We have a winner!

[Stewie12]

Who would fit a 50hp motor on a MacGregor 26X And a 20hp on the dingy.

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

Who would fit a 50hp motor on a MacGregor 26X And a 20hp on the dingy.

Someone not too keen on sailing?

[iyamwhatiyam]

https://www.practical-sailor.com/sai...s/macgregor-26


"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

[jim King]

30 years ago when I to was a newbie looking for the proper sailboat fit for me I chanced upon a MacGregor at a local boat show and I immediately fell in love. Easily trailerable, unsinkable with her variously placed air chambers, and you could water ski behind her. What more could a person ask for? I came close to buying one new, but I did more research to discover that the MacGregor was, as another member mentioned, "a motor boat with a sail stuck on." Basically true, a MacGregor is a cross between a motor boat and a sailboat. As a compromise you don't get the best of either worlds. Having said that I can't help but smile at what another member said about seeing so many Macs pass his slip while he was hard at work not sailing his boat. If you are looking to get started in the sailing world it may be just the compromise you need to get started with. But it sounds from your comments that you are a guy that likes speed. As you gain confidence sailing you will be watching all those guys in their true sailboats passing you by like you were standing still and wishing you could pass them. After a season aboard your Mac you may have zeroed in on the sailer-racer you really want and you can sell your MacGregor and move on to what your true dream boat really is. As for that old gentleman who wants to sell you his dream liveaboard, I can't immagine spending more than an occasional weekend on something as small inside as a Mac 26.
And now for the "arrogance" of some of our posters, There is a difference between arrogance and experience. My thought is many of the members of this forum have earned their stripes with tens of thousands of miles behind the sail and years of true live aboard. While sometimes they do seem to look down their noses at some posts, they have earned the right to their opinion through their experience which I highly value.
cheers mate, and welcome aboard a forum that will teach you from thousands of years of experience.
Jim

[sailingis.fun]

Originally Posted by Webb Tide

But let me assure you, this forum has a more sizable accumulation of look-down-your-nose, arrogant, opinionated, needle-dick, insecure snobs than on any page I have ever encountered. You make the Porsche forum look like a quilting club.

Happy sailing...

I haven't been here that long but over the past couple of years of following almost daily, I do see some pretty strong opinions but they have ALWAYS been out honest feedback. ALL true sailors on this forum know that while sailing is an awesome experience and they want as many people as possible to enjoy it, if done wrong it can be DEADLY. These sailors see newbies daily out there watching youtube and thinking "hey, I can do that" only to show-up as a later post of what not to do. I think if you step back and watch for a while, you will notice what you think as pompous is actually a respect for sailing and a fear or true pomposity giving it a bad name.

[Lake-Effect]

A friend has a Mac 26M that I've driven and sailed in, and I've sailed in a fleet with one. I myself wouldn't own one because they don't feel right to me, and their sailing deficiencies are well known, but I've still had some great afternoons on my friend's boat. And the boat has suited their weekend cruising goals.

I'm going to repurpose an old and non-PC joke:

Q: why is sailing a Mac 26M or X like riding a moped?
A: they're both good fun til your friends find out.




I'm seriously considering renting my friend's Mac some year for a couple weeks of motoring along the Trent-Severn canal system, with sailing on the many lakes in the system.

[Tellie]

I AM a sailboat snob. Freely admit it.

[waterman46]

I try to find a small amount of something worthy of discussing in the OP's post. Here it is:
Forget Moro Bay - that boat is not right for the ocean in that area, and any destination other than San Luis Bay (which is nice) is too many ocean miles away. Santa B nothing available. Ventura in great location for trips to Channel Islands.
My pick: You can find a berth in Alameda anytime at a decent price. The boat will be fine on SF bay and great for the Delta. I envy you; at this point my boat is in a foreign country and I'm stuck at home. Actually been considering buying a small knockabout boat for the Bay, though it wouldn't be the M26.

OP will be fine learning to sail and operate the M26. He has lots of waterbased and mechanical experience already. Just know the boat has limitations and deal with it. Listen to real advice, even from the naysayers, but ignore the put-downs.

[jfischgrund]

"Needle-dick"? I guess you have assumed, in your arrogance, that there are no women members of the forum.
I agree with everything Raymond R wrote, except welcome to the forum.
This is a great forum for adult sailors, so adolescent insults don't play too well.

[Catboat Willy]

I'm on Raymond's side. You come here looking for help as many do and we offer opinion. (Some good - some bad) You offer repulsive remarks. Who the hell would want to help a person such as yourself ? Perhaps you should stick to motor cars. I don't think you'll fit in with sailing crowd.

[SieveSailor]

Originally Posted by HeinSdL

I'd never heard of this boat but I am a bit afraid for the OP that he jumped on this opportunity in too much haste. And then, when the deal was done, decided to source some opinions online. Arriving at CF opinions were subsequently found to be not inline with his expectations (which may not be that surprising looking at some of the MacGregor 26X in action images on Google) and so comes the sour response.

