MacGregor 26M

The MacGregor 26M (2003–2013) is the last and most refined MacGregor 26: a powersailer with a deeper-V hull, softer chines, a daggerboard, twin rudders, a rotating 7/8 fractional mast and 300 lb of fixed ballast in addition to about 1,150 lb of water ballast. With a 50–60 hp outboard it planes at 20-plus knots; under sail it is a light-air coastal cruiser. Roughly 3,000 had been built by 2012.

Introduced for the 2003 model year to replace the 26X, the 26M answered criticism of the X's sailing performance with a taller rotating rig, swept spreaders, a foil daggerboard and permanent ballast that makes the boat self-righting from 90 degrees with the tank full. Production continued at 300–400 boats a year until Roger MacGregor retired and closed the Costa Mesa plant in early 2013; the design was carried on in Florida by his daughter Laura as the Tattoo 26.

Hand-laid solid fiberglass hull with a solid-glass deck over moulded U-section beams (no core). The ballast tank fills through a transom valve; the factory manual says filling takes about 5 minutes with a 50 hp motor aboard and 18 minutes or more empty, and the tank drains under way above about 8 knots or on the trailer. The mast is a 3 x 4 in rotating extrusion with 1/8 in walls, stayed by a forestay and two pairs of shrouds with no backstay. Stainless chainplates are bolted through the hull with backing plates.

Sailing Magazine describes two double and two single berths: a permanent double under the cockpit, a V-berth forward, and an amidships dinette that converts. Headroom is 6 ft, water capacity 5 US gallons and fuel 24 gallons; the head is a porta-potti between partial bulkheads.

A separate model from the 26X because the hull, rig and ballast arrangement are all different, even though the two are often listed together. Sources disagree on displacement because they measure different things: 2,550 lb / 1,156 kg is the dry weight, 4,000 lb is with the tank full; the catalog stores the sailing displacement. Ballast is stored as 1,450 lb total (300 fixed + 1,150 water); the enum can only hold one ballast material, so 'water' is recorded and the fixed ballast is noted here.

Practical Sailor's owner survey lists a minimal stock rig (widely upgraded), a slow-filling and slow-draining tank, thumping from the board at anchor, thin liner stress cracks and light hardware. The factory manual's warnings about partial tanks and about powering with sails up are the main safety points.

Practical Sailor (2024) quotes $20,000–$30,000 for later 26Ms and under $15,000 for older boats; Sailing Magazine (2012) saw a used 26M at just over $29,000 with outboard and trailer. Confirm the rotating mast bearings and rigging have been maintained, check the transom for outboard-load cracks, and test the ballast valve and vent. A boat with a well-maintained 50–60 hp motor and galvanised trailer commands a premium.