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I am the former owner of a 2005 26M. Have regretted selling the boat since day one. A 2000 26X with no motor or trailer is available for $1500.00. Question is...what is the biggest difference between the two? I know the obvious problems that I need a motor and trailer, plus it will be a "project Boat". The trailer is easy since I have an extra one, and I will probably buy a 50HP Suzi 4 stroke. At $1500 it's almost a no brainer so my big concern is the difference from what I had to the 26X. I respect the contributors to this forum as mostly serious guys who love their MacGregors and will appreciate any guidance.

My personal opinion is: The differences in performance are probably going to be wiped out by the skill/experience of the skipper. That leaves the layout/comfort/personal fit of the boat and price. Seems like you have the price sorted out, so that leaves fit and only you can decide on that factor.

~Rich

God love ya, trumpetguy, but this has been discussed on this forum ad nauseum. Please have a search back and you'll see umpteen threads discussing the differences, some even have detailed charts.

Easy, the M will kick the X'es butt and a White M is a few knots faster than a Blue one

Now that I'v got the crap out of the way, They are both pretty much the same thing and I reckon most of us would be happy with either.
If you already have a trailer, like you say, 1500 bucks is a no brainer!

X has a bigger cockpit and more feet room in the cockpit. M has more room in the cabin.

$1,500, it is a no-brainer...um where is it?

trumpetguy wrote:I am the former owner of a 2005 26M. Have regretted selling the boat since day one. A 2000 26X with no motor or trailer is available for $1500.00. Question is...what is the biggest difference between the two? I know the obvious problems that I need a motor and trailer, plus it will be a "project Boat". The trailer is easy since I have an extra one, and I will probably buy a 50HP Suzi 4 stroke. At $1500 it's almost a no brainer so my big concern is the difference from what I had to the 26X. I respect the contributors to this forum as mostly serious guys who love their MacGregors and will appreciate any guidance.

At that price I would scoop that puppy up instead of keyboarding with morons...hey, wait a minute...

In my opinion the most important difference is the daggerboard vs. centerboard. The dagger is much simpler mechanically and essentially maintenance free, but it will be damaged severely any time you run aground. If you sail shallow waters, the X is definitely the way to go, but in deep water I strongly prefer the daggerboard which is easy to trim and has no maintenance issues other than replacement.

The M is a better sailboat with its higher aspect mainsail and rotating mast, but that only makes a difference in light airs and with a very competent sailor. An X could be retrofit with an M nast and they'd be so close to equal at the point as to be indistinguishable. The X is faster to get on a plane and more effifient on it due to its flatter hull--it's also more likely to get up on a plane going downwind under sail and probably could best an M in that rare (almost mythical) scenario.

The daggerboard trunk in the M dictates its design with a forward head, splitting the cabin space up and requiring the cockpit to be smaller to obtain a reasonably sized dinette space. Because of this, the X feels more open and larger even though it's actually a bit smaller inside. The X has a larger cockpit at the expense of cabin space and a larger transom. The X has a few inches less headroom. I prefer the openness and larger cockpit of the X, but the M has more utility in my opinion.

At the end, the boats are more like each other than they are like any other boat in the market, and I think the differences between them are merely a different set of minor trade offs.

Catigale wrote:At that price I would scoop that puppy up instead of keyboarding with morons...hey, wait a minute...

Methinks he must have missed a zero somewhere in that number.

No engine or trailer. No way anyone's asking $15,000.00 I hope.

kmclemore wrote:
Methinks he must have missed a zero somewhere in that number.

fouz wrote:No engine or trailer. No way anyone's asking $15,000.00 I hope.

kmclemore wrote:
Methinks he must have missed a zero somewhere in that number.

$10,500?

Blue on blue, heartache on heartache, and I still just can't .......

Buy of the century?

~Rich

I am with Rich !!!!! $1500 !! OMG!!! AND you already have a trailer!! Get a 1 year old Merc or Yamaha BF from I Boats and your sailing for very cheap!! Like Kevin and others have said .. either boats sailing difference, is going to be made up with skill .. either way, no matter which one is theoretically faster?? It ain't that much faster..IMHO if you have the cash and the wife is on board and you want a trailer sailor.. ITS A NO BRAINER!

Hamin' X wrote:Buy of the century?

~Rich

YOu could debate this but it no debate will make an almost free X lose out to a $$$ M.

Heck if you don't want it, I'll drive out wherever and get it, that price is too good to pass up! Even if you didn't have the funds for a motor at the moment, you could just get a tiny 5hp or 10hp or something to "get you by" until you could buy a bigger one.