MacGregor 26M suitable for my plans?

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avole

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Hi, I'm new to this forum and relatively new to sailing, too.

I plan in the next couple of years to sail from my house in the middle of France through the canals to the south of France, and then potter about on the Mediterranean. I had been looking at building a boat myself, but constant working overseas has prevented this, so now I want to buy.

Went to the Helsinki boat show to-day and had a look at the MacGregor which, apart from the lack of a shower, looked pretty much the idea size for myself, partner and dog. The lifting daggerboard and decent performance with an outboard motor seem to make it ideal for the canal part of the trip.

Is it suitable for my proposed trip? If not, are there any other suitable vessels at around the same price or less that I should consider?
 
MacGregor 26

We used to have a MacGregor 26X, the model that preceded the current one. It was really quite similar, though. On the plus side, they are cheap, and they draw very little which means you're not likely to go aground so easily in the canals. The daggerboard on the new model is not as good as the centreboard on the 26X, in my view, as the centreboard would pivot up if you hit something whereas the daggerboard wouldn't (which could do some damage). Having the option to sail is good, but you'll find the MacGregor doesn't sail as well as a dedicated sailing boat; having a 50hp outboard is of limited use to you in a canal (too much power), and in the sea if you plane you can't see where you're going when the bow rises up. MacGregors are also so light that they tend to blow sideways a lot (can be embarrassing or expensive in locks, especialy if you tangle with huge steel peniches).

I'd have something more solid, like a Cornish Shrimper, if I wanted a 26-footer now. They're more expensive but hold their value well (and can be had brokerage).
 
avole said:
...then potter about on the Mediterranean
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Apologies if I'm preaching to the converted, but please don't get the impression that because the Med is almost land-locked, looks like a lake at large scale and is surrounded by beach umbrellas, that it's a benign pond. It isn't. It can be ferocious, and nowhere more so than the Gulf de Leon.
 
Fourbees said:
We used to have a MacGregor 26X, the model that preceded the current one. It was really quite similar, though. On the plus side, they are cheap, and they draw very little which means you're not likely to go aground so easily in the canals. The daggerboard on the new model is not as good as the centreboard on the 26X, in my view, as the centreboard would pivot up if you hit something whereas the daggerboard wouldn't (which could do some damage). Having the option to sail is good, but you'll find the MacGregor doesn't sail as well as a dedicated sailing boat; having a 50hp outboard is of limited use to you in a canal (too much power), and in the sea if you plane you can't see where you're going when the bow rises up. MacGregors are also so light that they tend to blow sideways a lot (can be embarrassing or expensive in locks, especialy if you tangle with huge steel peniches).

I'd have something more solid, like a Cornish Shrimper, if I wanted a 26-footer now. They're more expensive but hold their value well (and can be had brokerage).
Click to expand...

I agree with Fourbees' general comments about the MacGregors but I would just point out that the Cornish Shrimper is 19ft. The Crabber is closer to 26ft
 
I won't join the expected derision normally heaped on MacGregors as I haven't been on board one under way but a word of warning about use of outboards for long-distance travel: the fuel consumption compared to a small diesel can get very expensive.

Around the UK, 90% of the MacGregors I have seen have had 9.9hp rather than the 50hp option.

You also need to look into French regulations on engine power and max speed as the 50hp may put you into a different legal category.

And of course you will need an ICC ;) but let's not open that can of worms today :D
 
avole said:
Hi, I'm new to this forum and relatively new to sailing, too.

I plan in the next couple of years to sail from my house in the middle of France through the canals to the south of France, and then potter about on the Mediterranean. I had been looking at building a boat myself, but constant working overseas has prevented this, so now I want to buy.

Went to the Helsinki boat show to-day and had a look at the MacGregor which, apart from the lack of a shower, looked pretty much the idea size for myself, partner and dog. The lifting daggerboard and decent performance with an outboard motor seem to make it ideal for the canal part of the trip.

Is it suitable for my proposed trip? If not, are there any other suitable vessels at around the same price or less that I should consider?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum

As others had said the Mac 26 would not be a first choice. I have done the trip and its lovely. The higher altitude locks do suffer from cross winds and the north western med can get very windy so a light boat would not be ideal.

You would be best looking for a used shallow draft motor sailor or deck saloon yacht.
 
Thanks for all the help.

Basically, I get the feeling that the MacGregor wouldn't be the boat of choice, which leaves me in a quandary. The Cornish Shrimper andCrabber are out of my price range, unfortunately.

I also saw a Maxus 24 at the show - is it an option? Otherwise I'm thinking a secondhand Etap, Beneteau or similar, the smaller designs with swing/lifting keels.

