Pros & Cons - buying a 26X or M

Gravydon · Post by **Gravydon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:34 pm

I am looking at buying a sail boat and want to know about the mac 26x/m . The good and bad, and how they sail / etc...

Thanx Gravy............

Québec 1 · Post by **Québec 1** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:40 pm

Type it up in the search button and you will see hundreds of reasons why to buy one or the other. The best part of the M is that it can be new. The best part of the X is that it does not come in blue.
The blue M looks more expensive.
Q1blue

Divecoz · Post by **Divecoz** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:02 pm

IF . . . your serious look down the page take everything with a grain of sand/salt what ever. You can see there is no less than 200 pages on this site or M owners versus X owners.
and another 200 pages of Xowners versus Mowners
Outside the pub threads. . .and the Whos has the prettiest girl at the dance or who's girls dances best. . . we all pretty much get along and help each other a lot.
SO. . . IF . . .your sincere in your question then first go look at the 3 cabin arrangements available. This is best to do in person! Would you buy a car from a magazine?
Inside the X's are all very similar
But some have a dagger board and others a center swing board . ( or is that just the 26d ?)
There are 2 M's 2005, 6 7 8 have sliding galley 03 04 do not.
First time sailor?
Are you willing to spend $20,000.00 to $40,000.00 Then You can afford an M it may be new it may be used and at the high end she will be decked out like a debutant.
Are You Looking Wanting or Needing to spend from a little to a lot less? Then you will have to buy a used X. . . . case closed I dont think you will find even a used M for under $20,000.00 with everything you need to sail and to motor.
In fact IMHO what can you afford is the very first question to ask yourself now.

Gravydon · Post by **Gravydon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:20 pm

Thanx divecoz, its not the money part it is i havent sailed much and triing to learn as much as i can on the goods and bad before i bye one

thanx

Gravydon · Post by **Gravydon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:21 pm

And i didnt know they had different layout

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:41 pm

Gravydon wrote:And i didnt know they had different layout

Well, They Do!!

Both Powersailer models sail & power basically similar with only subtle differences. It is the layouts that differentiate them the most, both the interiors and the cockpits. All M cockppits are the same but they have two different syle of interior layouts, the '03-'04 have the galley wedged between the daggerboard and starboard hull whereas the later models all have a sliding galley on the port side. The X interior and cockpits are quite different from the newer M boats. You really need to decide which layout suits your needs most then check it out further. If it is possible you should board a few boats and see for yourself. Sometimes certain clubs have what is called a "Rendezvous" where many owners gather at one meeting place for a social weekend of fun plus Show & Tell, this is where you can see the different layouts and mods in person. Check for one in your region. There is far too much personal bias here to get an objective informed opinion, you basically have to decide for yourself.

Gravydon · Post by **Gravydon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:53 pm

ok thank you terry

Divecoz · Post by **Divecoz** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:57 pm

3 Totally different lay outs. Some like this one some like that one. Never the two shall meet. If Your married, you and the wife should Both GO. . . and look together.
As for sailing again never the two shall meet. Very close similar a little here a little there whats important to you. Swing center board versus Daggerboard . Some here will try to tell you a swing board will always swing up when it comes in contact with anything BS! But I have never needed that fantasy option. I have enjoyed sailing with just the main and in very very light wind as the M can do with its rotating mast. To each his own if your going to be running it aground you might want to buy an X and hope the heck you hit everything straight nuts on . . .or she'll jam and bust. .and if you bust that board its more money and a lot more work.
AND whewre would you buy one?? Though few here have broken either.
Die hard Ford fans Nothing else will do
Die hard Chevy fans same O same OWhat would be your tow vehicle?
How far and how often will you tow it.
My Ford Explorer Sport 4.0 HO 4x4 does it But I wouldn't tow several times a year any or much farther than the 60 miles one way I do now.
Another fellow has the Longer wheelbase ( that is the key) Ford Ranger 4.0 and he does just fine. IMHO you need Wheel Base and H.P.

Buzz · Post by **Buzz** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:33 pm

Divecoz wrote: Xowners versus Mowners

Moaners now thats funny.

dennisneal · Post by **dennisneal** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:37 pm

I believe in the Theory of Evolution. Consequently, the "M" is higher form of a powersailer than the "X".

The "Company" says the "M" is faster than the "X".

But, IMHO, the differences are slight.

baldbaby2000 · Post by **baldbaby2000** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:42 pm

But, IMHO, the differences are slight.

Not saying you're right or wrong but what are you basing this on? Just curious.

Québec 1 · Post by **Québec 1** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:06 pm

baldbaby2000 wrote:
But, IMHO, the differences are slight.
Not saying you're right or wrong but what are you basing this on? Just curious.

I think the slight difference is based on the fact that any other trailerable 26 footer ...............aside the

or the

costs 20k more.

The biggest reason I got a 2003 blue 26M was that only with the Mac could I get a recent model, fully loaded yacht for under 25K. I could have gotten a beautiful blue water non trailerable 30 footer for less....but then I would have had to pay 3k a year for the marina and 2k a year to haul it back and forth from Canada to Florida every year. At 25 K I will be making money with it in 4 years
Q1

PLUS: With the blue hull

,I already have people who are ready to pay me 300$a day to take them sailing

Gravydon · Post by **Gravydon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:12 pm

I want to thankyou guys for your imput and for the tow i have a 2008 f350 superduty desiel so i think it will pull it

Don

Catigale · Post by **Catigale** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:05 pm

Gravydon

Ill avoid the X vs M debate and agree that that decision is basically price driven.

The other thing to realise when considering this family of boats is that it is hybrid power sailor - it does neither one extremely well, but it does both fairly well. You may run into some 'folklore' from people who sail traditional keelboats who dont understand the concept of a power sailor.
If you want to get better sailing performance, you can upgrade a lot of things on these boats pretty cheaply.
If you want to race against traditional keelboats in the same size class, you are going to watch most of the races from the rear.

The first season I had mine, a guy came up to me and the Admiral and said - they shouldnt let these things on the water - two kids died in one last week (true)

What he left out was they had 11 people on board, used it in a manner completely contrary to the manual, and the captain was 3xover the legal blood alcohol limit.

Divecoz · Post by **Divecoz** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:17 pm

Gravydon wrote:I want to thank you guys for your input and for the tow i have a 2008 f350 super-duty diesel so I think it will pull it

Don

That will do a darn nice job of it too.
So Next question is.
How much can you spend
or How much do you want to spend?
Under $20K you basically have no choice its an X if you want a Mac Power sailor.
If your willing to spend over $20K It Might be an M
Once that is decided you can begin your search.
There are lots of pictures around, but the real thing is best.

MacGregorSailors.com

MacGregorSailors.com

Pros & Cons - buying a 26X or M

Pros & Cons - buying a 26X or M