MacGregor Yacht Corporation

The MacGregor Yacht Corporation is a manufacturer of sailing yachts, located in southern California.

History

MacGregor Yacht Co. was founded by Roger MacGregor as part of a Stanford University MBA class project in the early 1960s. The company has been in business since, producing primarily small, trailerable sailing yachts, from a convert|15|ft|m|sing=on catamaran to convert|17|ft|m|sing=on pocket cruisers, up to convert|26|ft|m|sing=on water ballasted trailerable sizes. MacGregor has also built a convert|36|ft|m|sing=on catamaran, and a convert|65|ft|m|sing=on yacht. Currently the only model in production is the MacGregor 26M, a convert|26|ft|m|sing=on trailerable sailboat, with the ability to mount up to a convert|60|hp outboard motor. Customer demand of the 26M has caused MacGregor to cease production of all other models, though there are plans to introduce an improved, slightly larger version of the MacGregor 65, the MacGregor 70.

MacGregor is known for using innovative features to provide stability while maintaining light weight and easy trailerability. The swing keel was one of the innovations used on MacGregor's smaller boats, and water ballast is another. For example, the current model 26M weighs only convert|2550|lb|abbr=on dry, convert|300|lb|abbr=on of which is permanent ballast. When in the water it can take on an additional convert|1150|lb|abbr=on of water ballast, stored in tanks below the waterline. This allows the 26M to be self-righting; if rolled 90 degrees, the weight of the ballast will quickly flip the boat back upright.

MacGregor has manufactured over 36,000 yachts since it was started. While most of these were the smaller pocket cruisers and larger trailerable models, it also made about 100 of the M-65 model during its 8 year production run, making it the most successful luxury yacht ever made.

Models

MacGregor has produced models under two brand names, "Venture", used until 19771979, and "MacGregor". These are usually abbreviated to "M-" and "V-" in model names, with a number following indicating the approximate hull length in feet. Many models, whose production spanned the 1977 brand name change, were sold under both names. The Venture models were all day sailers and pocket cruisers, while the MacGregors started with the larger pocket cruisers and went up to large luxury yachts. The first model MacGregor made was the V-21, a pocket cruiser with a swing keel.

The M-19 and some M-26 models are listed as "powersailers", because they have provisions for mounting more powerful engines, and are capable of motorboat like performance. For example, the M-19 can mount a convert|40|hp outboard, the M-26-X can mount a convert|50|hp outboard and the M-26-M can mount a convert|60|hp outboard. With these large engines, the boats are capable of speeds of over convert|20|kn|km/h, and the M-26-M brochure shows a picture of the boat pulling a waterskier.

*F indicates fractional rig, MH indicates masthead rig

The M-25 was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2000. The M-25 was in production from 1973 to 1987, with over 7000 manufactured.

The current M-26-M model is a daggerboard design, a departure from the swing keel/centerboard used in most previous models. The retracting centerboard frees up floor space in the cabin, and the centerboard trunk is used as the galley wall to save space.

While the M-26-M remains a water ballasted design, it also incorporates 300 pounds of fixed ballast which improves stability when the water ballast tanks are empty. At 2550 pounds empty (1160 kg) it can be towed by most light trucks, SUVs, and minivans equipped with towing packages. The MSRP for the base model M-26-M, with aluminum trailer (new for 2007, replacing the previous steel trailers), is US$21,500.

ee also

* List of sailboat designers and manufacturers

External links

* [http://www.macgregor26.com/index.html MacGregor factory website] , with information on the current M-26M
* [http://www.macgregor-boats.com/ MacGregor/Venture Sailors Web Page] , a collection of information about MacGregor boats, including sales brochures and manuals for the different models
* [http://www.practical-sailor.com/sample/boatreview2.html Practical Sailor] review of the MacGregor 26X powersailer
* [http://www.macgregorsailors.com/ MacGregor Sailors] , an online community with information, manuals, and forums.