Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 26X by Johann Drewett

Year built	1999
Location of boat	Seattle
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1999
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes I would buy the boat again but not the engine.(Engine comments below) The boat does not take a big bite out of my wallet, easy to use when solo sailing , great satisfatction for the price.
Gear that's been added	GPS, extra battery, usual little boat toys.
Structural or complex improvements	None.
The boat's best features	Maintenance time is low, costs seem low compared to stories I hear from other boat owners. A true sailors boat, no automatic this or that. You do the work and you get wet when you sail, that is what I like.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Nothing wrong with the design or breakage. I would have liked a little larger area for the extra fuel tanks, it gets a bit tight to remove them to refill . The engine that came with the boat, Nissan 50hp 3 cylinder tow-stroke, was a piece of flotsam (that's about the nicest term I can come up with). Had about 20 hours on it the first summer. During the annual maintenance in October my mechanic said the engine had a lot of unusual wear and probalby would need to be rebuilt in a year. I have used two stroke engines for years and know about break in time, etc. but this was a first. Another summer went by with lots of motor problems and loss sailing time. Time for the rebuild. After about a year and 1/2 the manufacturer finally confessed up and paid for part of the rebuilt. When this rebuild dies (which may be soon), I am going for a Honda or Mercury engine. I understand they do not even sell Nissans with the boat anymore.
Sailing characterisitcs	Nice upwind handling, a bit of a wallowing pig directly downwind. I manage about 8 knots under sail with a good 10 to 15 knot wind. It heels over pretty well, I would like it to do more but I guess the design prevents that. I understand it is virtually unsinkable but I do not want to put it to the test.
Motoring characterisitcs	See above, when the engine was working the motoring was allright. I just need an engine to get out to sail or to rush home if I forget to look at my watch. Being late because of sailing is never an excuse with non-sailor types (girl friends).
Liveability	I do not live on board. Overall the boat is easy to use, maintain and is great for a weekend of sailing with 4-5 people.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	n/a
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Blue Water yachts in Seattle. They are pretty good, I went to some of their classes about the boat and sailing in general. In past I usually bought boats from private parties so I have no frame of reference.
Other comments	The new boats look very cool, specifically the 2004. I may move up to a newer Macgregor but i do not have 2-footitis yet.

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