Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 25 by Steve Vollers

Year built	1983
Location of boat	Branchburg, New Jersey, USA
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Multi-week coastal cruising
Normal wind strength	Press here to select
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1983
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Absolutely! The adage that you get what you pay for is very true with the Mac 25. Roger's marketing of the boat is exactly what you get. Light weight, safe if operated wisely, low maintainance and operating cost. The Little Rascal is solidly built and very well designed. I have bare-boat chartered many boats at exotic locations including 50'rs and 48' cats and I still LOVE to sail my Madgregor. We have had her for 23 years and plan to always have her. My son and daughter grew up on this boat and now take her out with their friends on their own. When first purchased, the boat was pretty sparten, but now I look at it as a sturdy piece of blank canvas for the owner to paint his own vision of the perfect pocket yacht.
Gear that's been added	Tons! 15 gal press water system, propane stove, VHF, GPS w/laptop charting, XM radio, Stereo system, Full screens, dual deep cell batteries, circuit breaker panel, bilge pump/alarm, 45Amp alternator mounted on top of our 9.9 electric start evinrude outboard (modified for 17hp w/pusher prop), compressor refrigerator, 3" foam cabin cushions, closed cell foam cockpit cushions, masthead anchor light, several light fixtures throughout cabin, locker lights, depth sounder, hand-held vhf, dual 6 gal fuel tanks (good for 30 miles each), Magma propane grill, bilge blower/ventilator system, ida sailor modified rudder, plate bolted at back of rudder castle, 4' travelor across stern rail, 4-part engine hoist, auto-pilot (best improvement of all), 150% Genoa, full batten main-sail, vang, whisker pole with mast track & bungy cord topping lift, life-sling, sailing bimini, galvanized the original trailer, 8' inflatable dinghy/oars, electric inflator, main anchor w/200' rode thru hawse pipe into fore-peak, installed 30"x14" hatch in port cockpit seat, replace all wiring, shore-power/batt charger, and it goes on and on!
Structural or complex improvements	Re-building factory trailer included upgrading axle, heavier wheels/tires & galvanized entire unit. Putting the Delco alternator on top of the outboard, cutting down a factory bimini top to fit and still allow sailing and fore-deck access, Installing cockpit port lazarette hatch.
The boat's best features	Low annual cost. NO bottom paint, 21" of draft, very sea-worthy. Trailers with ease. Holds enough supplies for 4-5 days with 2-4 people. World Class gunkholer! Fast boat... we often sail at 6 knots and have hit 10-12 knots at certain moments (gps used as knotmeter), Whisker pole with 150 genoa is almost like a spinniker down wind. Pointing is very good! (Some of the other reviewers are not doing something right - get a traveler).
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The Mac's flat bottom and fin keel makes her dart every which way. Its a lot like sailing a 25' sunfish! The addition of the auto-pilot (get one with a fast lock-to-lock time) has transformed the boat for us. Now we can fine-tune our rig for best performance and take care of business when short-handed. The rudder castle flexes badly from the factory and the stock rudder is poor. Putting a plate across the back of the castle stiffens her up quite a bit and the ida sailor rudder lowers steering effort and stalling quite a bit. The stock main sheeting system is poor... a traveler greatly improves cockpit room and sail control. The head is very small and you have to be a contortionist to use it without injury. The keel normally rests against the lock-down bolt which allows it to swing back if it hits something (physical depth sounder)... The problem is locking it down during extreme weather in shallow waters... if you hit hard enough it will bent the bolt into a U shape and possibly pull it thru the fiberglass trunk and wedge it semi-permanently in there...not good when things are jumping all around you. Also the keel winch and cable needs to be inspected and maintained regularly but this is mostly a problem for those who keep their boats on a mooring. On Anchor the boat does hunt around some so plan your swinging room when anchoring around larger, heavier boats that stay put.
Sailing characterisitcs	With a traveler and whisker pole our boat now covers all points of sail with effeciency. Next season I plan to replace our 150 genoa with a new sail. We do not use roller furling because the cut needed for it to work ruins its effeciency. With the Mac, severe weather starts around 15 knots of wind and 3'waves. A prudent skipper shortens sail the moment he/she first thinks about it and this is important on the Mac 25. Be prepared for sudden gusts from thunderstorms and button down the pop-top (yes we sail with it up all the time!) and hatches sooner than later. Shorten sail, and lock down the keel if you think you might be turned on your beam ends. Have harnasses aboard and use them. Be cautious in severe down-wind/following seas conditions...if you have too much sail up you may broach sliding down the face of a steep wave. In high winds when close-hauled be careful when tacking so you don't get in irons...that light bow blows around some.
Motoring characterisitcs	As described above, we use a re-built evinrude 9.9 that has been extensively modified to put out something like 17 horsepower. We motor at a steady 6 knots and can do a bit better if we have to. Tests have shown that no speed is gained with the keel up so we leave it down for safety when motoring. Again, we figure we have 30 nautical miles per 6 gallon tank and we carry two under the cockpit. A selector valve in the port lazerette choses which tank to draw from and the fuel line exits through the transom to the engine. Steering with both engine and rudder is very effective. Backing is hampered somewhat by the thru-hub exhaust system...maybe I can modify that? Raising/lowering the motor to the proper height helps effeciency but in large waves you will need to keep it fully down.
Liveability	The "tent-camper on water" analogy is accurate. The head is an experience which I hope to remedy with a larger holding tank and privacy curtain. Food is kept cold via the refrigerator and a sepate cooler is kept just for drink-ice. We use sleeping bags and soft luggage bags which are kept in the vee berth during the days. We use a SS 2 burner camp stove using 1 lb propane bottles with a safety valve shut-off. The bilge blower switch is on the stove itself and we run this for 30 seconds or so prior to lighting the stove each time. The Blower sucks from the lowest part of the bilge and exhaust thru a clam shell ventilator on the cockpit rail. Spare propane bottles for the stove and grill are kept in an airtight ammo box in the lazerette. We enjoy spending a couple of days on-board searching out new gunk-holes on the Chesapeake Bay and then spend a night in a marina to get showers, etc.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Every time I have had a question, they have been very supportive. If they don't have the part, they know who does. I would like to meet Roger sometime and thank him personally for designing such a great boat. I dream, like many others that Roger will create a real trailerable sailboat that is 30'long and 8'6" wide based upon the Mac 25! What do you say Roger? Maybe around $18,000 w/trailer but no engine?
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	South Shore Marina on Greenwood Lake, NJ...good experience!
Other comments	Wish I had more time to sail it! We sail Raritan Bay and keep her in Keyport, NJ. This Sunday night is a full moon and we hope to sail for 4-5 hours.

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