My wife and I are new owners of a MacGregor 26D (1988) and are also members of the local MacGregor-Venture Group. We have enjoyed our boat immensely, but we encountered a problem yesterday with our trailer winch. Please let me outline what happened... We were sailing out of our usual harbour and upon return from a weekend of sailing, which was terrific I might add, our trailer winch was unable to pull our boat into place. The water levels were down from previous times, but a significant amount of trailer was still underwater. I was only able to pull the boat about half-way, when the winch began to slip and actually wore down a few of the teeth of the winch. (yuck !!!) Since I am now in the position of having to purchase a new winch, I was wondering if I could pose a few questions to obtain some insights from a veteran MacGregor/Venture Owner. 1. Was the trailer not submerged enough ?? Do you usually float the boat on to the trailer ?? If so, how do you avoid falling off the end of most concrete/metal ramps ??? That was what we faced yesterday as we could not go any deeper since the trailer wheels were at the absolute end of the submerged portion of the ramp. 2. What is the capacity of the winch on your trailer ?? I believe ours was the original (looks like the picture of one in the manual) and has a capacity of 1600 lbs or so. When you factor in the boat dry is about 1600 plus 1200 lbs of water ballast it seems apparent why at least the winch on my trailer slipped yesterday. As I stated, most of the trailer was under water but the winch just would not pull the boat to the end. 3. Do you think the answer is to buy a bigger winch (3000 lbs) and if so, in your opinion where is the best place to purchase ??? 4. Do you only launch at ramps that permit you to back up until the boat can float up to the winch and then be secured ??? If so, do you find yourself being limited in the ramps you are able to use ??? 5. I am towing our boat with an Ford Areostar mini-van - rear wheel drive, trailer package and positive traction e.g. We never get stuck anywhere in any weather and the vehicle seems to easily pull the boat out. However, some ramps are configured so that in order to get in deep, my exhaust pipe nearly goes under the surface of the water. Do you or have you ever considered attaching a pipe to the exhaust so that it will permit the motor to run while seeking the ideal depth for the boat ?? 6. In my humble opinion, the owners manual and other sites I have discovered on the WEB do not spend a lot of time talking about getting in or out of the water. Getting in is no sweat but as you can see getting out has become a challenge, at least right now for us. I usually back the empty trailer into the water until my rear van wheels are at the edge of the water. My wife drives the boat onto the trailer. I am in the water beside the trailer to assist and connect the winch rope. She drives the boat until it will no longer proceed by the power of the outboard motor. I connect the winch rope, pull it along about 5 - 6 feet until the bow is securely in the "V". Lock the winch. Drive the van until the trailer wheels are at the water's edge and with the ballast value open, we do not proceed any further until the boat stops draining. (angry boaters waiting in line notwithstanding) We usually drop the mast during this time to avoid any overhead wires. Sorry for the long story, but can you provide any comment on the procedure we are following ?? I would appreciate your comments as we are somewhat stymied and in dry-dock until we solve this latest concern. Thank you in advance for your assistance and I now look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Bob & Christine Maddocks Carp-eh D-yum --- M-26D 1988 p.s. Just in case if you were wondering how we got out of the water yesterday, out of the blue a gentleman offered to run a rope under our van connect it to the front of the boat and then to the trailer hitch of his vehicle which was in the front of our van. (confused yet ????) As he pulled away, I was able to rotate the winch and eventually able to get the boat into the V. Thank God it worked and that he came along at the very instant we needed help. After the ballast tank emptied and I changed my underwear, we were on our way home !!!!!!!!