Regarding the MacGregor 26

Sails like many other light weight boats with high freeboard. Similar to Hunters and others. Very decent reaching, so so up wind.

I have sailed on one (26X) and we averaged 5.5 kts (GPS record) after sailing all day around Narragansett bay, RI. We passed a few boats going down wind (doing 7.5 kts for a while) and a few boats passed us going up wind. The boat was rigged with main and 150% genoa.

The big outboard made threading through a narrow marina and docking incredibly easy. Turns and stops on a dime.

The magazine reviews I have seen are all positive. Wife liked it very much.
The owner of the boat I sailed bought it new. In 4 years of sailing (about 40 outings / year) nothing has broken and maintenance costs have been nil.
He dry sails it and spends 40$/year for the ramp permit and uses about 12gal of gas a year.

I may buy one.

 

I have heard good and bad, but the bad is MUCH MUCH worse than the good. Ok, just like any boat, I guess.

 

I agree, it is very confusing to read the forums when searching for info about a boat. Many posters seem to enjoy spreading disinformation others just repeat what they read or have some kind of bias against anything other than their favorite boat.

You see posts saying that boat xyz is a POS and other posts lavish praise on the same boat. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Original or different boat designs will tend to trigger more flames and emotions.

No serious sailor would be caught sailing a fiberglass boat when they were introduced. No way I am sailing a plastic POS boat, no sir. Eventually they relented but some still regard wood sail boats as the only real sail boats.

The magazine reviews are a better source of information. The main sailing magazines publish reviews that are reasonably accurate. They also review the boat taking the boat's intended use into account. A cruising boat makes a poor racing boat but a racing boat also makes a poor cruising boat.

The best way to get information when interested in a boat is to find an sailor that owns one and will let you sail it, or at least will talk about it.

 

Mackid and possibly JustSailing, if you want an "unbiased" opinion, then email Frank directly. Otherwise you're just dealing with a bunch of folks who will screw with you for the heck of it. The serious people on this web site won't respond to a Mac26X or Mighetto question.

 

I responded.

Suggesting an opinion from Mighetto would be of value
can't possibly be taken as serious.

Transpac 52 Website

 

Mark 42 you are part of the problem.
Someone will post asking how the Mac26 wil perform on a small lake after being trailered there. Mighetto will make wild claims about how great it is for transatlantic voyages. Then otherwise inteligent people fall in to the trap and actually discuss it and compare it to a TP52. Where the original question just wants to know pluses and minuses including how well it trailers. So I agree we can't ask a simple MAC26 question and get a serious answer without it spiraling down. And yes, seeing that Mighetto actually owns and sails one that yes he could be a valuable source of information for someone that might actually buy and use one as intended.

 

Hi all,

There seems to be some sort of issue with this "Frank" fellow. I read some of his posts and find hard to believe that anyone would take him seriously. Just one of many souls on the internet that love to stirr things up. Some enjoy crying "fire" just to see what happens.

Not the type anyone would go for references / comments about a boat unless maybe on a rainy saturday after the 5th beer. Some of his comments are amusing.

Not sure why the existence of Frank would prevent any "serious sailor" about making a comment about a boat. Why does one guy wield so much power? fear? or ??? so others are prevented from talking? I am afraid I miss some of the innuendos about this Frank matter.

 

Hi,

I frecuently sail in a Mac 26. IMHO this is a boat ONLY for protected waters.

Is fun to sail, but I would not dare to go on a breeze in open waters in such light and unstable craft.

That is better left to serious cruising sailboats. (Relativley heavy, low freeboards, low center of gravity and heavy external ballast.

I would recommend that the advocates of Mac26 for oceanic cruising take a look at http://www.radford-yacht.com/stablty1.html or read "Seaworthiness : The Forgotten Factor" by Czeslaw A. Marchaj.

 

So, we can reasonably conclude that as with any boat, the Mac has its ups and downs. Still, don't take it into anything rougher than coastal! That's what this thread seems to indicate.

 

Did you read post #15 (my response to the initial question)?

Someone said that no serious person would answer.

Then said "Ask Frank if you want an unbiased opinion"

My response was:
1) I am serious and I responded.
2) Suggesting Frank as unbiased can't be serious.
(Even Frank would not call himself unbiased)

I stand by my posts 100%
-----------------------------------------------
Here is something that may be helpful to those who want
info about the M26:
http://macgregorsailors.com/links.php#pers
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The Mac 26 is the right boat for some people.
It's good for a power boater who isn't ready to commit to
owning a sailboat yet, but likes the idea od turning off
the motor when he's not in any particular hurry...
Or someone who isn't sure if he'd prefer sailing
or powerboating. Of course, you could buy an older
sailboat and powerboat for the same amount.
They do tend to hold value pretty good though.

