26 M vs S vs X vs C vs D etc

[CobraEarl MAC26s]

New to this forum.. New to sailing, took lessons this summer and bought 18' Daysailer to learn with.. VERY INTERESTED in buying about a 26 foot boat. Some of the instructors were going on and on about the MacGregor boats. Been looking at adds for used boats and have not broken the AFT letter code.ANY WAY, what do the letters mean? AND, is there a big difference between the 25 and 26 foot macs?tried a archive search but have not figured it out yet.Thanks in Advance, Litterally. CobraEarl

 

[MArk15097]

Good source of Mac info

Herman Wadler's site has a lot of good MacGregor/Venture information.http://www.wadler.org/Boating/index.htmlHappy sails *_/),MArk

 

[CobraEarl MAC26s]

Is there more?

Mark, i went to the site... gives years, weights, widths, sail sizes.. but I assume there are some basic differences like some have pop tops? different layouts below deck? Fixed vs drop keel?cobraEarl

 

[Ramblin' Rod - Mac26D - SeaQuell]

Try this link

http://kb.sailboatowners.com/brand?brand=4&fno=80

 

[MArk15097]

Alphabet soup

I never get tired telling this story...Prior to the 26X hybrid power sailer, MacGregor's 26' model was just called the 26. (Note: This was the first production water ballasted sailboat [1987].) Although during the first 2 to 3 years of production the 26 had a dagger board and the last 5 to 6 years it had a centerboard, the hull designation (HIN letter) for both versions of this model was "W" (for water ballasted?). (Note that MacGregor oftened introduced both minor and major modifications during a model year.) To distinguish between the dagger and centerboard versions people unofficially referred to them as 26D (dagger) and 26S (swing keel). Despite the center board vs dagger, they are otherwise the same boat and sail virtually the same.[Side note on the swing keel - The 26 never has a true "swing keel" like the 25 with its 625# weight which provided sgnificant righting force.]In 1995 (model year?) MacGregor introduced the 26X (X for experimental even though the 19 released a year or 2 earlier was the actual "experimantal" hybid.) The 26X was a radical depature from what many "purist" sailors considered a "sailboat". It could be powered by a 50HP outboard to over 20MPH. This freaked many who have no problem attaching their "pure" sailboat to the back of a land motor vehicle to accomplish the same ends: quicker access to the good sailing spots! Once the 26X came out, the older MacGregor 26S and 26D (which were limited to being ONLY sailboats) were sometimes referred to as "classics" therefore the 26C. A 26C is either a 26D or 26S but will always have a HIN designation of "W". The HIN of the 26X is "X".While the 26X had a swing-up centerboard like the 26S, in or about 2003 MacGregor released the 26M (never could figure out why the "M"). The 26M was a throw back to the 26D with a dagger board which was good. They got rid of the fiberglass hull liner which had been great for mounting things and reducing dampness in the cabin which was bad but saved a few pounds. They pushed the head back to the front where it had no head room and blocked the view out the from of the cabin which was bad. They increased the rear bunk size at the expense of the cockpit which was bad too.The interior of the 26M was changed in 2004/2005 back to the 30 year old layout of the 25. I tried to tell Roger how to fix this but he never listens to me!Anyway, that's my story of the MacGregor 26 and I'm sticking to it. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited.Happy sails *_/),MArk

 

[tom]

M25 difference

The only thing I would add, the 25 has a iron swing keel, over 600 lbs, no water ballast. No bunk under the cockpit. A great boat. (guess which one I have) Some say the M25 is more like a real sailboat. It just depends on what you like. They each have thier own advantage.

 

[Justin_NSA]

making a point

CobraEarl, you missed an import point in your summary of Macs:"26 D, 87-90 Dagger board26 S, 90-96 Swing keel26 x, 95-2004, hybrid Swing keel26 m, 2005 > , hybrid Dagger boardThe 26D and 26S are also referred to as 26C's"As mentioned in Mark's post, the X's and M's are a significant departure from the "classics". The classics are true sailboats in the sense that they do not support the larger, powersailer motors that the X and M are designed around. I just wanted to make that clear.

 

[MArk15097]

Mac 26X: The Movie

I recently found this link (related link below) to the 26X sales movie (I have had this on VHS since 1996) and brochure. The movie is extremely long and seems to repeat itself at parts but actually goes into more detail on construction, trailering, launching/retreving and (of course) sailing later.Enjoy,MArk

 

[CobraEarl MAC26s]

Much Thanks....

Mark, I just watched the Slow download version of this CD... GREAT VIEWING... I also have the CD on order from MacGregor.THANKS.CobraEarl

 

[morimaro]

What's the M in 26M for!

I read some where that the M was for Millenium, as orginally Roger wanted to release the boat in 2000 but design/build delays meant they lost the Millenium changeover date but the M annotation stuck.But also my understanding was that "MacGregor Inc" refer to it as the "26" and don't use the added "M" or any other descriptor.CheersMorris