MacGregor 26X seaworthy?

[Twister_Ken]

Motorboatist\'s p-o-v

So, Depsol, if a McG is a motorboat with a mast, would you take one to the Scillies.

Lightly built, 26ft, one outboard engine, and (apparently) a very abrupt motion in a seaway?

 

[DepSol]

Re: Motorboatist\'s p-o-v

Why not I even better I would take one around the C I if I had the time as it would be nice to have a leisurely sail and then when you are bored of that fire up the motor and drive off at 22 knots.

Its not just about the boat itsabout the person handling it. A very seaworthy boat can be sunk in a force 4 if the person driving it doesnt have a clue. I have met people from North Devon in Sark who sailed all the way there in a little 16 footer and met some people recently in Granville from St. Lo who were taing their daughter to Bournemouth in a Jeanneau Leader 565 (I think or 515) with a 50HP on the back the same as McG takes and that boat is only 16/17 ft long so why not a 26foot Mac.

Ok its not a hardened sailors boat but I am sure it goes fine otherwise the would not be healded as the best multi purpose trailer sailer in USA they would have been bankrupt from being sued rotten.

Dom

I am boating again ;-)

 

[MadMac]

Macgregor 26X Seaworthy!!

As an owner of a Mac 26X for the last five seasons, I feel qualified to comment on this one.

My Macgregor has always attracted a lot of comment not all of it pleasant. The latter tends to come from jealous owners of blue water boats who get nowhere near as much use or fun out of their boats as I do, are limited to very small cruising areas and pay vast sums to marinas for the privilege.

If you want to cruise a different areas (we have managed Northern Spain, Brittany French and Spanish Mediterranean, Devon, Cornwall IOW, Chichester and the East Coast in our Five years), sleep four on board comfortably, stand up while pulling on your trousers, have the comfort of separate enclosed heads, a cockpit that you can sleep in or entertain six in comfort then you will be hard pushed to find a better boat in under 26'.

Add to this that storage is on my drive way and I can tow it behind my car the only charges I pay to marinas are slipway use and for nights afloat. So the big question everybody asks ' how does she sail' She sails as you would expect from her shape and high freeboard. You are not going to be the closest to the wind, and you will not win many races, but you will be regularly sailing at 8 knots. The sailing performance is perfectly adequate for most passages and out performs many other boats. She will quite happily make a passage into a force six under engine but may struggle under sail. With the wind no problem. In terms of safety she is unsinkable and has a very well protected cockpit. The boat will operate in a foot of water with rudders and centerboard up so there is almost nowhere you can’t go.

As for sailing to the scilly isles surely it depends on competency of the skipper and crew as well as the weather. I would be happy to canoe to the scillys in the right conditions but I would not go there in the largest and most seaworthy of boats if the conditions were against it, have a look at the wrecks around there on the charts!

I am unaware of any lost Macgregors at sea and they have now built over 5000, there have been some accidents all to do with overloading the boat whilst unballasted.

IMHO there is no better trailer sailor on the market and the boat is up to most of the sailing that most of us do, if you add the 50HP ( not my thing) you can also water ski off the back or make 17 knots at full throttle.

 

[pvb]

At last - a sane voice...

Weird boat, without a doubt. But intriguing, and, as "MadMac" has said, very useable in certain ways. Not to everyone's taste, but I think it's fair to say it's stretching the envelope of experience for sailboat users. There are lots of "conventional" sailboats which I, for one, wouldn't step on to. Why should the MacGregor be so maligned?

 

[terence]

well i sail from tollesbury mariner in essex and this chap next to me has a mac and
he goes out in anything up to a f 6 and he allways comes back?? plus he single hands it to .
yes i do not think this time of year {with the right weather} you have much to worry about .......happy sailing terence..............stop

 

[Gunfleet]

Re: Macgregor 26X Seaworthy!!

8 knots sailing in a 26 ft boat? You had me convinced up until then.

 

[charles_reed]

We've all had our go at the concept.
The really important elements are the skipper and crew.
Under any but survival conditions, I'd expect the MacGregor, to be seaworthy.
The real test is: - How do you rate the skipper.
8 knots in a surfing 26' is very realistic - my 31' has consistently put 11M into the hour.
"It's the nut who holds the steering wheel...."
Over to you schilde - How do you rate the skipper?

 

[MadMac]

Re: Macgregor 26X Seaworthy!!

I presume you are not doubting my personal integrity!!!

If a six foot windusrfer can do 40knots plus why can't a similar bottom shaped boat do 8 knots.

Try thinking outside the box on occasion, Roger Macgegor did and it made him a muli milionaire!

 

[Gunfleet]

Re: Macgregor 26X Seaworthy!!

