Macwester 26 project boat

ropeworkuk

ropeworkuk

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Hi,

I'm thinking about the purchase of a Macwester 26, bilge keel
This is a project boat in need of a lot of work.

-new rubbing streak
-new standing rigging
-new running rigging
-new push & pulpit
-sand/fair/paint all over

If i can purchase for a fair price is it a good / strong boat for general crusing?
What other areas of work should i be looking at?

My current boat is a Snapdragon 23 triple keel, i'm thinking the Macwester is a similar type of boat?

Regards
 
The work you mention doesn't really count as a 'project' compared to most.

Standing rigging has to be replaced every 10 years so is pretty much to be expected on most secondhand boats...the only expensive bits are the fore & aft pulpits, presumably reflected in the price.

The rubbing strake may be a bit of hassle & cost if it's wood, but not too taxing.

The Macwesters are good solid boats, definitely on the slow side but should be an improvement on the Snapdragon, and with a lot more interior space.
 
Depends on the purchase price and the state of the engine, which is the most expensive bit.

I had one for three seasons, hence my screen name. Good and solid, like a tug with sails. Doesn't like going to windward due to the shallow keels and broad bow but will look after you in a blow. Weather helm and very heavy on the helm due to rudder shape when healed. A good, cheap family boat.

In reality it will never be worth more than £5,000 even with new everything.

Oh, and don't let it heal more than 15 degrees.
 
Why not choosee a good design,

Macwesters were built down to a price by unskilled labour (I watched them ).
When you are finished you will have a hull which does not sail and is only safe if your engine is large and reliable. It was one of the early "caravan" boats. We have 3 in our club - all reguiring massive input to restore and which will be no pleasure to sail if they are ever completed. I have sailed them hundreds of miles and are fine if you reach or run - but bows slam in a bad sea if you have to go to windward under engine.
Why not find a good sailingg hull which looks attractive and put the time and money into that. At the end you will have something to be proud of.
Sorry.
Ken
 
A Mac26 owner replies.....

Slow but safe definitely. Very solid construction. I've got 8hp, should be a bit more I think.

I berth cheaply because of the bilge keels and the boat was certainly good value.

Good headroom and an optimistic 5 berth. Excellent large, dry cockpit. Encapsulated keels unlike the Centaur.

I've pics of boat and jobs done if helpful. There is an owners club but it's not very active, at least off the south coast.

BTW, the rubbing strake is Iroko.

Buy one! (for less than a Solent annual berthing fee....)

Nick
 
ropeworkuk said:
What would you recommend, 26-28 ft bilge keel boat?
Cheers
Click to expand...

Well I am not an expert on that but you can be sure that some of the suggestions will cost very many times more than your Macwester.
Whist I agree with almost everything that has been said, the advice to - "buy something better" often comes from well heeled folks.
If you are young and potless you might have different priorities.

PS,
I would look for a Hurley 24/Atlanta 25 about 5k min, 7 for a good one. Or a Sabre 27 with outboard for c 7 -11k ! (Googlelate Ken Endean who has sailed one everywhere)
 
NickRobinson said:
Slow but safe definitely. Very solid construction. I've got 8hp, should be a bit more I think.

I berth cheaply because of the bilge keels and the boat was certainly good value.

Good headroom and an optimistic 5 berth. Excellent large, dry cockpit. Encapsulated keels unlike the Centaur.

I've pics of boat and jobs done if helpful. There is an owners club but it's not very active, at least off the south coast.

BTW, the rubbing strake is Iroko.

Buy one! (for less than a Solent annual berthing fee....)

Nick
Click to expand...

Centaur hadn't got encapulated keels . Honest !
 
doug748 said:
Well I am not an expert on that but you can be sure that some of the suggestions will cost very many times more than your Macwester.
Whist I agree with almost everything that has been said, the advice to - "buy something better" often comes from well heeled folks.
If you are young and potless you might have different priorities.

PS,
I would look for a Hurley 24/Atlanta 25 about 5k min, 7 for a good one. Or a Sabre 27 with outboard for c 7 -11k ! (Googlelate Ken Endean who has sailed one everywhere)
Click to expand...

Yes young(ish) and potless
I've got upto 4k to spend on a bilge keel project boat 26ft upwards.
I'm good with my hands so don't mind getting stuck in to a project if its worthwhile.
So i the question is: what is a good boat average condition for 10k or less secondhand?
Then i can see if there are any projects out there.

