MacGregorSailors.com

I bought a 2001 26X with a 50 hp Mercury OB named Wind Song this weekend. The previous owners have kept her in great shape. She's ready to sail as is.

They've done some cool modifications. Lazy Jacks, back porch mod, forestay moved up 4 inches on the mast, added 5 pounds of lead to the swing keel, custom arch (which I'll either have to replace with stainless or remove) and bimini, split backstay, bug screens, etc. Too much to list really. So far the only thing I've found that HAS to be replaced is some out of date flares.

The sails, running rigging, and standing rigging are in darn near perfect shape. I've got the mainsail and a hank on jib. I've got the needed hardware for a genoa if I decide to add one later. He never used his so he sold it.

The trailer is in beautiful condition with some wonderful mods like 2 sets of PVC goalposts and sealed lights.

I've got some errands to run this morning but I'm hoping to possibly splash her this afternoon. Depends on my work load, it may be tomorrow.

So now I'm sitting her drinking my coffee and waiting for the DMV to open to go get her registered.

Congratulations and happy sailing hart

Congrats.

Awesome. Now the fun begins.

Good job - hope you enjoy your new toy!

And don't worry.... the pain the wallet gets easier as the years go by....

Welcome aboard. Many years of good sailing ahead.

If your boat is too fast for you, paint it blue.

Congratulations! Hopefully your absence from posting since this morning means you got to splash her and aren't working.

Ditto. Is your 2001 our older or younger sister ship (I've got #4118)?

USAF (Ret) M26X Sailor

USAF M26X sailor I don't recall her hull number but I'll go look in the morning and post it.


Yep I took her out and all in all it was a great day.

I spent about 2 hours at the ramp and tied up at a pier raising the mast, rigging the sails etc etc etc and getting to know the boat.

Then the dog and I went motoring for a bit. No clue how fast we were going but MAN! I've never had a motor bigger than a 6hp. That was awesome.

But I do love to sail so once the sea breeze picked up I put up the mainsail and played for a while, then added the jib. Oh it felt good. Basically all of that went fine except I put the main sheet on upside down and ran the jib sheet on the wrong side of the baby stays which I didn't bother to take off.

I even beached her and got some crazy comments from a group of powerboaters who thought I'd grounded a keel boat. That was awesome.

Getting her back on the trailer. Umm, yeah. That's the part that made it not a perfect day. But that's just because I stayed out too long and was really way too fatigued and made some mistakes here and there. No major issues, just a cut on my finger and a shackle lost to Davy Jones. Lesson learned.

She single handed well but I definitely see room for improvement, like leading the lines aft. And I need to play with the standing rigging a bit. She had a bit more weather helm than I would prefer.

PS. Did the Mac Bump. Worked like a charm.

Sounds like a pretty successful first day!

If you're having to retrieve in a cross wind, get a 10' section of PVC pipe large enough to fit over the factory trailer goalposts (I forget what diameter I used), cut it into two 5' lengths and put PVC pipe caps on top. Then extend the V guide bars on the front with some brightly colored foam pool noodle sections. This also protects the gel coat from rubbing on the metal V guide. I didn't, but some even run a line on each side through the V guide and pool noodle to the extended goal posts.

I added the line from the ladder on the trailer to the goal posts and it has really saved me alot.

I also ran the line through noddles, 4 noddles per side if I remember correctly. One 50 ft length of blue (of course) 3/8 line from walmart. I added the two 5 ft sections of 1.5 PVC and added caps.

I was retrieving the last time out and saw the guy warming up his motor watching me and his eyes got really big when I crabbed and kept going but he also had a look of awe when he saw the lines straighten me out and with some minor back and forth I was quickly lined up and tieing off with the bow strap.

I think this one mod made the difference in me keeping the boat or giving up. The high freeboard on the Mac just seems to cry out for this addition. My last marina and the one I am at now don't allow me the pleasure of launching and retrieving by just pulling the boat onto the trailer. The docks and ramp location are not anywhere close enough for that.

Enjoy your new boat and this site. The help from here has made all the difference in my being totally new to boating and working arroud issues specific to the Mac also.

Gary

My hull number is 4179.

Great ideas on the trailer, thanks. The PO walked me through the rope idea and he's got rope he uses specifically for in a crosswind. Didn't need it yesterday because the ramp is back in a cove and protected pretty well.

The cross wind is something to look forward to hart
But it sounds like you had a truly awesome first day. Well done !

Here's hoping you have years of safe family fun.

Have you "named" her yet ?

We're going to keep her named "Wind Song" for now. It's a pretty name and it served the previous owners just fine. My wife has a few ideas but she hasn't sold me on any of them yet.

If you do rename her, don't forget the offering or it might come back to haunt ya.