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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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An interesting MacGregor ad on eBay ...

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1774 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/21/2003 : 10:37:52

Hi everyone,

I always read the sailboat auctions on eBay ... it's interesting to see what used boats are selling for, and I also get lots of fix-up ideas from looking at the photos.

Anyway, there is an ad for a MacGregor 26 that I thought was interesting. Here is what the ad says:

<font color=blue>1989 Macgregor with 9.9 hp outboard UNIQUE

Vehicle Description

This is a very Unique craft... To start with,,,it has and A-frame mast which can be cranked up or down,,,either at sea or on the trailer. Roller reefing is attached to both sails. This is a water balast model. The engine starts when you need it. New battery. Boat cruises around 15 to 18 knots with engine. 20-25 knots under sail (my guesimate). Please see the page on my website; http://moneymax3000.netfirms.com for better pics and more info. Click on the A-frame link. This item has received as high as 100 hits per day on this site!! Must now sell due to death in family. MAX
</font id=blue>

I looked at his photos and checked the link he provided about the A-frame mast system ... for the life of me, I can't figure out what he's talking about. Since he claims a professional engineer designed the system, and it works both on the trailer and on the water, I wanted to see if there is anything I could learn from it. I can't even see it in the photos ... does anyone know what he's talking about?

After that, he says "roller reefing is attached to both sails" ... what do y'all think he means by that?

Finally, I can believe this boat might cruise at "15 to 18 knots" with the 9.9 hp outboard, but is there any way it can sail at "20-25" knots?

If you want to read the eBay ad, here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& item=2408242498& category=26433

I'm not bashing MacGregors here ... I don't care if you sail a log with a bedsheet for a sail ... I'm trying to learn all I can about sailing. OH ... BTW ... on his website he also says this boat will float in 8 inches of water ... really?

'Just curious about all this ... thanks for your input!

Buzz Maring
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3df23b3127cce9306a9b3abad0000001010" border=0>
~~Freya~~
C-25 SK/SR #68

Edited by - on

Gary B.
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 10:56:53

Buzz: I just took a quick look. From the incredible rake on the mast, and the oddly cut sails, this looks to me like an abortion. I can't imagine how it would balance under sail. It looks very much to me like somebody has jury rigged a mast and sails off of another boat. The mast looks somewhat short. It is possible that the main rolls somehow, but I don't see it here, although the jib looks roller furled.

As for his speed claims????? Ha, Ha, Ha. There is no MacGregor 26 that would EVER sail that fast! I would bet serious money on it. As for speed under power??? Ha, Ha. Not quite as funny, but the only speeds that fast under power are for the MacGregor abortions that use a 50 horsepower engine and cruise like a powerboat. I am quite certain that an 89 model was pre-"Power Cruiser" or whatever they call it. It would certainly not do 15 knots with a 9.9, even if it was the "power" model.

I would avoid a boat like this like the plague. This is a corrupted version of a suspect design in the first place. (so much for not bashing MacGregors). Sorry, but you asked......

Gary B.
Encore! #685 SK/SR

Edited by - on

Bryan Beamer
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1038 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 11:17:34

That is a good one. <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>
I'm with you. There is no way that boat can go that fast. I'm pretty sure the person listing that on e-bay is not the owner.

Bryan Beamer
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3dc23b3127cce9462f2858f2b0000001010" border=0>
Daylight Again
C250wk #495

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tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 11:31:12

Buzz,

Those speed figures are the result of too much of a good thing( HICK )and the contraption is the product of the same overindulgence. Look, up there at the mast head it's the CHESCHIRE CAT.

But be careful in your castigation of telephone pole and beach blanket sailcraft, I cut my teeth on such. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Val on the hard DAGNABIT

Val Bisagni]<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3df11b3127cce94709c5ff2e90000000010" border=0>

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 13:28:05

It appears that the owner has eliminated the mast and replaced it with a A-frame device that enables him to use a roller furling device for the main sail. In the photo, you can see the luff of the main just ahead of the A-frame.

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3dd00b3127cce952b0dc4ca550000001610" border=0>

<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>Don Lucier<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cc32b3127cce92e981259d130000001010" border=0>
North Star SR/FK

Edited by - dlucier on 03/21/2003 18:19:43

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John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 15:01:34

Geez, here we go again.

