sure it’s fugly but still…

Some good advice, a needful read, and Chuck Wendig making sense…

I woke up early today with the thought that the MacGregor 26 would make a pretty awesome small cruising boat. Granted, the boat is rather fugly but, as some might say, the bones are good.

Fugly MacGregor 26

Plus, they made lots and lots of these extreme shoal draft trailer sailors. So finding one in good shape at an affordable price should be fairly easy. What’s not to like?

Well, for starters, the whole “it’s a power boat as well” vibe has got to go. Swapping out a 50HP outboard for a 6HP would go a long way to improve performance under sail. Sure, it would be cool to be able to water ski behind your your boat at around 25 MPH but seriously?

Offhand, I’d love to find one of these sans rig so I could do a junk or balanced lug with a shorter mast to lower the center of effort. As long as I’m at it, a few interior tweaks would not go amiss but, all in all, it would make a great little cruiser, albeit still a bit fugly.

By the way, Yachting Monthly has an excellent article with the title of “Your complete guide to yacht pilotage (done properly)” and it does not disappoint.

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