MacGregorSailors.com

Hi, I'm new to MacGregor Sailors. We just bought a 1975 Venture 25. The boat, rigging and sails are in nice condition, but the keel snapped off just below the pivot bolt. I have seen pictures and can extrapolate the dimensions based on the piece we have. The trouble is, I've also seen dimensions listed on various forums that do not match the pictures. Does anyone have the actual plans for these? MacGregor told me they do not have them. I'm surprised, more like shocked, a company that has built 7000 of these boats has no plans. If the pix are correct, I have it about 5' 10" long. 12 3/4" wide for the first 20" and then flaring out to about 16 1/2" toward the bottom. The iron piece we have is 1 1/4" thick. If there are two pieces welded to the sides on the lower portion for additional weight and stabilization, there is no indication how thick they are and then how much resin is used. Nor I cannot find a picture from the bottom to get the exact shape and thickness. Did they use the same keel throughout the 14 years they were built? Any help would be appreciated! Jennifer

Welcome aboard Jennifer

You might want to scan the Venture forum for info on your keel...I'll move the post there, leaving a shadow here too.


Good luck!!

Henry on Trailer Sailors posted a picture of the 25 keel dimensions for Jennifer ....



... and I've added that along with a couple of blown-up sections of the picture on my site here....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ods-5.html

...so if the info is needed in the furture it should also be there, so if you have a 25 or maybe a smaller Mac/Venture you might want to 'bookmark' that link,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Sorry, that one was for the M22; here is the one for the 25:




Henry

heinzir wrote:Sorry, that one was for the M22; here is the one for the 25:




Henry

Yep as you know I now have them both....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

..... A question though.....is the one for the 22 and the 222? I'd better try and get that straight . Thanks,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Sumner wrote:..... A question though.....is the one for the 22 and the 222? I'd better try and get that straight . Thanks,

Sum

It says M222 on the drawing. I don't think, but can't say for sure, that there is any difference in the keels. I had downloaded the file into the "other boats" folder on my computer a long time ago and have no idea where I got it from. The M25 drawing came from the M25 forum on Yahoo.

Henry

How did you make out with the keel replacement? Check sailboatonwers.com under post, 'anybody recognize these boats" by Ritdog from Portland Maine. He bought an old V-24 and might be parting it out. Don't see what part of the country you are in but even at 700# stock cast iron it would probable be cheaper to pay for shipping than to try to fabricate a new one. Fair Winds and full sails....

She is in southern wisconsin. I told her about one in St. Louis but don't know what she is doing. If anyone needs a V25 pop top, that is also available. Not my boat. It was abandoned and will be smashed in a few months. I should add that those are about the only usable parts. The hull was holed (read smashed) in several places and stripped.

Update to old thread. The keel is out and looks very good. Jennifer has dibs till end of February then it's up for sale to anyone. It can be pallet mounted for shipping.

I just rediscovered this site after an HD crash.

Can someone give the dimensions for the swing keel bolt for the MacGregor 22? I am having it replaced soon. Is it a stock stainless bolt I can buy in the marine store or do I need to get something special?

Hello, I have a 1981 Mac 25 that I will probably be parting out soon. Should be the same as a Venture. Are you interested? I am in Fla. now but will be back in Webster NY in April where the boat is. I have other parts as well. thank you. al

After all of your great responses, for which I am eternally grateful, we finally got the boat in the water on September 29, 2012! Thanks to Bill Reichert and his son, who went waaaayyyyy above and beyond what I could have ever expected, I drove to St. Louis (12 hour round trip) to pick up the keel on a nice 95 degree day in August. It took several weeks to build a dolly and framing to get the boat most of the way off the trailer and install that little 7', 625 lb. bugger! The boat handled like a dream. Pointed well There was a tear in the aft part of the keel pocket. I've repaired it but there is still a slight leak which I'll try to patch tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get another day or two on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. We are looking forward to next season sailing Lake Michigan too. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Wow!!!! ..... other boat brought back to life....

Jennifer...replacing a keel successfully isn't easy..I'm wondering if you did manage to find anyone who could fab a keel for you in your locale? We often get people looking for a solution for keels and would like to document resources of course.

Jennifer, I'm glad is was COOL the day you picked it up! We were breaking records from the dust bowl years all summer.

I made my own keel. Fiberglass....scrap sheet of sheet metal and bondo.



I would imagine if you took a piece of scrap metal that was close to size and specs to a body/Fab shop the could really make one look nice.