Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 26M by Dan

Year built	2005
Location of boat	Cayman Islands
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2005
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. I would not hesitate to purchase this boat again.
Gear that's been added	vhf, bildge pumps.
Structural or complex improvements	None.
The boat's best features	The best features on the 26m for me is the shallow water capability and the motoring speed. We have shallow harbors and narrow channels through the coral reefs, and sometimes very strong rip currents going out the channels. The Suzuki DF50 has plenty of power to push through these currents and the shallow draft makes it possible to put the boat on a mooring in protected waters. Another great feature is the ease of mast raising and launching. My wife and I can do it without hassle. Truly my hat is off to Mr. MacGregor for building a great boat.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	No breakage yet, and everything seems to operate properly.
Sailing characterisitcs	The boat has a bit of a weather helm, but once you adapt your sailing technique you can quickly anticipate and compensate for it. It is a pleasure to sail this boat, and it handles well. One thing to note is that the large outboard is noticeable when steering under sail. On the 26M you don't need to disconnect the engine under sail, but disconnecting it improves steering under sail considerable. I have had this boat in some fairly strong winds under full sail with a 150% genoa. It was clear on its side with the lower windows in the sea yet it rounded up and recovered nicely several times. It scared the daylights out of my crew, but the boat came right back without any troubles. My confidence in the capabilities of this boat is growing each time I take her out to sea. I have only had my 26m for about 2 months now, and I am liking her better every day.
Motoring characterisitcs	Due to the fact that my boat is new, I don't want to run the engine at high rpm until the factory specified "break in period" is expired. So I can't give any info on top speeds with or without ballast. But I have motored in from 4 miles out in the blue water under full ballast and empty ballast. It motors well each way, but more stable of course with the ballast full. The boat won't plane out with full ballast, but she handles nicely. Without ballast she is fast, but not as stable. I let the sea conditions dictate the situation for me. As a rule I normally motor with ballast simply for the saftey factor. I don't see any reason to get in a hurry unless I'm running from weather.
Liveability	It is not a boat that I would want to live on full time. A week or two at the most for me due to the lack of a full head and real galley. I like to eat well and take nice hot showers! But it is a great weekender or 1-2 week vacationer for sure. It is a great boat for a small family to have some great times on.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	The dealer was very knowledgeable and knew his business, but his people skills were lacking, and he insulted my intelligence a bit with his "know it all" attitude. I have been sailing and boating for 30 years but he had no appreciation of that. It seems that to him everyone is a novice except him. That is annoying to experienced people, and I am sure he has lost a sale or two in the past because of it. He offered me the boat I wanted at the price I wanted and that is the only reason I bought from him. Next time I buy I probably won't even look at his boats. I don't want to deal with him again.
Other comments	The Mac26m is a great boat. Mr. MacGregor has put yachting within reach of the average family man. The 26m is affordable, it handles easily, and it is pure fun for a family. I have noticed from the internet bulletin boards that there are more than a few critics of the Mac26 out there. Basicly they don't like the boat because it is a break from the past. The sailboat industry has been dominated by heavy deep draft boats for hundreds of years. The old school purists look at the Mac26m and turn away without giving it a serious chance to win them over. Most of the critics have never even sailed on one. That fact alone disqualifies their opinions as far as I am concerned. The Mac is a very fun boat, and it is affordable to the middle class. Maybe that is what ticks off the old school purists more than anything else, average family men out on the water having more fun than they do!

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