Gary, you said you wouldn't bash MacGregors. I'll make no such claim! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

I have to agree with Val, the guesstimates of speed are way out of whack. <i>(The guy probably thinks 3 inches is 6)</i> With the original rig and sails it wouldn't come close to those speeds. These sails are considerably shortened. Besides that, if the main furls then it can't have battens, and with the boom across the middle of the sail I'd bet it can't possibly create the proper sail shape for optimal performance (relative term <img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>).

He's dreamin' if he thinks he's going to get $5000 for it. He already mentions that the pop-top mod is on the way to goin' south on him. The trailer's had to be shored up. It's a bad idea made worse. I didn't think that was possible with a MacGregor! ha ha ha. An abomination of an abomination?

Oh shut up, already. OK!

John Mason
<img src="http://www.users.qwest.net/~jamason/ali.jpg" border=0>
pronounced "Ali Paroosa"
1982 - FK/SR #3290

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Earl Landers
Navigator

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USA
157 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 15:38:01

Way off on speed, maybe he's thinking about that frame that is identified as a Hobie, which it isn't. The only Hobies with asymetrical hulls are the 14 & 16 and the tramps are held up by pylons, not bolted to the decks.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Boy, don't you wish you could saw you mast in half, slice up your sails and go twice your current boat speed? Ho Ho Ho <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Earl Landers
'83 C25 SR/SK
"Gentle Spirit"

Edited by - on

John Mason
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2003 : 15:57:21

Earl,
Maybe he modified (read as "destroyed") the Hobie as well as the MacGregor!

John Mason
<img src="http://www.users.qwest.net/~jamason/ali.jpg" border=0>
pronounced "Ali Paroosa"
1982 - FK/SR #3290

Edited by - on

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 03/22/2003 : 01:33:00

For those of us with some MacGregor familiarity (I had an '84 Mac 25 for a couple years), you can tell from the photo that the hull is the water ballast "Mac 26-C" model, not the "Mac 26-X" power/sailer. This boat is a round-bottom, displacement hull sailboat with a light-weight fiberglass centerboard, and the hull speed is about the same as a Catalina 25 or 250, i.e. 6.5 knots. The speed claims in the eBay ad are complete nonsense...The Mac 26C is not designed to get up on plane, no matter how big of an engine you tacked on the back. As for the Mac 26-X, even though it has a fairly flat bottom, it can ONLY plane if lightly loaded, and with a 40 to 50 horsepower engine, certainly not a 9.9.

From the look of the photo, I would suspect that the original mast and rigging was lost or damaged beyond repair somehow, and the boat was uninsured, causing the owner to "cobble together" that bizarre rig from materials he got cheap or maybe for free, and perhaps used sails for some other boat that were re-cut.

Larry Charlot
Catalina 25 #1205 "Quiet Time"
Sacramento, CA

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MattL
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 03/22/2003 : 03:36:20

I cleaned out my magazine drawer at the suggestion of admrial and therefore do not have any of my old SAIL issues. I do remember an ad I noticed for a rig that was supose to be easey to use and works as well as a regular sail. There was a photo that looked like the one in question here, if anyone has a SAIL mag take a look and see if it is in there. I think it was a small one 1 X 2 or so.

Matt/Brigitte Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3072 Posts

Response Posted - 03/22/2003 : 11:17:42

Hmmm 20-25 Kts under sail? Better get that boat in the Americas Cup.

Mac bashing...

For their intended use, (trailer sailing bays and lakes) "Classic" Mac's are adequate to the task and really sail quite well for their design parameters.

In spite of it's lightweight construction, my Venture hasn't failed in it's 26 years of life. I have seen some Mac's and Ventures with damaged keel trunks, but those were due to groundings or keel cable breakage.

I consider the V23 one of the best looking of the trailerable sailboats... certainly in the classic sense. If I could stand up inside, I wouldn't be selling mine.

I can't say that I care much for the 26X... or the quality of the trailers supplied with the new models. But Roger is selling plenty of them.

-- CB

Currently maintaining two holes in the water...'77 Venture 23 and new to the family,
'78 Catalina 25

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osmepneo
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
1420 Posts

Response Posted - 03/25/2003 : 11:52:38

An "interesting MacGregor" - now that's an oxymoran if I ever heard one! <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

Don Peet
c25, 1665, osmepneo, sr/wk
The Great Sacandaga Lake, NY

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