Considering buying a 94' H26

[Doug J]

I'm considering buying a 94' H26, and would like general feedback about the boat, the good and the bad. The asking price is $16,900. By the pictures, looks to be in nice condition. Includes trailer, also good condition. Comes with a 2004 15hp Mercury, low hours. bimini, roller furling, autohelm, several other extras.

I see this year going for as little as $9,000, but maybe a little rough.

Any insight you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

 

[nosnebjim]

Keep looking. Sounds like it's on the high side. There is a local dealer in Cincinnati that has two of them for $14K. The extras are nice but do the math and you can add a lot of New stuff for the difference. Craig's list had many listed last year. We bought ours in December locally with bimini, roller furler, Honda 9.9 (2004), depth finder etc. for $7000. Now if we could get the snow off of her and actually float her!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Doug;

Contact me thru davecondon@mindspring.com if you want any imput to include negotiation. I was a dealer who introduced the boat and sold nearly a quarter of the production line. I am not solicitating but will be glad to help. I could write a lot on the subject but have arthritis in my hands.

 

[Benny17441]

I have always found it is usually a better deal ($$$) to get a boat that has all the equipment you want than to get a bare boat and then add all the equipment. Figure out how much you could get a bare boat for and then add up all the improvements at 50% of current price plus installation costs and you should be pretty close to a fair price.

 

[MaxinCalgary]

When I purchased my boat. I spent a long time trying to find someone's baby with all the options I wanted already installed. Age is not the biggest concern. A newer boat left uncared for will cost you a lot more than someone's pride and joy. I compromised as is usual as I could not find the one. Little used so lots to repair and update. Purchasing a boat that you think is a little rough to save money is never a good deal. They always require upkeep . Find the best you can for the money and enjoy.

 

[Doug J]

Well... I pulled the trigger, bought the boat. I was able to get it at a lower price. The boat is in excellent condition. Also surprised about the condition of the 20 year old trailer.
My only disappointment is that the motor does not have electric start.

Now I need to sell my 91' Macgregor 26S.

 

[MaxinCalgary]

You know when it's right.
As for the electric start. I purchased a 9.9T extra long shaft Yamaha. The first one I got was for a remote application , ie for a pedestal throttle . They no longer have manual starts. My Yamaha dealer got me one with a tiller and converted it too remote . I now have electric and manual. On our size boats with small engines, not having a pull start is foolish . A dead battery an onshore blow and no manual start will leave you cursing. Most times I just pull and don't waste the volts.

 

[Doug J]

Doug;

Contact me thru davecondon@mindspring.com if you want any imput to include negotiation. I was a dealer who introduced the boat and sold nearly a quarter of the production line. I am not solicitating but will be glad to help. I could write a lot on the subject but have arthritis in my hands.

Thanks Dave! I've read a lot of posts here and see you indeed know a lot about these boats. As it turned out I have purchased the boat, don't have possession yet, but you can be sure I'll have plenty of questions in the future.

I've hung around the Macgregorowners site for years. I've done a lot of nice mods to my Mac26S. Looks like this forum is really active too! I can't wait to get started with the H26. I'm really a fan of the water ballast trailerables, and think the H26 and 260's are the ultimate.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Doug;

Welcome aboard. You will find a lot good response from many in this forum. As a dealer it was very unusual for a dealer to be active in the involvement with the water ballast boats from the get go. I pushed for it as the older 18.5 and 23 wing keel sales were dying. Many folks who started small eventually purchased larger Hunter boat. The old vanguard who owned Hunter at that time are sadly gone. Another story on that. However, feel free to contact me anytime if you need help. There is a lot of information already in the archives and tremendous support here from many fine folks

 

[bmorr]

H26

I'm considering buying a 94' H26, and would like general feedback about the boat, the good and the bad. The asking price is $16,900. By the pictures, looks to be in nice condition. Includes trailer, also good condition. Comes with a 2004 15hp Mercury, low hours. bimini, roller furling, autohelm, several other extras.

I see this year going for as little as $9,000, but maybe a little rough.

Any insight you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

4 years ago we also went from a Mac26 to a Hunter 26 and love it, especially the room a bit of width and depth give you. Things for the Hunter are more expensive and heftier. They are really nice boats. The price seems a bit high but it just depends upon what is there. At that price I would expect new sails (2200-2700 dollars for jib & main), the 15 horse also adds value. If you like this boat keep an eye on it and after it sits for a while make a lower offer. Remember there are other H26 out there. As a side note I do like the power of the 15 horse motor.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

bmorr;

the transom on the boat was designed max hp 10. Please do not use full throttle on that engine. If the bow starts to raise up when motoring at high hp, you are beginning to plow as if the boat is hitting a wall of water. Simply back down till the bow comes back down.

 

[bmorr]

bmorr;

the transom on the boat was designed max hp 10. Please do not use full throttle on that engine. If the bow starts to raise up when motoring at high hp, you are beginning to plow as if the boat is hitting a wall of water. Simply back down till the bow comes back down.

Tanks Dave, good advice. Its the braking power of reverse I like, otherwise I sail as long as I can, often reefed and hanging on.

 

[dewhunter]

Bmorr: I have enough trust to push past hull speed if possible, the only problem is that the hull design slams the door closed at the 6.4kn hull speed limit. I use a gps that tracks 5 satellites for accuracy. All the extra is overstress and noise. You can't beat hull speed under sail either.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Even in reverse, never use full throttle with a 15 hp as well