We are a young(ish) couple who got into sailing in July 2018 when we found a local sailing club and a 1967 Flying Scot daysailer. We purchased the Flying Scot (Hull 1133), and named her "Head Over Heels," the namesake of our channel. We participate in series races on our small, 300 acre lake in the mountains with the Scot.
In June of 2019, we purchased our second sailboat, a 1991 MacGregor 26s, which we've named "Wanderlust" because we plan to trailer her to all of the best waters in the southeastern USA. The Mac was the largest sailboat we could tow safely with our truck, and we've fallen in love with her. We often sail weekends with our dogs, as you can see from the videos.
So why did we make this channel? We've scoured RU-vid for videos of Flying Scots and MacGregor 26s boats, and found very little. These are just video shorts of our fun weekends on these two boats, and we hope they help you in some way, or at least make you smile. Feel free to follow our channel!
I just happened to see you show the sail track stop part but you didn't mention it in the video. I just lost mine and didn't know the name of the part. It would have been nice if you said in your video what the name was and where you bought it.....
What is that clinking sound coming from? Wires inside the mast? I am currently getting my '88 26D ready for the water. Love the videos! Helps with getting mine ready!
Probably the sound of the halyards against the mast. We secure them when we leave the boat so they don't slap the mast while we're gone. :) Congrats on your 26D!
Love the boat and the way you sail it. You know, I really enjoy the sound of wind in the sails and water against the hull - I have never once wished that my sailing could be accompanied by annoying techno music. I guess there are some who just can't experience a thrill without a sound track.
Thanks for the tour! We're looking to buy one shortly moving off of our 45 footer. Looks like there will be some adaptation for us ha ha! Those alcohol burners come with black foam disks that you put over the pot to stop evaporation. We used those on our other boat (love alcohol cooking!) and no prob. You could probably make them from some thin soft rubber foam sheet.
Congrats! Hopefully you've made progress since posting this comment. I'd recommend finding a sailing club nearby you (there are quite a few in SC) and start hanging out. Folks most likely will let you crew with them and show you the ropes. That will teach you the sailing aspect, plus make great connections for folks who can help you with your boat. Good luck!
I'm buying a 1994 Macgregor 26 S and you've convinced me I need sail slugs! That is such a slick system! Would you be so kind as to post the spacing that you used?
Nice video. I have same sailboat. Do you have any problem with steering under power. Here is my problem. When maneuvering under power at good speed tiller steering works great with the motor fixed straight. At lower speeds around the docks it is necessary to steer with both motor and tiller. The problem is I can only swing the motor (Tohatsu 9.9) in one direction. With the handle folded down it hits the side of the motor well on the port side. With the handle up I have no torque to turn the motor. How do you steer around the docks and do you have centerboard down while manevevering inside the docks
Sorry for the long delay, we haven't been able to sail much in the past year. If I turn the tiller all the way towards the motor, I'll hit the prop, so I turn both together in tight quarters. We have the 8 hp Mariner and it can swing both ways (not completely, but enough). Sorry we can't be of more help! Yes, our centerboard stays down all the time. I only lift it twice a year to make sure it still moves, unless we're beaching of course. ;)
hi, 26d owner here. my 9.9 is fixed and cannot turn so it only turns when its moving. i can turn the rudder lock to lock without hitting the motor. when we maneuver in tight areas (for us usually launching off a lee shore with less than 30' in the channel before becoming one with the reef, and a 90 degree turn about 100 yards out) we warp our boat on the pier a full 180 degrees with her nose pointing out the channel. that way by the time we get a wee bit of boat speed up we can safely maneuver as well as any other 26' boat. and i leave the daggerboard down so it hits before anything else does. its easy to build another but repairing the hull is not too much fun.
At 5'11" there's enough room to stand comfortably under the pop top, but it's s limited space. Everything else is sitting in the boat. We have considered a Catalina 30 for the next step, but we love the versatility and trailerability of the Mac, which we'd lose with the Cat30. As with all things in life, everything is a trade off. The Mac works great for our uses, but we only sleep on it at the dock. A big selling point of the Mac is the king-sized bed under the cockpit.. on any comparable boats you'll be sleeping in the v-berth, on settees, or converting your table space to a double bed.
I figured this out by accident. I was sailing at a close hauled course, the wind shifted, back fed my jib and immediately spun me 90 degrees to the wind and stalled completely. I just left my main in position and it stayed put, no matter what I did with the tiller. I did have a very slow forward progression but negligible and dead on 90 to the wind. Now I know that if I release my main all I need is to lock the tiller towards the wind. I'll try it next time I go out.
Nice! What length did you space the slugs apart? We have a WWP15 that I want to do the same thing with but adding some grommets (since our sails are nearly impossible to find/replace).
Sorry for the delay in response and sure you've already done it, but we just winged it. Took the sail length and divided it by the number of slugs (keeping in mind that you don't need one at the head or foot), and then just approximated that on the dock. The sail never even got fully stretched out during the process. It's not perfect, but it works fine for us!
I've owned several sailboats and we're going to look at a 1992 MacGregor 26s next weekend. Cup holders are crazy hard to find, well ones that work well anyways. Thanks for the video!!
I have owned my 1995 26S for twenty five years. Bought it new in Vancouver Canada. I can not say enough of the thousands of enjoyable hours I have spent on this boat. I guess I better hook the truck up and tow it to Lake Hartwell. Lol
HI I have had a Mac 26S for twenty five years. Bought it new in Vancouver Canada. It has sailed on a dozen lakes and I have had thousands of fantastic hours on it. Love it.
Always wanted a Macgregor and have one in my sights. I’ll take any advice from anyone on tricks of the trade. Great day boat for us with two boys. Going to be an awesome experience
That'd be great! We're at Big Water Marina. We haven't sailed as much as we'd like this past year due to life circumstances, but we always hope to get back out there as soon as posible!
Thanks for sharing I have been watching other videos on how to heave to & must have missed the switching of the tiller .i have a mac 26 x it is something I must know without thinking about for man overboard.so thank you for the clear demonstration . PS. Iam a fisherman not a sailor as yet !