Calm down. It's not your integrity but your arithmetic that's at issue. A 26 ft displacement boat won't sail through the water at eight knots. The formula (from Hiscock) for a good hull shape is sq rt of waterline x 1.4. Let's allow the MacG has a well designed underwater shape and say a 22 ft waterline. That gives 5.55 knots. If you're motoring on the plane other rules apply. Equally a sailboard is not a displacement vessel. You are comparing apples and oranges. I suppose you could sail the MacGregor with no ballast at all like a sailboard but you'll look a fool when it falls over in a gust, which is why even Mr out of the box MacGregor gives you the chance to add a bit of water ballast. All those boring boatbuilders who attach iron and lead plates to the bottom of their boats don't just do it for a lark.

 

[Guest]

Post deleted by danfoley

 

[tr7v8]

Re: Macgregor 26X Seaworthy!!

Surely, a sailboard does have ballast, the ballast is the guy dangling off the windward side. The displacement mode only applies when in displacement mode, once planing it then exceeds the displacement speed, agree you are in danger of falling over unless we go into sailboard mode and dangle people over the side, but their must be a mid point where this isn't required.
As regards someone elses comment about blowing around in a marina any lightweight boat does this and it's no different to a lightish mo'boat.
I still echo my previous comment they've sold shed loads in the US have VERY strict laws as regards coastguard regs etc and many highly paid lawyers who'd be sharpening their pencils if it was deemed unsafe.

Jim
----------

 

[Jeremy_W]

At last a reply from someone who has sailed the thing and knows about sailing. It confirms my views gained from sailing the McG65 that this is a marque best avoided.

 

[DepSol]

Cmon how can you say that one persons comments on a boat are the final chapter. Just cos it didnt suit him doesnt mean its bad. If you took half the motor boaters who have flybridges or high cockpits on mine in a F5 they would get soaked and not know how to handle it properly so would complain bitterly about the whole boat and not reccomend it to anyone. However I know the boat well and how it handles etc etc and do not often take it out in a F5 but when I do I can get her home, soaking wet but still home.

I bet people could take your boat out and make comments on this that and the other. I am sure eople who buy sail and motor a Mac know the boat how it handles and sail it well.

Dom

I am boating again ;-)

 

[xcw]

I agree with your comments about the MacGregor 26C. I have owned one for the past 9 years and had a huge amount of fun in her, mainly in Chichester Harbour and the Solent. She is fast, responsive, easy to handle and cheap to maintain. She has a lifting keel and can dry out, so is great for East Head, Ryde Harbour, getting into Bembridge before the crowds to secure that last marina berth etc etc. A great first boat for anyone that is interested in coastal sailing. She is not designed to cross oceans, but then neither am I!! The only reason I have put her on the market is because I have moved onto a larger boat. It's all about horses for courses!

 

[LaForce]

First time I've posted to this discussion forum.
I saw a reference to this thread on the macgregor discussion board in the USA so thought I would check it out.
I've enjoyed reading the comments on the Macgregor 26X above and thought I would add my comments since I have a 1997 26X and have sailed it in a large bay for the last 4 years. The boat is of course different than a normal sailboat in that it is lighter, has a flatter bottom to enable it to start to get up on a plane under sail (slightly exceeding calculated hull speeds for a displacement hull) and more fully plane under power. The boat tends to be originally setup with too much weather helm which if corrected by taking up on the forestay, makes steering much easier on the helmsman and on the steering equipment, while improving the boat speed and pointing ability. Mine points fairly well tacking through less than 100 degrees with the working jib. I don't think the big Genoa can be sheeted in enough to point very high.
The rigging is lightweight, but probably adequate for the smaller than normal sail area corresponding to pushing a lighter than normal hull.

The steering is currently arranged so that the motor and both rudders turn all together and there is no need to unhook or change anything on the stern when changing from sail to power mode.

The boat is safest with the ballast tank completely full of water. It still is not as stable under wave action as a deep lead keel boat, since the flat botttom is more strongly innfluenced by wave action than a rounded hull shape , and because the water ballast does not begin to have a strong stabilizing effect until the boat heels enough to raise part of the tank above the waterline, at which point the boat stiffens up very nicely. It sails very well although probably not a race winner in 10-20 knots. In light air with wave action, the hull does dance around a bit much for my taste and spills the light puffs of air that you need to try and utilize to sail well.
For the shallow bay I am in however, the boat performs well and the wind picks up to around 25-30 mph on most sunny afternoons due to the coastal breeze. I rigged the rudders to kickup by using a bungee cord in place of the hold-down line, which prevents damage to the rudder and indeed allows you to continue sailing in very little water depth. If conditions get more severe, I start the motor, keep the ballast in, drop the sails and motor home at around 6 or 7 mph. Very stable and lots of reserve power. I never empty the ballast unless conditions are medium or light.

