Macgregor Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Macgregor 26M by Victor

Year built	2010
Location of boat	London Canada
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Weekends and longer
Normal wind strength	less than 10 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	2010
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. It suits my requirements for sailing and powerboating.
Gear that's been added	Safety equipment.
Structural or complex improvements	None.
The boat's best features	Spaciousness.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Steering - Rudder swings only about 35 degrees before the motor link binds.
Sailing characterisitcs	Low wind / slow speeds tacking is terrible, probably due to limited rudder angle; intentional jibe is only way of getting the bow around.
Motoring characterisitcs	ETEC still under 10 hours but burns a lot more oil than stated in BBP manual. Smokey exhaust drifts back into cockpit when at slow cruise. I have not been able to achieve the speeds that others have experienced. I have the factory prop on the ETEC 60 HP. I do not have excessive weight on board, although I motot with the ballast tank full as per the MacG manual.
Liveability	Lots of storage but not much of it is useable as most are restricted by the openings or the cavity shape, plus they are all wet as the base of the storage is the bottom of the boat (bilge). Access from the rear ladder by squeezing between the rudder and the outboard motor is terrible (and I am under 50, slim and fit). During docking, getting on or off near the bow is also hazardous for the person of average fitness.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	I spoke to the Sales Manager on the phone. He is not very knowledgeable or he is plain un-helpful.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Bill at Boats 4 Sail is a fantastic dealer. He is a pleasure to buy from, and goes beyond the call of duty to help you enjoy your boat. He is more than fair and I highly recommend making the drive to Wisconsin. Heck, I'll drive there with you to rig and pick up your boat.
Other comments	The boat does require your time and money to "personalize" (read make it user friendly) but this is a well known fact. The trailer design is poor given that over 2700 hulls have been manufactured. When taking out of the water, the winch pulls the bow against the bumper but when the boat settles onto the trailer, the bow pulls away from the bumper and there is no easy way of moving the boat forward once it's on the trailer.

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