MacGregorSailors.com

Hello, I'm new here, thinking of buying a mac 19 in the UK, partly because of the shallow drying mooring that the boat will have to live on. Spec quotes a draft of 9" with centre-board up, but I guess this is with ballast tank empty. Any idea what it is with tank full?

Also I see reports of 'sluggish steering' Is this a problem experienced by owners? Would it make life at a mooring with tight access a pain in the proverbials?

Thanks for your help
Bob

Bob,

Try going to Yahoo.com macgregor19sailboats group. I learned alot there about our 19 before we moved up to our 26x. Nice photos also.

Tim

I've never been able to tell for sure on the draft with ballast in, but it doesn't look to be over a couple inches -- four at the most -- in my humble guessing...

As for steering, I'm not sure slugglish is the right word. There's a lot of freeboard, so it can be sloppy when docking in the wind, as I understand the 26's are. You can have a bit of a challenge with dual tillers for the outboard and rudders -- but most folks get used to this. Otherwise it gets around just fine. It's a great compromise boat.

Tim is right about the Yahoo group. Lots of nice folks there and they are quite helpful...

I sold my MacGregor 19 last year. I found the steering with the engine and tillers, in unison, to be very quick. Steering into my slip was always very easy.

Of course, now I have a 26X , big difference. The MacGregor 19 was much easier to facilitate low-speed steering with the engine.