Dissapointing 2005 26M

[Bluecrab]

For those of you that have purchased Mac that needed or came with gel coat repairs, how have they held up?

I am looking at a new Mac that needs repairs to the transom in the identical location to the ones pictured on pg3. In my case dealer has offered to make the repairs. The boat would probably be getting a motor installed had in not seen the cracks.

The rest of the boat seems fine but after reading these posts I will definitely go over it again. I have a lot of trouble buying something new repaired but it sounds common.

[RandyMoon]

My dealer went to the factory and hand selected my Mac. He hooked it up and delivered it to me. He made sure I got good quality.

[Matt 777]

Must be the year. I owned an 05 26M for all of 4 months and had nothing but trouble. The boat was a giant piece of crap and a complete waste of money. Fortunately, someone was willing to buy it used from me and they apparently love it?? Gel coat was thin throughout the cockpit, small bubbles and holes developed in the seat backs, the captains seat never did close properly, the rotating mast always stuck, the gel coat developed massive crazing around the shrouds on both sides. The list goes on, anyways - I would sell it..

[MARK PASSMORE]

Before I bought my 07 I told my dealer that I would not beat him up on price but I wanted the boat to be perfect. His reply was it would NOT be perfect. So I said OK Ill take it. Im a laydown.

but I'm having a blast

[tangentair]

Before I bought my M, my dealer, I won't name him but it starts with B and is located in Wisconson, OK, it was Bill at Boats 4 sail, sent me a CD and told me to read this board. Through out the entire process, he kept my expectations grounded and I got exactly what I expected. Am I satisfied, no, I bought the 50hp because of costs and knowing now I would have gone with a 75 or 90 hp and taken the hit. But I had the information here and I made the bad decision on my own. The only thing I find unusual on my boat is that it doesn't leak and the anchor and motor wells don't drain well either, a project to look at this winter.

[beene]

I bought the 50hp because of costs and knowing now I would have gone with a 75 or 90 hp and taken the hit. But I had the information here and I made the bad decision on my own.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Like most people, you were probably just trying to follow the manufacturers recommendations for fear of future problems or damage to the boat etc.

Just think, sometime in the not too distant future, you could upgrade to the bigger motor. I love how I go 7-8 mph, ballast in, at 1500 rpm. Hardly know the motor is running at that speed and the boat just cuts through waves like a hot knife through butter. Nice and level.

G

[temall00]

the anchor and motor wells don't drain well

I've had the same problem and was going to get a small wire to snake it out but I was washing the boat down and just put the hose up to the exhaust hole and pushed water back up and a bunch of bugs and stuff bubbled up into the well and then it drained quickly until the bugs plugged it up again.

If I stumble across a screen that fits that opening, it should solve the problem but for now it is easy enough to solve.

I don’t have the problem with the anchor locker as much because I don’t get the collection of critters up there.

I hope that works for you.
Tim

[baldbaby2000]

the anchor and motor wells don't drain well

Haven't had trouble with the anchor locker but every so often one of us has to put a hose up to the sink drain and blow in it while the other plugs the hole in the motor well drain. This usually clears it out.

Daniel

[Shane]

Tim (and/or others)

I'd add one step into that. Put the plug in your sink drain first. Not all, but some Ms are piped in such a way that that blast of water could send a jet of water up the sink drain to spray the cabin.

the anchor and motor wells don't drain well

I've had the same problem and was going to get a small wire to snake it out but I was washing the boat down and just put the hose up to the exhaust hole and pushed water back up and a bunch of bugs and stuff bubbled up into the well and then it drained quickly until the bugs plugged it up again.

If I stumble across a screen that fits that opening, it should solve the problem but for now it is easy enough to solve.

I don’t have the problem with the anchor locker as much because I don’t get the collection of critters up there.

I hope that works for you.
Tim

[piratetom]

OK, so now I'm worried. I would expect at this price point for there to be fit and finish issues, but if I'm buying a brand new boat, I would expect the hull to be perfectly sound, yet it appears many of you have boats that leak directly from the factory. A leaky boat is totally unacceptable, in my opinion, and Mac should be ashamed if he is indeed putting out a defective product, despite the price. The whole idea of buying new is to avoid problems, and to have a warantee that will fix any defects in the manufacturing process. Seems like getting the warantee work done has been a problem for many of you. Not what I call good customer service. All the other design drawbacks/advantages of this boat I can reconcile with, but not this. I'm now steering away from the idea of purchasing this boat. More headaches I don't need!

