Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 36 by Michael Mills

Year built	1980
Location of boat	Playa Hermosa Costa Rica
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
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	1998
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	I sure would but I'd move it to waters where the wind isn't quite as strong as we have here. During Jan thru March we experience high winds, very gusty 30 - 40 and knots (
Gear that's been added	Not so much added as replaced. In 1999 one of my captains flipped her while passing between two islands. No one hurt was the main thing. Gusty winds, too much sail. Turtled in 30 ft of water with a 44 ft mast. Lost everything as a storm kept us from salvaging her that night. When weather calmed we found her 50 ft from a reef with the rigging hung up on rocks. Divers released rigging but we had lost everything from sails, boom, all rigging, mast...it was heart breaking. Towed it to a mooring and then decided whether it was worthwhile restoring and how to flip it back over. One hull had some structural damage but overall it was sound. When MacGregor said these hulls are bullet proof they were right!
Structural or complex improvements	By anchoring the support beams on one hull and pulling the other hull up and over with a huge power boat we were able to right her, bail out and float to shore on a high tide.Costa Rica is not a hot spot for any marine parts never mind specialty items like what I required. I had heard of another cat in the mountains by Lake Arenal Volcano. It turned out to be the only other MacGregor in Central America and he had stripped it since it was too windy there. I bought winches, all sails, spar, boom, centre boards, rudders, rigging, trampolines and more for what I was quoted just for a spar out of Miami. A quick trip to Canada to return with three hockey bags of more equipment and we were sailing again two months after the mishap.
The boat's best features	Speed, simplicity. durability and comfort. Sometimes it scares the hell out of me but I love this boat! At 20 - 25 knots you are just holding on with total concentration.I've also installed a swim platform at the rear between the pontoons allowing me to move quickly from side to side making sail adjustmenst. It is also a great area for snorkelers to get on and off the boat as a ladder has been added too.3 feet wide - aluminum bracing and teak slats.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The centre stay is a pain when tacking with the genoa. The centre boards are heavy and seem to be getting heavier but I'm pretty sure that's just my back.Weight distribution is very important along with being able to react to fast weather changes for reefing and sail changes.
Sailing characterisitcs	All types of weather. Because we are trying to show tourists land features as well as sea life we are subjected to some wild winds from land formations. 30 knot gusts on one side of a penninsula and ten minutes on the other side you are looking for the spinnaker. That's sailing!Despite conditions and how concerned you are the captain always must look at ease and not show any signs of concern or distress. When you start to get 5 ft er's coming over and soaking everyone they laugh and scream, then look back to you to see if this is normal and if your smiling.
Motoring characterisitcs	With a clean bottom average speed is about 12 knots with a 25 hp Suzuki 2 stroke 4 - 6 people.The only problems I have experienced motoring is using the motor when undersail over 15 knots.You wouldn't use the motor at that speed anyways but when you are sailing between islands with only a few hundred foot clearance and turbulant currents, I always drop lower it and have it going incase of wind shifts or anything that would support Murphy's law. If you don't pull it back up right away I find no matter how tight the motor is attached to the motor mounts, the upward motion of water from the rudders is so strong it can pop it off the motor mount leaving it dragging on its saftey chain. Since a few hairy experiences with this, modifications have been made to make sure it will never come off again.
Liveability	I have basicly stripped it to be a day sailor. Anytime I do venture out for a few days we sleep on the trampoline with a tarp pulled over the boom. I have slept inside a few times during storms but space is very restrictive.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	The only time I dealt with Macgregor was when the boat flipped. I understood how it would right if it still had a mast but was a little worried about how I was going to do this without one and what structural damage would be done. The people at Macgregor said this was a new experience for them and were not sure how to approach the problem either. I called a number of places in the US and caribean but without success.So, we simply sat down and came up with the formula that finaly worked.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Bought it privately.
Other comments	It's not new, the fiberglass is thinning in places, needs a little gel coat and a new mainsailbut what can I say, I'm in love with my boat!. I know it inside out, what it can handle and what it can't. I sail it over 200 days out of a year and anytime I have had problems it has been due to the motor or just extreme weather. We can normaly sail right onto our mooring anyways, just takes a little longer.

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