I actually have two friends locally who own M26Xs. Both are experienced catamaran sailors. One was mainly in small racing cats - did the Worrall 1000 three times, among other things. The other sailed a 44 ft cruising cat until about 2009.
The cruising sailor sold his big boat and wanted comfortable amenities in a boat he could ramp launch and sail single handed. The options on his boat (ie. Autopilot, refrigeration, pressure water, solar panels, etc, etc, etc) actually cost more than the boat, 60hp motor and trailer. Can you say $64,000 MacGregor? The small boat sailor wanted a boat he could beach for picnics and for his grand kids to go swimming, plus 50 hp so he can get them home in a hurry when they got bored. >From these guys I understand there are actually 26Ms and 26Xs. One has a centerboard and the other has water ballast, a dagger board, and a rotating mast. Both sailors tell me the boat is a quirky. My cruiser friend has a roller furling genoa, which has to be rolled in for all but the lightest wind. That's because it heals so much in moderate wind that only one rudder is in the water, and the short thin rudder makes the boat squirrely. My racer friend has genoa envy because his roller furling jib is SLOW downwind. He has elected to keep his boat in the water year round, but he has to keep it in a slip with 9 ft depth. That's because the boat is pretty much uncontrollable under power with the dagger board up. Turn the wheel (and the outboard) and the boat sort of slides off at a 45 degree angle like a flat bottom inflatable dinghy. Makes it almost impossible for him to come down the fairway and turn into his slip with the dagger board up. I know from experience that my 25 mk1 is faster than either 26X both upwind and downwind, and a darned sight more comfortable in moderate to strong winds. But then, I can't beach it to have a picnic or run away at 25 knots if the weather changes. To each his own, I guess. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Dennis C. Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:31 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Fwd: Two more boat reviews on the horizon Like others, I used to harbor a bit of disdain for the M26 (26X) but have mellowed a bit. For perspective, I used to own a Honda 250XL motorcycle. Labeled a "scrambler", it was part dirt bike, part road bike. It didn't excel at either. Recently one of my former crew just bought one of the McGregors. Actually traveled several hundred miles to get it in spite of the fact there is one for sale on my pier.
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