Why in the World?

A certifiable boat nut considers tacking back to the Mac 26

Article by Ferdinand Johns

Many of my sailing friends are wondering why an 84-year-old architect…. a lifelong lover of beautiful architecture and classic sailing craft …… skipjacks, Captain Nat designs, and his own lovingly restored ComPac 19 …… would suddenly seek out and purchase a Macgregor 26X; a boat considered by most to be an awkward, minimally-built, ugly duckling, that sails as poorly as it looks. Sounds crazy, right?

Well, I maintain it is nowhere near as insane as it sounds (the insane often do not realize that they are crazy, I’m told). Consider a few things before you have me committed, please:

First, an admission of guilt; I have previously owned and cruised two Macgregor PowerSailers (26X and 26M). The first allowed a very modestly compensated teacher of architecture at Montana State University to trailer a cruising boat with an ancient conversion-van packed with children or cruising comrades and supplies, from Bozeman MT to Anacortes WA. This entailed trailering over seven steep mountain passes, launching the boat, cruising aboard for several weeks, in the San Juan and Gulf Islands, and then retrieving the boat to return over those seven steep mountain passes. A third-hand, fat, commodious, water-ballasted MacGregor filled the bill. The ability to return to port under power, or stem the current in narrow passages, even with a sputtering, smoky, 50hp 2-stroke outboard, was incredibly handy when sailing with kids. On a reach or run the boat performed reasonably well, and properly sailed with new canvas, could typically keep up with the more commodious traditional cruising boats …. even going to weather. Granted, she had far too much windage to handle well when docking and was definitely no racer! But she fit our lifestyle, resources and location perfectly.

The second PowerSailer was a similarly well-used early version 26M, which I owned only briefly, after I’d retired and moved to Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, Washington. I fondly remembered good times with the family on the old 26X, and was eager to try out the seemingly better accommodations, fit/finish and sailing ability of the 26M. The newer design did provide more headroom, but at the cost of even more windage, as well as comfortable sleeping berths for three adults without converting anything. This worked well as my sailing partners and I had aged a bit! But I found the boat did not motor efficiently or comfortably in the fuel-efficient ranges I favored, and any improvement over the 26X in sailing performance was so small it did not really seem to signify. Neither boat performs well enough under sail to compete with a sleek over-canvassed keel boat. Finding I much preferred to pay the price of cramped accommodations, I sold the MacGregor, eventually settling on a similarly slow, but very steady and beautiful, ComPac 19.

I need to quickly note that this was nowhere near as quick and logical as that may sound. Never is with me … a certifiable boat nut. Certifiable. In the interim, I had owned a ComPac 23, a ComPac SunCat, and a Sanibel 17. And, on the dark side, a C-Dory 22, a Rosborough 246 (a superb mini-trawler) and a Camano 31 trawler. None of which were enough to convince my wife Beth to cruise with me. She just does not enjoy cruising on any boat! She loves to daysail but is quite happy to have me leave her in peace while I go off cruising.

So, after many fun but cramped summer cruises in the San Juans and Gulf Islands, my good friend/sailing partner Dan and I began discussing a return to the Broughton Archipelago, a wonderland of remote cruising grounds relatively protected by a series of rapids and fearsome Johnstone Strait ….. where strong Pacific currents coming around the north and south ends of Vancouver Island meet to create square waves, often accompanied by strong, gusty winds. We considered trailering the little ComPac up to Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, but I felt going all the way by boat presented so many options to visit the spectacular cruising grounds in between that I did not want to miss the journey …. after all, if you are on a boat, you are already there!

I recalled that the 26X, with its fixed galley, larger dinette, enclosed head and better range of motoring speeds fit our needs well. All one must do is redefine it … it is a “fast motorsailer,” not a “sailboat”! The expectation that it should perform as well under sail as a straight-up sailboat disappears. Sailboats, motoring slowly through frequent windless stretches, are typically referred to as “stick boats” in this area. So, the ability to economically cruise at 12 knots, unballasted in a calm, is priceless. And the ability to power fast enough between a series of sequential rapids to catch slack water is particularly useful. And, when the wind is fair, one can sail! Maybe very old “gentlemen” (?) really should not sail to weather. At least in a MacGregor!

So, I began looking. As luck would have it, I located a clean and amazingly well outfitted 26X with a non-operational E-Tec only 20 miles away for a bit over $5,000. That was exactly what I was looking for, as I wanted to outfit the boat with my very first brand new outboard engine! I am tired of fixing old gear on the fly. Plus, who knows how to fix one of the newer electronically injected 4-strokes? Not I! So, I dickered a bit on the price for the boat, installed a new 60hp Mercury fuel-injected 4-stroke, and for about $15K I had a boat. Cheryl and Tod from Bluewater Yachts had really outfitted this baby well. She has a full cockpit enclosure, a dinghy motor bracket, an outboard helm disconnect for sailing, two really nice, very new genoas, an installed Wallas cooker/heater….and a tired out mainsail. Dan, a young man of only 78, and I took her out for a four-week shakedown cruise in the summer of 2024 and pronounced her “close enough” for our purposes. I bought a new main and an age-appropriate side mount boarding ladder, and am busy with several projects, based on our shakedown, to get her ready for the Broughtons’ trip. Of course, no way I’m getting rid of the beautiful little ComPac! A guy can have two boats, can’t he? One to look at, and one “you can’t see when you are sitting in the cockpit, eh?,” as another sailing friend once said. I think we were aboard a MacGregor……….

Another good friend just asked, “Ferd, what the heck are you doing? You’re 84. Odds are you won’t even be here next summer? Why are you spending time and money at your age fixing up a cheesy plastic boat? You could die before you finish it. And it ain’t gonna be worth anything, anyway.”

I replied, “So what?”

See, I told you. •SCA•