MacGREGOR 26M.

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Looking at big trailer sailers / mobos is just too impractical for words unless seriously seriously dedicated

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Certainly if you intend using a Ferrari as a tow car /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Ok if you want to sail about is possibly the ugliest boat ever created, with minus "harbour cred"

Second the First Class 8; I had one. Cracking little boat, exceptionally quick down wind, we saw 16kts once. Sure the accomodation is a bit tight and no plumbed in head, but SWMBO and I cruised her to Brittanny. Frogs thoght we were bonkers.

There is one for sale with Foxs' in Ipswich asking £10,000. Had a glance at it the other day and she looks pretty tidy, with a reasonable trailer too.
 
As you will see from my signature, I am not unbiased! I agree with most other comments so far. I bought my Etap for much the same reasons as you and only planned to keep it for a couple of years but kept it much longer as it sails so well. I towed it to the Med from northern France with a Laguna without problem. I wonder about towing such a slab sided boat as a MacGregor? Also the weight of a 50hp motor may add to the problems.
A couple of times I have sailed near MacGregors and they don't point at all. Even downwind I had no problem staying with one.
It would also be worth looking at secondhand prices as, with all the bad comments, you may find they drop quickly.
When deciding on my boat I went for one that, with the keel down, looks like a 'proper' boat. I have not regretted it for moment! I have been caught in a couple of bad squals and it looked after me very well.
Good luck in your search.
Allan
 
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then it is probably great as it takes away the tidal/wind problems that rule yotties lives.



No have to disagree with that one!

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I was referring to it taking the problems away from me.

Last thing I want to do is battle upwind in a boat, to get back to marina bar. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Horses for courses. One man's problem is another man's challenge.
 
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There was an Odin that capsized on Loch Lomond shortly after launch, it was almost a total loss as it inverted completely and the rig was lost on recovery. I believe it was caused by a crew member going on deck to get the fenders in. I think there were similar issues with early McGregors

I would never buy a yacht that was inherently unstable as these trailer sailors are until they are water ballasted.

The trouble is that to use them under power at speed and while launching there is no water ballast. Later models got over this to an extent by adding fixed ballast to the bottom of the hull - that killed the boats performance under power

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I saw that just after it happened! It was strange to see the hull of a boat sticking out of the water right by the jetty. I think (but may be wrong) that the water ballast tank was only half full at the time when the guy stood on the side of the boat and 'free surface' effect took over. My understanding is that it is better to have the tank completely full or completely empty.
 
It always amazes me how many people will state a particular boat is crap having never been anywhere near one, let alone sailed one!

We have an X, so swingkeel, rather than daggerboard as on the M. The MacGregor is a compromise boat in many respects, designed to do several different things so it is never going to be 'the best' at any one specific task. However, we love the versatility - ours has been on the Thames, trailer-based at Chichester, trailed to several places on the south coast we would never have had the time to sail to, and currently is season-berthed near Southampton, living in a field on the trailer in winter. We have crossed the Channel several times (Isle of Wight to Cherbourg), cruised Brittany and the Channel Islands and the previous owner took her across to the Scilly Isles several times. It is (just) possible to waterski behind her (with mast, minus ballast) and we have the photos to prove it. We frequently creep into very shallow sheltered places where fin keels and even many bilge keelers can't go, and we also dry out often - the flat bottomed hull makes for very comfortable sleeping when dried out and it's very easy to get on and off the boat if you're dried out on sand.

Yes, they can be dangerously unstable when the ballast tanks are partially full - the tanks should always be either completely full or completely empty, and ALWAYS FULL for sailing. You also reef a bit earlier on a Mac than you would otherwise do with several tons of lead under your keel but we consider that a small price to pay. Macs can be a bit of a pig to beat to windward as they do have high windage but that's what the 50HP stuck out the back is for!

If you want to be out in F6+ often, then I would say the Mac isn't really suitable. We have done F6 because we needed to get home (from IoW) and have been caught in a F7 squall - not pleasant but certainly not life-threatening.

So if you are a competent sailor who understands the limitations of the boat, there is no reason why an M shouldn't suit you, depending on what you want it for.
 
I must admit that I did consider one when I first heard of them and went out for a test sail. My impressions were;

A bit tender and narrow beamed. I didn't like the open plan below decks, lack of galley, storage or anything except berths, steering with a tiny steering wheel was weird (why not have a transom hung rudder with tiller steering?) I didn't like the look of the boat and everything felt a bit flimsy and built down to a price, including the mast and rigging. Going forard under sail is a bit unsettling.

Not for me but horses for courses, they are the top selling 26 footer in the history of the universe so a lot of people must like them.

I still think £25,000 is a lot for what you get, think of what you could buy second hand for that.
 
I have to say that despite having been a bit snippy about them in the past I can see that they have lots of bonus points. Plenty of room, ability to plane, trailable despite size, lots available 2nd hand.
I see there is a lead-loaded optional keel available, which may hamper planing performance I suppose but improve stability.
I've come to this volte face after seeing a guy recover his, single handed by the simple expedient of motoring it onto the trailer, getting into the (4x4) car and driving away.
OK it won't sail like a Ben or a Jen, and an Etap or a Parker may be a much better sail boat, but as a compromise it doesn't seem bad. There are loads of 20ft-ish small sailboats around which are bloody useless close-hauled and dead in the water on a run, so it's no worse than those.

Macgreggor.jpg
 
OK the First Class 8 isn't ideal. But trying to sail one of those slab sided POS could put a potential raggie off for life. I know I've sailed one. Just about responsive under sail as a broken neck.

What about the Snotty with a lift keel (Medina?) or a Dehler, a proper little yacht.
 
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Why don't you try something like this
Hunter 27

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But, it is a yot, doesn't have fifty horses on the back and prolly doesn't go up onto the plane. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Blimey, what a lot of replies, seems to be that the Mac26 does have its good points and bad points, but then doesn't everything?

We're not really exactly sure what we want, Its likely our next boat will be towable, something we can have in the water for the season, and then tow home for the winter, to try and cut down marina costs.
We thought we go for another mobo, but know that we will want to move to ragand stick in the future, but seeing a pic of the Mac26 in the mobo forum made us think about yachts again.
The little Etapp and Jeanneau look great, but seem to lack in the accomodation aspect, the mac26 looks a bit bigger.

So a lot of other boats are being mentioned and i'm slowly looking through them all, but please feel free to recommend anything else, Trailerable and with resaonable accomodation for 4.

Oh!! And also easy to sail. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Thanks for all the info and replies so far.

Cheers

Al.
 
Forget it. Bavs are rumoured to be doing a 38 footer with a brace of 150's on the back. 40 knots no probs.

Damm. It's March 1 not Apr 1 yet, even if Sailing Today think so.
 
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