A Very Sad MacGregor...

[kmclemore]

Welcome, Miami! Happy to have you amongst us Mac owners, and thanks for the detailed posting re the these boats.

Re the 'hit' boat, that $9K quote was for the exterior only... so with additional interior work plus a new mast, rigging, etc, you're probably talking around $12-13K in total to have it all repaired. My guess is that given current prices, a similar boat floating at the dock in reasonably good shape would only be worth around $19-22K - but with a 'salvage' title, which this probably now has, the value is gonna be less than for a normal boat... not many folks like buying 'damaged' goods even if they have been fixed up well. So... take the $7K price it sold for, add $12K to fix it up, and you've just spent $19K for a boat that you can only sell for around $17K. Now, if you do the work yourself you can save on the repairs, of course... however I don't know about you guys, but my time is worth $$ to me, and I do take that into account when I buy-to-fix. Like I said, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

I only wonder, Miami... with the "MacGregor 26SL" that you did buy (which looks pretty nice, actually), are you going to leave the emblems on it?

[Miami]

And thank you to everyone on this forum. I studied a lot of posts here before deciding what to do.

One thing I am looking forward to is trying some unballasted sailing to see if I can plane it and what max speed is. Fortunately, SE Florida has lots of shallow water large sailing places where the risk of turtling the 26X is just about zero. Since my boat will be moored on a canal on the intracoastal right behind my first floor condo, I can take it out on a moment's notice. Just a quarter mile or so away is Maule Lake, and Dumbfoundling Bay which are both protected and shallow. So I can experiment without ballast pretty easily.

Also can probably sail without ballast safely in the many shallow areas of Biscayne Bay which always seems to have nice winds. (This is also the reason why I wanted an X, rather than an M...I wanted the kick up centerboard for these local conditions.)

I used to windsurf a lot off Cape Cod many years ago, but that's too much work at my age now (55). I just moved to Florida a few months ago.

[mike]

It's probably reasonably safe to sail without ballast downwind, but I personally wouldn't want to try it on a reach or pointing.

About a year and a half ago a 26X capsized on Lake Pontchartrain due to the owners forgetting to fill the ballast tank.

--Mike

[Miami]

not a bad emblem, maybe it'll stay...are green hulls faster than blue hulls?

In your calculations on the wrecked M, I think you forgot the value of the motor. A good used basic 2004 MAC M with 50 hp 4 stroke should be worth at least $22K to $24K. Keep in mind this wrecked boat was a basic boat with almost no options and you still had to haggle with the owner over the trailer. But you're right about the 12K or $13K it will take to make it comparable to a new basic M Mac. That's almost exactly what I calculated.

The couple who owned it were in the Keys where it was rammed (as already posted here) the week before it showed up at auction here. After it got hit, the insurance company told them to drop it off at the auction place in Ft Lauderdale on their way back to Illinois. The auction company didn't even know it was coming. They just showed, up dropped the boat off, and drove home from their vacation. Within a few days, the auction company listed it for sale. (I got all the info from the people at the boatyard.)

[kmclemore]

not a bad emblem, maybe it'll stay...are green hulls faster than blue hulls?

MUCH faster!!! (.... perhaps even almost as fast as a white hull).

In your calculations on the wrecked M, I think you forgot the value of the motor. A good used basic 2004 MAC M with 50 hp 4 stroke should be worth at least $22K to $24K.

True... my estimate is probably off just a bit, but I was also calculating it without the trailer (about $1.5K), and as you say, you'd have to haggle to get that in this deal.

[Miami]

Actually I want to try it on reaches.

Maybe with a jib alone with strong wind.

My background is more sailing windsurfers rather than traditional sailboats. On a windsurfer, it is very easy to plane. Of course, a windsurfer has a huge advantage in that the sail can be tilted in any direction.

To get on a plane in windsurfing on a reach, you actually lean back into the wind and adjust your sail angle so that it acts as both a lifting wing and forward propulsion wing. Your sail top is always pointed into the wind, never heeled over downwind. The lifting component force lifts the front of the board right out of the water nicely and the whole thing propels you forward very quickly on a plane.

The problem on a sailboat is how to somehow generate that lift component at the front of the boat, along with a forward thrust. Maybe a kite surfer sail will help?

I wonder if a jib mounted upside down would do it?

This is all just fun speculation....for now.

[Frank C]

My background is more sailing windsurfers rather than traditional sailboats. ... To get on a plane in windsurfing on a reach, you actually lean back into the wind and adjust your sail angle so that it acts as both a lifting wing and forward propulsion wing.

Hey Miami!
You're the perfect "test lab" for 17 mph under sail! My dealer told the story of selling an early X-boat to a group of crazy Hobie sailors. Apparently they loved to chase the West Coast winds, and decided to buy the X as a mother ship and bedroom for a trip to Sea of Cortez.

They insisted on testing the boat out on central SF Bay without ballast, but he refused. He did let them try it unballasted in a more sheltered area of the Bay ... he said they were very skilled at handling the boat, but clearly young crazies! So they bought the boat and took off for SoC w/ a Mac and two Hobies. They later sent him a letter from Mexico claiming a 17 mph reach, unballasted. It required one helmsman/trimmer, plus two guys holding halyards and standing out on the windward hull ... or so the story goes ...

[Miami]

Thanks for the info. I have no doubt that the Hobie sailors did it. So they only needed two bodies hanging to windward, about 300 to 400 pounds hanging to do it. Sounds like they did it with the standard rigging and sails. If so, that's very encouraging.

My first sailboat, 33 years ago, was a small catamaran. Catamaran sailors learn quickly how to sail at the edge of control. Fortunately, most small catamarans respond very quickly to rudder and sail control, so it's easy to find the edge if the helmsman is quick witted and understands wind. I could always find that edge on a reach and never dumped the catamaran.

[waternwaves]

Hmm, never dumped a hobie.....???

not close enough to the edge then..........heheheh or your winds are too constant...., gotta sail in a few more thunderstorms...

we're invincible right???

I mean metal mast, aluminum tramp frame, and wire rope......

We're invincible when we are 19 lol

And I wonder why my children don't care to go sailing that often........lol

[rmaddox]

Glad everyone scared off the high bidder..I got second chance offer and just brought her home to palmetto from ft lauderdale. Neighboor has done this for 30+ years and says we'll spend less than a grand so for $7200 + $1000 I'll have a great boat that still has new boat smell and an engine warranty. I plan on a new design for head that I am borrowing from winnebago lesharo, it expands the size when you need it and gives me a hanging locker behind porta-poti. I will send photo's as we go. Hope to have basics done by end of july and modifications soon after. Randy happy new mac owner.

[Divecoz]

BTW contrary to what others quoted here. . your much closer to my estimate to repair. . . IF. . .You have the Space The Talent The Ability to do it yourself.
Prices to have it all done for you are more than likely in line though . I mow my own grass for about $3 they want $100 a week to do it so I do it myself though I had to buy a lot of equipment . Just like restoring British Sports cars . . if you have to have most or all of it done for you ..... of coarse you will have much more into it than it will ever be worth . Good and Best Of Luck to You on this New Adventure.

[Andy26M]

Welcome Randy and Miami!! And congratulations on your new-to-you boats!

Randy, I think everyone will be interested to see/read about your repairs, please do keep us posted! Also, as owner of a 2004 26M, I'm very interested in seeing what you make of the head. I've gone to a few small RV shows in the past year to look at how they do things - there are a lot of nifty ideas out there!

- AndyS