Had he checked before buying this boat he might have been rather pleased to not now have been saddled with a MacGregor 26X.

I agree. In fact when I was looking for my first boat, it was CF that helped me to see that the Mac wasn't what I wanted.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Webb Tide

This may not be the best introduction for a newbie, but here goes-

I stumbled across this site while doing homework searching for my first sailboat. I have had powerboats since I was a teenager, and have dabbled in sailing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, and whitewater rafting most of my life. I recently moved to the Central Coast of California after 30 years in Montana, primarily to check sailing off my bucket list.

I am also a lifelong car guy, mechanic, fabricator, and welder, and built my own race car that has set ten records at Bonneville and two at El Mirage. In my younger days, I was a 5.11C lead climber, podium-finishing mountain bike racer, and multi-continent adventure bike motorcyclist.

I say this not to be cocky, but to give an indication of of experience and breadth of interests.

Before I moved to the Morro Bay area, I didn't have any indication of how difficult it would be to find a slip on the coast. After some digging, I learned that the waiting list for a slip was five to eight years. I might not live that long, so I had the wacky idea of posting a "wanted" ad on Craigslist looking for a slip, with or without a boat.

Long story short is that an elderly gentleman reached out to me with a sad story that he had a MacGregor 26X that he had spent twelve years prepping as a retirement coastal live-aboard, only to have health issues cut his dream short.

The price was fair, the slip location was outstanding, and the upgrades that he had made alone far outweighed the asking price.

I knew the 26X wasn't the Ferrari of sailboats, but as an accomplished boater and novice sailor, it seemed like a good fit, especially with the modern electronics, upgrades, 20 HP dinghy, and new 50 HP four stroke he had fitted. I was stoked!

Which brings me to my point. I stumbled across this page because it appeared in a Google search for "cruising MacGregor 26X". Be it known, that as a lifelong car guy, machinist, fabricator, climber and racer, I have come across some pompous know-it-alls in my life.

But let me assure you, this forum has a more sizable accumulation of look-down-your-nose, arrogant, opinionated, needle-dick, insecure snobs than on any page I have ever encountered. You make the Porsche forum look like a quilting club.

Happy sailing...

It warms my heart that you ended up with a McGregor 26x -sounds like the perfect fit

[donahue62]

Originally Posted by joelhemington

It warms my heart that you ended up with a McGregor 26x -sounds like the perfect fit

Nothing more to say, Joel nailed it.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Webb Tide

...I was a 5.11C lead climber, podium-finishing mountain bike racer, and multi-continent adventure bike motorcyclist.

...

But let me assure you, this forum has a more sizable accumulation of look-down-your-nose, arrogant, opinionated, needle-dick, insecure snobs than on any page I have ever encountered. You make the Porsche forum look like a quilting club.

Happy sailing...

Obviously you didn't hang around rockclimbing.com or supertopo.com in your climbing days. Talk about arrogant snobs...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Webb Tide

This may not be the best introduction for a newbie, but here goes-

I stumbled across this site while doing homework searching for my first sailboat. I have had powerboats since I was a teenager, and have dabbled in sailing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, and whitewater rafting most of my life. I recently moved to the Central Coast of California after 30 years in Montana, primarily to check sailing off my bucket list.

I am also a lifelong car guy, mechanic, fabricator, and welder, and built my own race car that has set ten records at Bonneville and two at El Mirage. In my younger days, I was a 5.11C lead climber, podium-finishing mountain bike racer, and multi-continent adventure bike motorcyclist.

I say this not to be cocky, but to give an indication of of experience and breadth of interests.

Before I moved to the Morro Bay area, I didn't have any indication of how difficult it would be to find a slip on the coast. After some digging, I learned that the waiting list for a slip was five to eight years. I might not live that long, so I had the wacky idea of posting a "wanted" ad on Craigslist looking for a slip, with or without a boat.

Long story short is that an elderly gentleman reached out to me with a sad story that he had a MacGregor 26X that he had spent twelve years prepping as a retirement coastal live-aboard, only to have health issues cut his dream short.

The price was fair, the slip location was outstanding, and the upgrades that he had made alone far outweighed the asking price.

I knew the 26X wasn't the Ferrari of sailboats, but as an accomplished boater and novice sailor, it seemed like a good fit, especially with the modern electronics, upgrades, 20 HP dinghy, and new 50 HP four stroke he had fitted. I was stoked!

Which brings me to my point. I stumbled across this page because it appeared in a Google search for "cruising MacGregor 26X". Be it known, that as a lifelong car guy, machinist, fabricator, climber and racer, I have come across some pompous know-it-alls in my life.

But let me assure you, this forum has a more sizable accumulation of look-down-your-nose, arrogant, opinionated, needle-dick, insecure snobs than on any page I have ever encountered. You make the Porsche forum look like a quilting club.

Happy sailing...

You should add Champion Rose Garden Fertiliser to your list of accomplishments..