Later this week I will be looking at a 1973 Venture 17 that I am interested in possibly buying. I know it has no motor, sails or running rigging. With regards to the boat, other than the rudder, pintals and gugeons, centerboard, centerboard cable, chain plates, and mast step, what should I pay special attention to? I want to create a written checklist to refer to while I am looking at it.
MacGregor Venture 17
- Thread starter tom11673
- Start date
OK, I'll bite. Can't let your questions go completely UN-requited.
When I bought our 1973 V224 I knew practically nothing about small sail boats I thought I was getting a sweet ship cheap since she was painted all pretty white. Turned out she was a wreck under all that pretty paint. The guy begging me to buy at his loss should have been a clue.
Well, I'm a handy guy and I fixed it. All of it. Leaned a lot and made some mistakes for sure that I had to revisit but...
shes mine- worth the $$$ or not. Many hundreds of work hours and thousands of $$$ in decent equipment she is coming along.
Years of work left to do though. Its been a labor of love/hate.
But: Anything on a nearly 50 year old plastic boat can be fixed. At that age it must be expected that things will need fixing.
Biggies:
Sails - I finally bought all new since the ones that came with the boat were trash. Sailed on them for several years though.
Got about $4,000 into sails so far (I have trouble finding used sails my size).
Motor - Mine came with a 1978 15 horse. Too much motor - too much weight, too much unusable power.
Rather have a 8-9 horse.
Soft Decks - Not always a problem, depends on where they are. I had to replace the entire cockpit floor right away, the core under the mast step right after that. Both side deck cores, part of front deck core, and repairs to stringers and bulkheads on the hull floor.
Pretty much anywhere there are deck fittings, I had to replace cores under them since they were never sealed properly and got wet and rotted. A soft/wet rotted deck core can be detected by tapping with a hard blunt object and listening for the sound changes.
Trailer - at least in good enough shape to not have to worry about it coming apart on you. If its stock, expect some repairs.
Don't expect too much for cushions/interior. It is after all OLD. The very first thing
I did was rip out all of that outdoor carpeting Mac liked to glue on everything.
Ventures were built as AFFORDABLE boats. That means the fittings and such were CHEAP. Fine for a day sailor in moderate breezes but I do big wind and extended cruises so almost all of it had to go.
I essentially rebuilt my wreck from bottom up. Redesigned the interior, reworked all of the rigging into what I want, not stock.
I use my boat as a mini-cruiser that is trailer-able so that's why I stuck with this boat. Its the right size and shape for single handing.
I think you didn't get any replies because many New Posters show up, ask a bunch of questions, someone takes the trouble to answer, and they never appear again.
So here I am taking my chances....
Good Luck and sailing is a life style choice - not always fun or easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is...
Topcat
I enjoyed reading your reply too this new boat owner to be. Well written and well said. I bet you have a nice boat.
I enjoyed reading your reply too this new boat owner to be. Well written and well said. I bet you have a nice boat.
I've been spending a lot of learning time working on an Oday Javelin and its mismatched trailer. Was hoping this V17 wouldd let me get out on the water sooner (the Javelin needs a new centerboard plus some routine fiberglass repair). On inspection, the V17's trailer's frame is almost rusted through in a few spots. I was not confident it would survive the 350 mile drive back to my home. The V17 also had a 6" crack in the hull beginning at the bow end of the centerboard slot. It also had a gaping crack with missing material at the stern end of the centerboard trunk inside the cabin. Decided to pass on buying the boat after all. I'd like to be sailing sooner.
Thanks!
Its getting nicer, I would call it more "functional" than "nice" at this point. Its a constant construction zone since I only get about a month in the spring to do the work if I want to sail in the summer. One day I'll manage to get the ugly blotchy (but now non-leaking) deck painted. Took me 6 years to get paint on the hull....
I was hoping that the V-17 could become a mini-cruiser, that I could sail while working on improvement projects. But a V-17 does not bring to mind the possibilities represented in a V-224. Topcat, I appreciate the time you spent sharing your experience and insights.The owner of the V-17 I looked at last week is now offering the hull for free and selling the mast, boom & standing rigging separately. Nothing said about the trailer. If anyone is interested they can check out the Mobile page of Craigslist for "sailboat." I'm still in the hunt for a boat I can sail this spring, summer and beyond while working on improving it. I haven't been looking at boats longer than 22'. The MacGregor/Venture line has long interested me because of their trailering abilities and shallow water sailing capabilities. I'll continue looking for the right one.
Tom, where do you live? I have two V17s. One I want to keep but the other one is has a pretty good hull. I'd be willing to give it to you. Maybe with the two you could make a good one.
I'm in southwest Georgia. Thanks for your generous offer. I've been looking at some other options, including a V-24 that I've made an offer on. You might contact the V-17 owner who had a tree crush his hull causing him to list his mast, sails, etc. in the classifieds on this site. He is in upstate NY sorta between Buffalo and Rochester.
It’s nice to see some recent V17 posts.
Tom, Thanks for the tip for parts in the classified. I’ll check that out.
I might as well put it out here too:
I’m looking for the cast fitting on the foot of the mainsail (That the downhaul attaches to)
No way to get around that broken fitting that I can think of.
Suggestions are always appreciated
Best to all you guys
Tom, Thanks for the tip for parts in the classified. I’ll check that out.
I might as well put it out here too:
I’m looking for the cast fitting on the foot of the mainsail (That the downhaul attaches to)
No way to get around that broken fitting that I can think of.
Suggestions are always appreciated
Best to all you guys
Tom, can you tell me where in GA that Craig’s list parts boat was?
Not sure where to look for that ....
Thanks. Don
Not sure where to look for that ....
Thanks. Don
Topcat thanks for your experience there! In no way meaning to take over this thread. But I am also restoring a V17. Had it for a few years and man I am having some issues. I will start a thread about it, but it's nice to see people running these boats none the less. Been looking for this community!
Sorry I didn't see the activity on my earlier post and your question. The Craigslist post was for Mobile, AL. I just checked and only the trailer is still listed there.