MacGregorSailors.com

Tomfoolery wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:29 am Looks like it’s in excellent shape for its age. Clean interior. Original trailer. In better shape than mine, from what I can see.

I think the trailer may have been replaced at some point.
It's got a 2002 steel trailer with surge brakes that don't work.

The boat is cleaning up nicely. My son and I completely emptied her out and I am in the process of scrubbing the interior liner to get rid of light mildew throughout. It will take a few more hours of cleaning but it's really beginning to shine. Once the inside is completely cleaned, I'll pressure wash the outside then check inside for any leaks.

I couldn't wait til the work was done to take out on the water and yesterday I decided to take it out for a test run. The motor started right up and performed well. With 3 people on board totalling 360 lbs and nothing on board other than bare necessity legal safety gear and a good socket set, I did a full throttle run with and without ballast.
With ballast full, we hit 14 mph
With empty ballast we achieved 17 mph.

NICE! That kid was grinning big! Worth every penny. Helmsman looked pretty happy too. Fastest sailboat on the water that day.

Mine tops out at 16 mph, no ballast, mast up, with sails furled and stored. But I also carry a fair bit of stuff on board, and the bottom is far from slippery these days.

That’s really clean inside. Wow.

Tomfoolery wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 5:20 pm Mine tops out at 16 mph, no ballast, mast up, with sails furled and stored. But I also carry a fair bit of stuff on board, and the bottom is far from slippery these days.

That’s really clean inside. Wow.

I keep spares of necessary items and lots of extra stuff in the 26D but I wanted to get a baseline performance run on the X before it gets loaded down. I had my son empty every last bit from inside that wasn't bolted down so we could inventory and clean.
I opened up the mainsail and it looks decent.
I found a bag with a folded sail labeled Doyle Sails R.F. jib. The roller furled genoa is still wrapped to the mast and I'm hoping it's OK.
There's a bimini with a rough looking cover that I haven't opened yet.
All of the cushions look great but I'll take the covers to the laundromat for cleaning.
A gin pole.
A brand new with tags on it Fortress Fx11 anchor with 6' of chain and 75' of nylon rode.
Two brand new 8x24 black fenders.
Two almost new dual purpose batteries with a battery selector switch.
There are LED strips installed below the upper liner.
A west marine 1000 Watt power inverter, and some other random gear.
I am half done with cleaning the interior and it's looking REALLY good.
The negative things I've found are some chipped gelcoat in random spots and a couple poorly repaired cracks in the cockpit bench over the starboard tank cutout. Really oxidized exterior gelcoat. Although the batteries seem to be in great condition, I've only got power at the outboard and no power at the panels or any fixtures. I'm guessing the main power wire goes into the binnacle and something got disconnected or a main fuse is blown. There is some surface rust on the trailer but a thorough hammer test didn't reveal any dead spots, and the surge brakes don't work. Every time I stopped or started, the few inches of free play in the surge brake would hit pretty hard and jolt my Suburban pretty good. That part really sucked towing through New York City.
Even with the few negatives I've found, I think I hit the jackpot on this purchase. I'm looking forward to sorting out the bugs and getting this boat back in good shape!

Congrats from a fellow '98 26X owner. Had mine almost 17 years. Original trailer. Both holding up well with common sense maintenance and a little TLC. New Yamaha 50HT in 2013. Enjoy. I didn't notice any lifelines. Did I miss discussion about that?

Herschel wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:51 pm Congrats from a fellow '98 26X owner. Had mine almost 17 years. Original trailer. Both holding up well with common sense maintenance and a little TLC. New Yamaha 50HT in 2013. Enjoy. I didn't notice any lifelines. Did I miss discussion about that?

Lifelines are there. They weren't hooked up when I bought the boat and I haven't taken the time to put them on. I tied them around the mast from the first stanchion for the ride home. I just need to get them attached at the cockpit. The motor trip around the bay wasn't really planned... I've got a buddy I met through a Macgregor Owners Facebook page who came into town to check out a different friend's C&C 29 MK2 that's for sale. I figured it was a fun idea that since we were going to the marina and launch ramp that we should bring the X adding to go out and make sure the Honda actually works and the boat floats, before devoting several days into cleaning, waxing, and organizing the boat.
I will step the mast this week and make sure the standing rigging is right and safe.


Why did you need to replace the original motor?

Nice. You are now part of the mult-boat club.

Update your location in the forum. Click you name top right, profile.

svscott wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:03 pm

Herschel wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:51 pm Congrats from a fellow '98 26X owner. Had mine almost 17 years. Original trailer. Both holding up well with common sense maintenance and a little TLC. New Yamaha 50HT in 2013. Enjoy. I didn't notice any lifelines. Did I miss discussion about that?

Lifelines are there. They weren't hooked up when I bought the boat and I haven't taken the time to put them on. I tied them around the mast from the first stanchion for the ride home. I just need to get them attached at the cockpit. The motor trip around the bay wasn't really planned... I've got a buddy I met through a Macgregor Owners Facebook page who came into town to check out a different friend's C&C 29 MK2 that's for sale. I figured it was a fun idea that since we were going to the marina and launch ramp that we should bring the X adding to go out and make sure the Honda actually works and the boat floats, before devoting several days into cleaning, waxing, and organizing the boat.
I will step the mast this week and make sure the standing rigging is right and safe.
Why did you need to replace the original motor?