Good point about the licence. I'll need a couple to sail on both the inland waterways and the sea.
 
avole said:
Good point about the licence. I'll need a couple to sail on both the inland waterways and the sea.
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You won't need a licence to sail on the sea with a British-flagged boat but to use the canals you will need an ICC. To get that you either need to take the ICC test or if you already have Day Skipper or above you can get one from the RYA for free (+ membership fee if not already a member). You will also need to get it endorsed for inland use by taking a CEVNI test.
 
Thanks for the info, but I live in France so I'll have to abide by their regulations.

However, your post put me onto the fact that the little sailing dinghy I built also requires certification, so you've probably saved me at the minimum embarrassment, if not a fine!
 
One of the potential plus points for the MacGregor (and similar) is it's 'trailability' - there are plenty of inland waterways in France we'd fancy exploring that are not accessible 'from the network'. So besides travelling through to the Med and then pottering about, you'd also have the option of pottering about inland too.
A few other comments - lifting daggerboard? Not a problem on the canals since you'd have it up all the time anyway, except where (Rhone for example) you are very unlikely to encounter something where a pivoting centreboard would be better. Windage? yes, if the boat is high and light you can get blown sideways inside the lock (which makes it tricky to get off) but don't MacGregor's have a water ballast option to keep the weight up? 50HP? Again I don't see this as an especial problem, maybe a bit overpowered for an average of 6kph, but not unduly so (plenty of 100-200HP+ mobos have done the trip unscathed) and always useful to have some power in hand on the larger rivers.
 
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Quite a few years back now there was an Article about a trip in a Macgregor 26X which sailed from the UK then motored across France via the canals and coped perfectly well.....except they snapped the centreboard in the Bay of Biscay en route...but McGregor got a new one to them PDQ and I understand it was a very unusual failure.

McG's tend to get damned with faint praise as they don't do any one thing particularly well, but they do a lot of things acceptably well. As against that they are probably the highest selling one design ever (at a guess), and most people love their McGs. As you have discovered, at the price there is little to touch them in terms of boat per foot. Its perfectly capable of doing all that you wish of it.

Better to do your trip in a Mac than decide its too costly and not do it at all. Good luck!

Tim
 
I agree

Alfie168 said:
Quite a few years back now there was an Article about a trip in a Macgregor 26X which sailed from the UK then motored across France via the canals and coped perfectly well.....except they snapped the centreboard in the Bay of Biscay en route...but McGregor got a new one to them PDQ and I understand it was a very unusual failure.

McG's tend to get damned with faint praise as they don't do any one thing particularly well, but they do a lot of things acceptably well. As against that they are probably the highest selling one design ever (at a guess), and most people love their McGs. As you have discovered, at the price there is little to touch them in terms of boat per foot. Its perfectly capable of doing all that you wish of it.

Better to do your trip in a Mac than decide its too costly and not do it at all. Good luck!

Tim
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Utterly agree - better to do it - than to not do it. Doesn't really matter what you use. Its the fact that you are on the boat and moving that counts. A boat that both motors and sails is a good thing.

On my journey around the Uk I do meet quite a few people who are happy to tell me why I am using the wrong boat. they then go onto describe a boat which they either own and do not sail very much or they talk about a boat neither I, nor they, will ever be able to afford.

Better to be sailing the boat you have now than dreaming about a boat you might have in the future.

I see macs wherever I go - it seems to me that they sail pretty well for what they are - certainly they outsail the slug. They certainly motor a lot faster than the slug. The concept of water ballast is a great one. They sit on the mud or sand, they can be put on a trailer and taken home.

If Mac wanted me to finish my journey around the UK in one of their boats then I would happily dump the slug.

Its my guess that more people would watch the films than do at the moment - how many macs are there?

Does anybody know anybody at Macs?

Dylan
 
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Dylan, I sincerely hope MacGregor 'lend' you a boat and you prove it does what it says on the tin - sails a bit, motors a bit.

I can still feel the humiliation and hear the laughter when I stated on here I was interested in a Mac 26. :p

It may not do anything that well, but it ticks some important boxes.
 
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snowleopard said:
You won't need a licence to sail on the sea with a British-flagged boat but to use the canals you will need an ICC. To get that you either need to take the ICC test or if you already have Day Skipper or above you can get one from the RYA for free (+ membership fee if not already a member). You will also need to get it endorsed for inland use by taking a CEVNI test.
Click to expand...

By the sound of it he is a French resident in which case he cant have a British ICC and French rules will apply to him. His boat will have to be French registered and fly the Tricolor.

I would recommend the OP to buy second hand but only after several charters to learn what he wants and what various boats can do. Boats arent like cars where with a bit of discomfort, the small but basic can get you exactly where the large but expensive does. They arent like cars in the way they depreciate and become a liability after 10 years either ( less in the case of Fiat and French models. :) ) . Instead you need to chose a boat that will do what you want and if you cant afford new or dont want to spend that much, then buy second hand.

But above all - sit on your wallet until you know what you are looking at.
 
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