Cheers
 
A bloke in our club bought one for £1.He has a similar amount of work to do,(rubbing strake,flat the hull,engine/gearbox requiring minor attention)and little in the way of extras.Good cheap way to get cruiser sailing.Not my cup of tea though,bit too slow.
Don't spend too much.
Cheers
 
You could try looking at the Westerly Tiger 25 footer,same accomodation and headroom as the Centaur which it outsails on all points,has a solid fin keel of cast iron(1.5 tons) and built as as were all Westerlies in robust GRP. There's one I know of on the Hamble for sale ,now reduced in price and clean and tidy looking ,that should value at about K6500-7.5K was asking £10K a year ago.
The Tiger needs a deep water mooring of course, but as I can confirm is a very good buy, as also is its not very much smaller sister the Cirrus at 23 ft .With with excellent performance and virtually the same accomodation below, and around the £4-5K mark if you can get one.
 
Stick with bilge keels if, like me, you're a bit short of cash. Where I am drying mooring £115 pa, deep water mooring £600-£1200 pa.

For that price difference, I'll but up with not being able to go to windward like a racer. Mine had a new Beta 20. Just passage plan at 3-4kts instead of 5-6 and take in the scenery. Short hops are the order of the day in a Macwester. If I were potless again I'd have one again for the cheapness of running and the solid construction.

There is a couple on their 4th year sailing round the med on a Macwester 26.

n.b. even though I now have a boat that will go quite nicely to windward, I try not to if I can help it.
 
In the early '70s the club I then belonged to had a number of Macwester 26s and Centaurs and at the time these were the boats to aspire to. They were considered big boats, but then a lot of folk still owned 17ft Silhouettes, or 19ft Caprices or the like. I had a Debutante 21ft, definitely in the big boat category!

Anyway, we had a member called Len Small who owned Macwester 26 number one. Len wrote lots of articles for PBO on how to modify a Macwester 26 to sail better. Mods included re-cutting the main to make the foot shorter, taking material out of the leech. He added faired in 'feet to the keels, increasing their draft by about 6" and giving an aerofoil shape, filled in some of the propellor aperture but faired it to give good flow into the prop and I think (but can't remember) did something to the rudder. He used to do much better in club races than the standard ones and the boat was much lighter on the helm.

Other mods by people included engine upgrades from 8hp Stuart Turner Two Stroke to small (10hp 'ish) diesel, aluminium framed windows replacing plastic set into rubber channels, re-lining cabins, painting the non-anodised masts.

The Centaurs were altogether better boats, but even back then were near double the price.
 
For less than £10K look around for a Sabre 27, good boats, if you shop around you should get one with a decent inboard for that.

The advice to stick to a twin ( or lift but that's unlikely ) keel is spot on.

The Sabre doesn't sail brilliantly, but is a league ahead of the Macwester; it draws low prices as anyone looking for a twin keeler at that size instantly goes for a Centaur !

Incidentally, the Centaur's reputation as a motor-sailor is undeserved; it only has a large 23hp engine because Westerly's struck a good deal with Volvo at the time...

They sail surprisingly well in the right hands, but need reinforcing at the keels.

Anyway if I were you I'd definitely be looking for a Sabre if you want a relatively large boat, or if you want fun and transatlantic seaworthiness with good performance with good sitting headroom & 4 berths, I happen to run the Anderson 22 owners association...

www.anderson22class.co.uk

- You could fit out an Anderson very well and have real fun - I had a Carter 30 fin keeler, sold it and bought my Anderson back !
 
If your budget is £4k I would go for a smaller boat. The Hurley 24/70 as mentioned previously has standing headroom, sails well to windward and a reasonable one will be > £5k. I think, though you have identified some of the work required on the MacW you are considering, you will find other things that need doing as well. Before you know it you could easily be spending £5k which will not be recoverable and you'll still have a boat that only sails in one direction. Boat owners tend to think that if they bought a boat for £5k, spent £4k on it, it is worth £9k. That is not so. When you try to sell, it will still be worth £5k!
Don't get me wrong - bargains are around but don't tie yourself down in a long term restoration project.
 
Macwesters are now getting old, in our club alone we have seen at least 5 of them over the last ten years with osmosis some quite rampant, also gelcoat cracking problems on topsides & deck, not a lot you can do with them once that starts happening except tosh them with dulux every year. Far better to buy a Sabre 27.
 
In defence of the Macwester 26!

The Macwester 26 is a solid tank of a boat with a goodly amount of room. There is a generous engine bay which means maintenance of the engine is a doddle. It has a roomy, simple and family friendly cockpit devoid of main sheet tracks and other family unfriendly fixtures.

There is a modest amount of wood, enough to make them classic looking but not enough to have you rubbing and scraping all winter. Down below, there is standing height for medium sized people and plenty of room for longer passages and all the kit required. The 27' version of the boat has twin lazerettes astern which offers room enough to get a small human into.

OK, they make a fair amount of leeway but if you buy the Colvic Atlanta 27 version, these have deeper more powerful keels.

A good Macwester will last you years! :)
 
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