[Catigale]

Well - I think you will end up spending twice as much and dealing with the same issues with a Hunter or like, honestly.

If you think you will have any sailboat and not work on her for 2 years since she is new, then sailing might not be for you...there is always something going on in my experience - a newbie like me will bust stuff faster than defects arise.

I bought mine new in 2002 and have no regrets whatsoever..I dont recall having defects except a leak in the pedestal that a dob of 5200 sealer fixed. I wouldnt have wanted to spend 30k more to lessen my chance of getting that..

[Frank C]

. . . All the other design drawbacks/advantages of this boat I can reconcile with, but not this. I'm now steering away from the idea of purchasing this boat. More headaches I don't need!

In spite of the rough edges you're perceiving, this entire community is predominantly pleased with their purchases, and complimentary of Macgregor Yachts. I had no leaks on my boat for the first 2 or 3 years. Eventually they're result of maintenance foregone ... replacing caulking at the chainplates. The boat has zero through-hulls below the waterline, as delivered by the factory. That means that shoddy maintenance just admits some rain ... and can't sink it.

Guess Heath's Forum is adding value for non-buyers, too. Constant complaints don't add value for anyone. The last thing we need is an unhappy owner, not good for you or the Community. Fair seas!

[temall00]

Tom, the hull is perfectly sound. I don't know anyone with an M (sorry Cat) that is leaking seawater. If anyone is getting water on-board, it's usually from above.

One of the things I like about this boat is zero holes in the bottom of the boat. There is nothing to keep an eye on like with a bigger boat and no holes to sink her if they fail. I do have a bilge pump but I wonder why. I get a few ounces of water if it rains really hard, not enough to turn on the pump and it's not going to sink because it's sitting on the trailer. Oh, another Mac, plus, she won't put you in the water even if she sinks, it'll float full of water, I personally don't want to find out.
If your not convinced a Mac is the way to go, don't buy one. If you see someone on this site with an in your area, send them a message and see if you can go out for a day sail. If your in the Washington, DC area, I'd be happy to go.

If I had $70k to put into a boat, I probably would have a different boat but I had 20 and now I'm enjoying my little sailboat that will zip along at 15 knots. I knew what I was buying, a decent sailboat that's not going to win many races but will allow me to go on multi-day trips and I can trailer it down to Florida when I've had enough cold/snow.

Is it perfect, no. Is it a good boat for the price, yes. There are thousands of folks on this board that are very happy with them.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck with your decision.

Tim

[piratetom]

I really do appreciate this forum and your aggregated knowledge of these boats. I therefore take your advise seriously. However, my point is not that things won't go wrong or break with usage. That is to be expected, as well as maintenance. What worries me is the large number of you who say your boats came with leaks from the factory. Not an option I'd want installed! I would expect these issues if buying a used boat, not new. It just seems to me that one should not have to have an inspection done on a brand new boat. That should be done by the factory before it ever leaves their hands. New SHOULD mean perfect, or at least the guarantee to make it so should something slip by or happen in transit. Perhaps I'm getting an exagerated image of the number of people having this problem, but the idea that one should have to "learn to live" with what appears to be, at least in this thread, substandard workmanship while parting with what is still a substantial investment doesn't fill me with a "warm-fuzzy"! I would love to buy one of these boats for all the obvious advantages, but I'm becoming somewhat leery from this thread.

[baldbaby2000]

What worries me is the large number of you who say your boats came with leaks from the factory.

I wonder what the percentage is? I know "large" is a relative term and even 2% would be too much in my opinion. I assume the leaks are things like chainplates. It seems unlikely there would be a leak through the hull just because there's no place for a leak to develop unless it's a gross manufacturing flaw. Mine developed a leak around the port chainplate that I siliconed and the dealer did a poor job of putting in the shore power that I had to fix. I was at Pueblo once and talking to someone with a new Benetaeu or something like that that was trying to fix a leak around one of the windows. The factory eventually sent him a new window.

Remember that you hear from people with problems probably more than people without complaints.

Daniel