails well and looks better than most of this size and age. I would like to trade up to a bigger boat, but the trade off is that a larger boat doesnt trailer as easy and takes more rigging time.... im afraid i wouldnt use it as much.

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