Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 26M by Colin Smart

Year built	2011
Location of boat	Ironwood, MI
The boat is sailed on	The Great Lakes
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2012
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. You get a nice sailboat at a great price that you can use for both sailing and powering.
Gear that's been added	I bought the boat from Bill Beers at Boats4Sail, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and opted for his Rig-Pack: Halyards led aft, Topping lift, EZ cleats, Headsail Downhaul, and lots of other useful upgrades and extras.
Structural or complex improvements	No
The boat's best features	Bought for ease of sailing and the speed to get out of the weather on Lake Superior and that's what you get. Also, mast raising and launching are pretty easy.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.
Sailing characterisitcs	I'm not too worried about the finer points of sailing, but it's easy to sail single handed, especially with Bill's Rig-Pack. And it's fun.
Motoring characterisitcs	I keep the ballast in all the time-for convenience and stability and the 26M handles well, is responsive and planes nicely thanks to the 60 HP ETEC.
Liveability	I have not stayed on board overnight yet, but the interior is roomy for a boat this price.
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 Bill Beers at Boats4Sail in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and the experience with him is something I would definitely recommend. He is honest, knowledgeable and does not try to sell you unnecessary extras. He helped me rig,(actually, he did most of it!) the boat, keeping up a running commentary of tips, hints and dos and dont's that he's amassed over the years. Our 1988 Ford F150 broke down on our way to The World Headquarters of Boats4Sail and Bill picked us up from the repair shop, ferried us around for two days, put us up in a hotel and sat patiently while my wife and I discussed the risk of towing my new toy home to the Upper Peninsula behind Old Faithful, and us hoping we would not need to buy a new truck as well as the new boat!
Other comments	If you've done your homework on the 26M, I doubt if you will be disappointed. Go into the process with your eyes open, do the research and you'll probably find that as the sales pitch states, the MacGregor 26M is: "The best trailerable cruising sailboat available". That's a pretty good assessment of the 26M. I have no complaints.

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