It's not a race boat, but with handicap, can be a start
and give some exposure to what racing is (though it
could prove discouraging).

I think MacGregor's marketing is a bit more than
"Optimistic", and may end up leading to their downfall
by ruining their reputation. Previously, they didn't make
a lot of wild claims about their inexpensive trailer sailors
(at least as I remember it). If people buy Mac 26's with
certain expectations based on dealer & mfr. claims, and
are disappointed by their purchases, it will probably
come back to haunt MacGregor.

But if a person has one, and has no delusions about
beating Cup Yachts or Global Circumnavigation with
it, he might find it a good way to dabble in the power
and sail boat worlds.

But as with anything, irrationally rabid fans of a product
can make the product look dumb. Just look how many
guys wear a suit five days a week and strap on leather chaps
and apply temporary tattos and espouse the virtues of old
technology motorcycles every weekend. They look ridiculous
when they work so hard at maintaining a scowl on their faces
and lapse into the personna every time someone is watching.

And they make their product of choice look silly to those
who look at it from other perspectives.

 

I understand completely. Oh, by the way, I thought I had specified that I was wondering how the Mac would do on Long Island Sound (costal, but sometimes rough).

 

I think there are better boats for the money... perhaps not new
boats, but if you are pretty good with tools and mechanicals
you can easily learn any specific skills needed in order to buy
and refurbish an older boat... or two, if you need sail and power.

If you are conservative in how you use it (watch weather forecasts,
keep ballast tank full, reduce or remove sail if weather does get a bit
too rough) a Mac 26 is adequate, but only adequate.

If you plan to stay out when it gets rough (which many people,
including myself, do), then a deep keel is safer.

If there is a yacht club near you, look into crewing for races.
Just be upfront about experience level, and have a good
attitude... and you will get rides on various boats. You can
compare boats and learn A LOT this way, without spending
money for anything other than personal gear (which you will
need when you get your own boat).

I haven't read this thread for awhile, so I'm assuming you have
not got a lot of experience sailing... if that's not the case,
please don't be offended by the assumption. You may have
indicated your experience and I just missed or forgot it, so
please give me some lattitude.

 

Frank Minghetto recently sent me a message trying to convince me that the Mac26 has about 130 degrees of positive stability, and that this would prove this boat is suitable for rough offshore sailing.

I think (IMHO) that the issue is not only the value of the limit angle of positive stability, but also, and more importantly, the area under the curve in the negative stability region. As any designer knows, this is that amount of work needed to bring back the boat to a position where it can right itself up. If the area under the curve in the negative stability region is very large the boat will remain inverted for more time than I would consider "comfortable".

Does anyone remember Isabelle Autissier in Around Alone, waiting under an inverted boat to be rescued by Soldini?

People actually drown ... Fastnet or Sydney –Hobart ring a bell?

In my opinion sailing stops being fun when you start losing your life or your crew's lives.

 

The Mac26 , irregardless of positive stability, is unsafe for offshore.

 

water ballast

Hi everybody.

Just thought I'd get my $0.02 in. I for years worked on a design that was supposed to be water ballasted. While doing it, I discovered two things.

1.) The ballast is good for self righting purposes only. It contributes nothing to sail carrying capability unless it is movable from side to side.

2.) When used for self righting, it adds considerable weight. It practically guarantees that the boat it is used on will be at least somewhat undercanvassed for its displacement.

That being said, there may be times when its use is appropriate. Consider the case of a marina poor region like the California coast (most of it) where a boat, if its to be of any use at all, will have to be trailerable. Now imagine that boat having to have some blue water pretensions. Unless it is very small, it will need some kind of removable ballast system or it will be simply too heavy.

I have seen some nifty designs over the years. One was a bilge keeler where the hollow grp keels filled with water every time the boat was launched. It too had a smallish rig and was probably slower than its more conventional contemporaries. But I bet it had a righting curve that would make almost no blue water sailer nervous. In fact, the one I was working on had about 140 deg. pos. stability. I bet a lot of open 60's and boats inspired by them can not make that claim.

I also get nervous when thinking about bulb keels and their skinny glider wing like struts where ALL of the ballast is attatched to the bottem of the strut. I've simply heard of too many of them breaking off.

It appears that the m26 was intended to be able to make the trip to Catalina Island and back with little or no trouble and still be trailerable. And I think it can be argued convincingly that they have succeeded.

One of my biggest gripes about racing is that a boat too exclusively designed for it is of little use for anything else. This, I know, is probably more about personal tastes than anything else.

But at least I admit it.


Bob