MacGregor 26—The Boat Everyone Loves to Hate

Just what is it about the MacGregor 26 that makes it the boat everyone loves to hate?

First off "everyone" is hyperbole. Everyone literally doesn't love to hate the Mac 26. Some people even love them. So you can tell whether you belong in the love or hate camp, I've devised this simple test. Say you and the missus are shopping for a boat. You've narrowed your choices to two:

If the boats shown in the photos above are likely to be you finalist, well, I'm glad you want to be on the water, God bless, but suggest you leave this page and instead go here.

Ironically, it's hyperbole that's gotten the Mac 26 in such hot water. Consider the photo below that was the subject of the recently ended APS Mystery Photo Contest.

In a way, it looks like a nice and cozy two-booth diner, but look closely. Remove the mirror on the starboard side bulkhead and two booths become one booth, then pretend that the diner is in Miami and after a grueling day of racing in the Bacardi, large Star crew extraordinary Magnus Liljedahl, Phil Trinter, Steve Mitchell, and Rob Schofield have plopped themselves down in the booth to chow down. The photo is hyperbole.

It's at the Saling Anarchy forum that the Mac has taken the most unmerciful beating. There, the focus is on one Frank Mighetto, the owner of a MacGregor 26 named Murrelet. Frank, who has an exhaustive Web site about Murrelet and the Mac, took it upon himself to defend the boat in the forum.

In one post Fred said:

"...A VERY LARGE RACING SPINNAKER IS NOW AVAILABLE, MOUNTED ON A REMOVABLE BOW SPRITE."

To which an anarchist regular replied:

"It has a 'sprite','how can you go wrong?"

Writing about Fred another anarchist said

"I think we should all take out life insurance policies on this guy, He gonna die. I hope his affairs are in order. I saw one of these tip over last summer towing a skier, during a turn with the skier on the outside, the mast kept heeling father outboard, the motor cavitated and the rudder lost its grip, the back end skidded around and filled the cockpit with a great amount of wet stuff. It came back up, but not quickly, most of the water drained into the cabin. Seems the cockpit drains could not handle the volume. They headed home with their 125hp between there legs."

The headline at the factory Web site is:

"...$19,990 Trailerable sailboat. 22 mph.the WORLD'S best selling cruising sailboat."

Farther down the page I learned:

"MacGregor has delivered over 5000 of the 26X's"

That means there are as many Macs as J/24's. Hyperbole? Well, I don't know, but I do know that if they have delivered over 5,000 of them they are well hidden, at least on the east coast. I've never seen one and I see J/24's all the time.

On the HOW TO SAIL page at the factory Web site I learned:

"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU MUST KNOW IS THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH THE WIND IS BLOWING. If you don’t know wind direction, you will look sort of stupid when trying to use the wind as your engine...pull in both jib sheets tight and she will sail into the weather on her own. "

In one post at the Sailing Anarchy forum Frank Mighetto wrote:

"Understanding this apparent wind vs true wind business is said to be important in sailing well. But this really is only the case if the sailor is trying to use other sailboats in making decisions regarding pointing. It can be confusing; only the wind the boat sees is important in sailing well. The Mac26x crews that ignore what other boats are doing and have no more understanding of apparent vs true wind than how gravity works will do better in making way upwind than crews over thinking this wind apparent/truth business."

To which an anarchist replied:

"Thats the secret, IGNORE other boats to measure your own speed/performance. I knew there was a trick to racing."

Back in Pensacola, there was one or two that occasionally went out and actually put up sails. In fact I remember one in a Wed night race once. God it was painful just to watch. Most of the time they would suffer for about a half hour under sail, get bored and fire up the 50 hp and go rage around the bay. Go figure.

No where did Frank get into more trouble at the Sailing Anarchy forum than when he expounded on the virtues of the Mac's water ballast:

"Dozens of individuals have told me so. But I can just not get that concept into my head. Ballast is ballast. Certainly water will not work for ballast at the bottom end of a keel. Water is buoyant when it is in water. It can not serve like lead ballast there. But when it is spread directly under a boat's floor boards and capped so that it can not slosh around (as in Mac26x boats), a modest heel raises the water ballast on the windward side out of the sea where it is just as effective as non water ballast."

It doesn't seem that Frank understands that other boats with water ballast keep it in two tanks on either side. Another anarchist notes:

"See, as you push the water deeper under water it get's less dense and becomes buoyant. Fortunately, water is still heavier than air, otherwise all the buoyant water from the bottom of the ocean would float right up out of the water instead of sinking in the air."

"Make it stop. This is hurting my ribs, blurring my vision and giving me hypoxia. Never mind taking too much of my time."