Should we or shouldn't we?

[David Cameron]

We're considering buying a Mac 25 for canal and river sailing in eastern Ontario. Our last boat was a Grampian 26 weighing in at 2.5 tons, and drawing a fixed-keel 4'3". Informed bu honest opinions, please--are we going to find the Mac uncomfortably tender?

 

[George Lavoie]

Venture 25

Think you will be very happy with the Venture 25. I sailed one for 4 seasons on the Coast of Maine and only had one glitch that I was able to fix on the water. I've sail many boats and the Venture is an excllent boat....George

 

[Jeff Smith]

what do want

I've only had a Mac 25' since last fall.Mine is an 81'.I'll tell you I looked at 25 footers for over a year, and for what I wanted, a trailorable boat, you can't beat it.I've looked at a dozen trailorable boats, and by far, the Mac is the best.Now you might do better with a Mac 26'since river cruizing may utilize a bigger motor better. The best thing about a trailorable, is the fact that they only draw about 2 feet. I think that would be ideal for river sailing.

 

[Rich Wallace]

I have had a 25 since 1988

I bought a 1985 model in 1988, and I still own it. It is a great starter boat in many ways. It is fairly light weight which makes it easy to tow. The retractible keel and rudder keep you from getting into real trouble. I just sailed into the shallows with the keel down, and when it started to drag, I just raised it up some. It has enough room for two to be reasonable comfortable and you can add a couple of more for a day or two. I did some modifications to the boat to make it more useful. I added some shelves on the starboard side to hold the galley items. I also put in a permanent fuel tank, properly installed and vented. The boat came with an 8 HP Mariner. Around 1993 I bought a 9.9 Yamaha 4 Stroke. I strengthened the transome to carry the extra weight. The Yamaha has a 13 amp alternator also. The only major improvement I made was to put Interlux 2000 barrier coat on the bottom. The MacGregor gelcoat leaves a lot to be desired.Today, my son sails the boat in the summer. We moved on to a 34 Hunter because of some stiffness in the joints (getting old-darn)that are better accommodated on a bigger boat.After all of this, the answer in my opinion is that you would find the boat an excellent choice for the limited water you are considering. It is not a big water boat although we and now my son have sailed it extensively on Lake Erie.