I've beefed up some things on my boat and would suggest that before heading out in the ocean, taking the boat out in protected waters and pushing it hard in some challenging conditions, correcting any deficiencies, gaining confidence, and then make a decision as to whether you feel safe going far offshore.
As always, personal protection gear suitable for the area you intend to traverse, such as an EPRIRB, VHF, Cell phone, flotation and hypothermia prevention gear and other normal ditch bag equipment should be carried. The crew should be sober, experienced and alert to weather. Its hard to be too cautious when taking a small boat into the ocean.

The boat is stronger than it looks, but the steering system is a weakpoint in my opinion (the newer models are being upgraded somewhat in this regard) , so an emergency steering method should be devised before going in harm's way, same as with any boat really, although the boat is certainly not designed to dance its way through hurricanes. That being said, with all sails dropped and motoring slow with the ballast in, the boat should make it through some pretty rough stuff. Just make sure the motor is in top condition and you have enough fuel for worst case.

Hope this helps shed some light on the situation.

I've used and enjoyed my boat a lot, and definitely learned a lot from trying to optimize the boat. I feel safe on my boat, but the boat is different from other boats, and to be safe with it, its capabilities and quirks need to be learned, and contingencies need to be well thought out.

 

[quaelgeist2]

@Jim

Of course they went - if the boat fails they will sue MacGregor and live the rest of their lives from the punitive damages !

my 2 pennies ;-)

chris

 

[schilde]

McG 26X Summary

Many many thanks to everyone who replied to my enquiry. Some comments were reassuring, others worrying, some very entertaining. I think I have learned a lot about this boat. Here's what I think are the main points. Maybe some of them might be used by S Today if they are going to do an article on it.

Fatalities in the US accident. It sounds as though the boat was well overloaded, and may have been motoring with the rudders down. Few traditional ballasted yachts would perform this way and not come back up, but some would fill and stay under. Rudder action always exerts a heeling force on any boat and with the overloading, maybe empty ballast tanks, the boat was unstable beyond what could reasonably be expected. Some sailors are pretty stupid, like hitting rocks or going out in the wrong wather, but I think if the boat gets unstable that is something the manufacturers have to account for - does it have a notice of maximum number of persons etc? My inflatable does. And it is not obvious that the rudder and centreboard could make it unstable under power.

Don't judge it as a saily boat - agreed, it is a light powerboat with not much under the water. Light motorboats can be flipped over and people don't go out in the big weater with them very much, as far as I know. I don't know many motorboaters. I would add that seeing sails on something makes you think it is ready for some weather, or it is a dinghy you have a chance of righting. On this point the fact that you can motor home pdq seems very important and wise in case the weather starts to deteriorate, but it is not entirely reassuring because I am sure it can't do those speeds in anything of a lumpy sea, and the seas can get lumpy rather quickly. Surely a flat bottomed boat is for flat water. So..

The Captain is the most important variable. I am sure this is the most important point. The boat is what it is, and you need to know how it performs, know when to turn back, plan the trip, carry the safety gear, etc etc. All those people who have crossed the pacific in a bathtub got away with it by knowing what they were doing and how to deal with situations. So I am sure the McG will be ok when handled by someone who takes a bit of care. I wouldn't go sailing in any boat if I expected bad weather, I have been aboard one alongside in a marina and lived to tell the tale.

So I have decided I will be brave enough to have a go in one. I haven't sailed with this captain but he is a sensible chap and I have my own lifejacket, flares etc anyway. However while I was making up my mind and enjoying your kind replies, the Captain got another crew and I went sailing in my own boat. In the end it turned out the other crew didn't turn up (no explanation provided!) so he sailed (motored) single handed to Falmouth and back.

Sorry to disappoint you all, but if I ever do the trip I will write it up for you. In any case I hope the discussion in this forum has been useful.

Cheers

Steve

 

[paulrossall]

Re: Thanks for interesting post. NM

x

 

[Jeremy_W]

>>Cmon how can you say that one persons comments on a boat are the final chapter.

Beats me! I never said it.

>>Just cos it didnt suit him doesnt mean its bad.

Have you read Fatipa's comments? They aren't about likes and dislikes - they are about basic safety and handling characteristics. The observations he makes are consistent with the concerns expressed by other experienced on this and other internet yachting sites. An experienced sailor with some basic knowledge of yacht design can make informed predictions about the handling characteristics of a yacht from looking at it.

 

[DepSol]

Hello, it is not just a sailing yacht but also a motor boat!

Dom

I am boating again ;-)