The '98 Mercury 50 BF that the original owner chose for the boat became expensive to maintain and unreliable at that. It served well for over 16 years (5 for him and 11 for me). It was, of course, carbureted and invariably there would be issues there. I have learned a lot about boat DIY projects over the years, but engine repair and maintenance is not one of them. I have professionals do all of that, so cost becomes an issue at some point with me. After I had two breakdowns and had to be towed in after spending good money to get it fixed, I decided my reliability with my wife, family, and other crew was too important to put at risk. Here in Central Florida we are blessed with an abundance of rain, but with that, especially in the summer comes some pretty rough lightening storms. You really don't want to get caught out there in one of those, so I opted to go with a new engine which, of course, had fuel injection by then.

I've emptied the boat, inventoried everything, and given an fairly in depth inspection and have my list of projects pretty well figured out.
There is an extensive list of critical and non critical stuff to work on. In no particular order...
-I already installed a Garmin Gpsmap 741 chartplotter into the helm station. I spliced into an existing switch that feeds a plug in assuming is for an anchor or cockpit light.
-The motor control cables need to be replaced. After using the first time boat, I tilted the motor up to engage the tilt lock and found one of the cables is almost broken off where it enters the motor.
-The roller furled genoa needs to have the leech line pocket resewn because the sail cloth is tearing from uv damage where the sun cover didn't protect it well enough. The sail also has a little mildew to scrub off down fairly low.
-The spreader tubes are bent.
-Lifeline covers need to be replaced and the cables inspected. Several lifeline connection fittings need purchased or modified.
-Running rigging is all sub standard. A couple years ago West Marine had New England Ropes Sta Set 50% off during Black Friday - maybe they'll do this again.
-Deck hardware should probably be rebedded. I'm not sure that it leaks but I know that it will if not addressed.
- Windows are badly uv damaged but don't seem to leak. The windows are only 1/8" thick and I'm assuming they are polycarbonate because they can get stepped on. I know people shouldn't step on the windows but people are not always paying attention. Stepping through the forward windows while on deck could be really bad.
-Waterproof 4 prong deck plug is broken on wire at base of mast.
-VHF antenna wire shield is broken where the wire is run/caulked through the deck. I'll change the wire and install a waterproof plug.
-All of the boat's wiring is really bad and almost everything was left disonnected behind the fuse panels. I'll be adding bus bars and getting the wiring redone through winter. I traced the wires and got power to one of the two fuse panels that has the stereo, the vhf, and the depth sounder in it. The second fuse panel has all of the cabin and nav lights and it doesn't have power yet. The wiring for the motor is ok.
- The transducer is mounted on the ballast tank and only works when the ballast is full. I need to figure out where to place the transducer where it isn't over the ballast tank or affected when planing. On my 26D, I mounted the transducer under the V berth but that does not look like it'll work on the X.
- The cushion covers are in great shape but I'll launder them and also clean the foam with vinegar and borax to kill any mildew and keep them fresh.
- I need to wax inside and out (the never ending task!). The interior fiberglass is mostly in great shape. The exterior gelcoat is kinda rough. It's badly oxidized and has numerous gel coat scars with mediocre repair work completed. I pressure washed the exterior and began polishing with a dual action polisher and 3M Restorer Wax for heavy oxidation. It's amazing how much difference wax makes.
-Secure batteries and install battery boxes.

I'm sure I've forgotten to list a couple items and that I will certainly find more things that need attention once I step the mast and actually sail the boat.

After going out motoring twice this past week with the mast strapped down, the boat behaved well and I had a great time going fast but I really want to sail! I at least got out for an hour of solo sailing in my 26D .

The boating season is coming to a close on Lake Erie and I brought both Macs home this week. I learned a bunch about the 26X and am looking forward to becoming more adept at sailing it. I love how easy it is to just get on the boat and leave the dock and the roller furling main makes it SO FAST to get sailing. The sail slugs make using the main much easier than the bolt rope. I need to add stretch cord for the lazy jack lines and I think that'll make dropping the main much easier. My 26D takes 10 minutes of setup before leaving the dock... I always remove the boom/ rolled mainsail and hank on the head sail before shoving off.

To get this somewhat neglected boat in the water, I only spent a couple days emptying the boat at home and power washing the whole exterior and waxing the sides. Iv was antsy to use the boat so I'll wax the topside before next season. Then the genoa needed some work so I had American Cruising Sails repair the UV damaged leech line pocket on the genoa by cutting the suncover stitching then sewing in new sail tape repair material. They charged me $140 and had the sail back to me the next day... acceptable price and great service. After finding a badly frayed shift cable on the motor, I also replaced the outboard control cables with Teleflex Extreme cables at a cost of about $110. The wiring needed a little work to get the fuse panels live. I still need to get the VHF radio working - I think the antenna cable needs to be replaced, as it's frayed where it's fed through the deck.
I plan to replace the windows and rebed the deck hardware this winter. I'll also service the engine with new impeller and replace the fluids.
I wasn't completely sure about this boat when I stumbled across the for sale ad and agreed to drive 10 hours to buy it but now that all systems have been tested, I'm totally satisfied with my purchase!

My deadline to remove the boats from the marina was yesterday (10/29) at 4 pm. It was 45 degrees and raining most of the week but I was able to sail both boats back to back on Tuesday afternoon, starting with a quick trip around the bay on the X and then parked it at the slip and sailed the D in the rain over to Presque Isle State Park where my truck/ trailer was waiting. Yesterday, the X was almost the last boat in the water for the season..we left the dock at 330 and there were only 6 other boats left in the marina.

After sailing both boats back to back, the 2 Macs are quite different. I think the D is a big little boat and the X is a little big boat. On the D, the interior feels small and cramped but the cockpit room feels very open. The D sails noticeably better and faster the the X - in v the same conditions, I couldn't get the X faster than about 5 knots and I had the D up to 6.5 knots. The D heels faster and easier than the X so I suspect my wife will really like using the X, whereas the conditions need to be just right for her to go on the D to keep it under her comfort level of 10 degrees of lean.