MacGregorSailors.com

Where is the most common place for leaks on the MacGregor 26, please?
How fast does the bilge fill? Is there room for two bilge pumps?

Which 26 do you have, or intend to purchase?

26,26D, 26S, 26 , 26 ?

Also, where are you located?

It sounds like your looking at a boat - if it's an M there should not be any leaks.

BOAT wrote: ↑Thu Apr 23, 2020 3:29 pm if it's an M there should not be any leaks.

I am trying to learn about the MacGregor boats to make an informed buying decision. I do not know which I will be able to find a deal on. No leaks, but what about all the windows and hardware bolted on the top?

I am the original owner of my 2005 . I can state that leaks are not something I have had.

I did once have my bilge filled with water, but that was because the knucklehead who installed a 30 gallon bladder in the bow, installed a faulty bladder; what a mess

The times I have heard about leaks, concern much older Mac’s. The problem in most cases was a stanchion. I truly don’t know of, or remember any Mac owner regretting his/her purchase. Through this site, we are in contact with owners around the globe, not an exaggeration.

There have been at least three (to my knowledge) who have taken their Mac’s on the great loop.

A fellow in Puerto Rico takes his (once a year) to BVI.

A fellow in Alaska trailered his all the way from Florida.

Several owners have taken their Mac’s to the Bahama’s & back.

Are you getting the picture? It is one hull of a boat.

More importantly, what are your needs? What do you wish to do with your Mac?

There are plenty of owners here who can answer your questions.

mastreb trailerd his M boat all the way from over here to New York and sailed on the Hudson for 4th of July. Most any other boat would not be able to take a beating like that. MACs are STRONG they have to be because they go 70 miles per hour down the freeway and ride on bumpy roads too. Most boats don't haveta do that.

The 26M has / had one design flaw / build flaw that allowed rain water into the bilge.

The "leak" is where the rudder pull down lines pass through the deck and down to the rudder stanchions inside the cabin. If the build was ok the hole in the deck aligned with the hollow rudder stanchions and rain water would exit the bottom of the rudder stanchions where the pull down line exits. If however the alignment was not good, the rain water ends up in the bilge.

There was a published fix for this using the top of a coke bottle (or similar) to act as a funnel at the top of the stanchion. I could never get this to fit.

There is also another slight design issue. If a following sea can hit the transom high enough the water height will be higher that the open top of these interior rudder stanchions and water will flow UP the stanchions and enter the hull out the same of same.

I never had an issue with the second one but the first was a right pain. I hate damp bilges.

There you go zamber, an issue neither BOAT nor I either heard of or remember.

I still am asking how do you intend on using the boat? What are your needs; lake, river, coastal, off shore, day sailor, cruiser?

MacGregor Yachts built over 36,000 sailboats; I’m sure if you look hard enough, you will find someone who had a problem. Their boats were good craft. They are inexpensive boats, well designed. They made a wealthy persons sport available to many who otherwise would be outside looking in.

I'm the original owner of a 2008 26M. Never had water in the bilge. I keep it covered in winter and in a slip all summer.

There is no "bilge". Most keelboats have a low bilge where water ends up. The Mac has compartments. Some people have installed bilge pumps in them.

The boat has floatation is unsinkable. If you hit something hard, no electric pump will keep up with the flow. I don't have a bilge pump. First boat that I have owned without one.

Russ wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 5:39 pm I'm the original owner of a 2008 26M. Never had water in the bilge. I keep it covered in winter and in a slip all summer.

There is no "bilge". Most keelboats have a low bilge where water ends up. The Mac has compartments. Some people have installed bilge pumps in them.

The boat has floatation is unsinkable. If you hit something hard, no electric pump will keep up with the flow. I don't have a bilge pump. First boat that I have owned without one.

Yeah - the bottom inside is unique - there is some space between the floor and whatever that is below the floor (the ballast tank) but it's hard to call that a bilge because it's not the lowest part of the boat where water can go.

So what IS the lowest part? Where would water end up pooling if you drilled a hole in the side of the boat at the waterline??? I have never had a leak or found any water inside the boat so I'm not even sure where the water would end up if you did put a hole in the side!

I just assume it's the battery box?

The only time I ever had a "leak" on my 26M was when I left the hatch cover open overnight and we had a rain storm. Battery box appeared to be the lowest point along with the area under the aft bunk.

Unfortunately the battery is not the deepest point in the

The little space under the floor is deepter. So you cannot empty it or dry it out. Every time you go faster or heel the water gets aroud the boat. Needs time to dry.

Hey kurz! Would a fan under the dinette or a hair dryer help? I never got water in there but I would like to know what to do it it happens. I guess most boat owners just live with water in the bilge but it's not something that MAC owners are required to deal with.

One of the nice things about having a ballast tank on the bottom of your boat is that it gives you a double hull just like an oil tanker - if you hit rocks and put a hole in the bottom of the boat it's only going to let water leak out of the ballast tank - it will not affect the floating of the boat.

That makes the MAC even SAFER than other boats in my book.

BOAT wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2020 7:50 am One of the nice things about having a ballast tank on the bottom of your boat is that it gives you a double hull just like an oil tanker - if you hit rocks and put a hole in the bottom of the boat it's only going to let water leak out of the ballast tank - it will not affect the floating of the boat.

That makes the MAC even SAFER than other boats in my book.

Interesting point and true. If you holed the boat where the ballast tank is, you wouldn't leak into the boat. Also, the ballast tank reinforces the hull greatly.

Russ wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:46 am

BOAT wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2020 7:50 am One of the nice things about having a ballast tank on the bottom of your boat is that it gives you a double hull just like an oil tanker - if you hit rocks and put a hole in the bottom of the boat it's only going to let water leak out of the ballast tank - it will not affect the floating of the boat.

That makes the MAC even SAFER than other boats in my book.

Interesting point and true. If you holed the boat where the ballast tank is, you wouldn't leak into the boat. Also, the ballast tank reinforces the hull greatly.

yes, the hull is very strong - I was told at the factory that is why there are only a couple of bunks on the trailer - the length of the hull bottom is so strong across from front to back that it only requires two bunks and they only put in three to keep the boat from scraping the axle on launch. The boat is very stiff down there because of the box construction of the bottom.

Really, think of the things the MAC has to do:

*It's gotta bump along at freeways speeds for THOUSANDS OF MILES (90% of the boats are delivered ON THE TRAILER!) So all the boats on the east coast have already endured thousands of road miles!

*It's gotta take a real pounding of 17 knot speeds under power CARRYING 1000 POUNDS OF WATER IN ITS BELLY!! It's one thing to carry 1000 pounds of solid lead at 10 knots like other sailboats but a flexible medium like WATER that adds NO strength to the bottom at EIGHTEEN KNOTTS under power in pounding surf??? I don't know any other boat that can do that. The hull must be incredibly strong.

Show me a boat that has a bottom that can do that - any takers?

Any of you shoppers visiting this site looking for a boat need to know the truth about the MAC - there is not a boat out there as strong in the bottom as a MAC. I would rather run aground or hit the rocks in a MAC than any other boat - any other boat would not take it as well as the MAC.

Think about that while your shopping