Easily steppable mast, shoal draft and a motor.

[FlashGumby]

I grew up with Lasers, Sunfish and Hobies and eventually lived aboard a 38 ft Panda in San Francisco.

I've now gotten myself a nice little house (South Florida) with deepwater access, but have a long canal ride with 3 fixed bridges and some pretty shallow areas to make it through before I hit the Intracoastal.

I *think* that I want a MacGregor 19. It seems like a good jack-of-all-trades that will allow me to teach my wife (who has never sailed) and young boys (the oldest is just starting sailing lessons). I can trailer it to the keys, take it up the canal and raise the mast myself once we're past the fixed bridges, or motor it without sail if we just want to tool up the canal to one of the waterfront restaurants for a quick outing.

But then, the MacGregor is the only boat that I've come across that seems to fit the bill (My Mom had a friend that took me out on the Sacramento delta in a MacGregor 26X and it had the right form-factor but I feel that the 19 would fit our canal a little better.)

Does anybody have some other decent fits that would be worth my taking a look at or test-sailing if I can find a willing owner in the area?

-Scott

 

[Indysailor]

Precision 18? I can't say for certain the mast is as easy to step as a MacGregor, but they are nice boats, with shoal draft/centerboard. And they sail nice.

 

[kpgraci]

Oday 22 or 222

Early models (like mine) have a 23" draft shoal keel, later ones with a swing keel in the same range and presumably better performance.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

small easy to deal with sailboats

Have you looked at the Rhodes 22 made or rebuilt by General Boats of Edenton, North Carolina. A mom and pop operation for 50 years. Mom answer phone, pop supervises the making or rebuilding of their boats.

Stan has mast raisting crane system that even one old man can do it, assuming you have one good arm to crank it.

http://www.rhodes22.com/

http://www.generalboats.com/http___www.generalboats.com/home.html

Tell him I sent you and ask for your discount [ho, ho]

Ed K

I grew up with Lasers, Sunfish and Hobies and eventually lived aboard a 38 ft Panda in San Francisco.

I've now gotten myself a nice little house (South Florida) with deepwater access, but have a long canal ride with 3 fixed bridges and some pretty shallow areas to make it through before I hit the Intracoastal.

I *think* that I want a MacGregor 19. It seems like a good jack-of-all-trades that will allow me to teach my wife (who has never sailed) and young boys (the oldest is just starting sailing lessons). I can trailer it to the keys, take it up the canal and raise the mast myself once we're past the fixed bridges, or motor it without sail if we just want to tool up the canal to one of the waterfront restaurants for a quick outing.

But then, the MacGregor is the only boat that I've come across that seems to fit the bill (My Mom had a friend that took me out on the Sacramento delta in a MacGregor 26X and it had the right form-factor but I feel that the 19 would fit our canal a little better.)

Does anybody have some other decent fits that would be worth my taking a look at or test-sailing if I can find a willing owner in the area?

-Scott

 

[Sumner]

I'll bet that a lot of the board members don't know what a Macgregor 19 is.

For those that don't it was a power sailor like the X and M and you can put a large outboard on it and it will plane.

If you want a boat that will sail and go fast on the outboard and the X or M or the Hunter is too large then I think the 19 is the only boat that fits. All of the other small boats, as far as I know, are going to be displacement hulls and won't run over 6-7 knots on the outboard. I don't think there is also another boat that is under 20 feet that has the interior room of the 19. I guess it is up to you to see if it is the boat for you. Here are some owner reviews....

http://macgregor.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_brevs&model=158&Itemid=170

...lots of their owners love them, but if you have a water ballast, high speed Mac you need to have a little thicker skin to handle the comments you will receive on the internet boards :cry:.

There are previous and possible current owners of 19's here...

http://www.macgregor26x.com/forum/index.php

..and you might want to follow some of the links on my Mac/Venture links below.

Good luck,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================[/FONT]

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]

 

[Joe]

If I were lucky enough to be in your shoes, here's what I'd do.

Get an 80's era catalina 22 center board with a forward tilting mast system controlled by the boom and mainsheet.... just dip when you go under a bridge. You can find a used one in pretty good condition for well under $5k. Here's a good example: http://ocala.craigslist.org/boa/2933900024.html

It's a nice sailboat with huge owner/factory support.

Then..... for your restaurant hopping gigs, fishing or just tooling around... a 14-16 foot skiff. here's some examples

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1996-Johnsen-Johnsen15-304001

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1999-Scout-145-Sport-Fish-309981


So that keeps the initial investment well under the price of a new Mac 19 and leaves plenty of funds for upgrades to the boats and the dock. How much were you setting aside for the Mac 19? or the 26x?

Since you're an experienced sailor, I think you'd appreciated the Catalina 22 ... also, having spent some time in florida... the small power boat gives you lots of wonderful options that are otherwise limited by a sailboat.

Give it some thought..... watch out for Manatees.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The Hunters since 1991 come standard with mast raising systems.

 

[FlashGumby]

Here are some owner reviews....

http://macgregor.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_brevs&model=158&Itemid=170


Good luck,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]

Thanks, Sum.

Those reviews are great. (Also have a lot of great ideas for improvements).

The Rhodes 22 sounds like it's worth looking into as well. It sounds like a great little cruiser and I assume would sail circles around the Mac (though would probably be nowhere near as fun under power).

The Catalina and O'day were already in the running (and had been since I found I could get to the intracoastal) but have been losing ground as I read more about the Mac. I *would* enjoy occasional racing in the Catalina though.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[jcrumpley]

2005 - 2010? Hunter 25

The new, but now discontinued Hunter 25 is really nice and has a shoal draft with a fixed keel and no swing keel. The mast raising system makes stepping the mast a 1 person job. While mine is in a slip now, I can rig the boat on the trailor and have it in the water by myself in less than an hour. It is a bit on the large size for a trailerable, so you need a decent size vehicle to tow it any distance.