GDAY to all im after peoples opinion on whether it is possible to sail a Macgregor 26 from Mandurah on the west coast to Sydney on the east coast over the top of aussie ,so far it is a 50/50 split that say it can and cant be done .Trip is planned for the second week in april ..i would be interested to hear from anyone that has heard of anyone that has tried or completed this trip on this type of boat or something similar
cheers

G'day and welcome to the forum.
I haven't done it before, but a few on here have.

A few things to consider (apologies if you already have):
I'm guessing you have a fairly powerful outboard to handle the massive tides and current swirling around the Kimberlies.
Will need very good ground tackle so when you drop the pick, you know it's not gonna let go.
Looonnng way between re provisioning stops for water, food and fuel.
You will need very good up to date nav gear and comms - HF radio maybe sat phone.

You are doing the right thing asking people before just heading off and possibly getting into trouble!

Second week in April? You would need months! Bigest problem is stowage capacity. The M26 is a lightweight boat relying on water ballast, and you cannot just load it up with heaps of provisions without affecting the stability of the boat. If she is heavily laden then high speed motoring is not possible. Similarly the sailing would be pretty ordinary.

The M26 is a trailer sailer designed for sheltered waters. The exposed coast of Australia is no sheltered waterway.

The Macgregor 26 is a trailable motor sailor. They do sail and I have seen one sail! Best bet would be to tow it around Australia and use it to camp in on the side of the road. Launching the boat to visit places on the way.

It's possible to sail that journey in just about anything but probably not one of these.

You must be an adventurer.

Just about anything is possible. You could drag a sled to the South Pole with one leg. Would most people do it, no. Would you be pushing the envelope, yes.

How well do you know your boat?

It's all good advice Steve.....and reading between the lines .....the answer is NOT yes.

Surely you don't plan on doing the entire trip during the second week of April. You're looking at close to a 9000 km - trip plus weather days, downtime, provisioning time. I know the McG-26 can get up and plane in the right conditions, but you are not going to average 1200 km/day. Especially loaded down with fuel water and and provisions.

I'd suggest starting with a mini-adventure trip a few days up/down the coast. Your limitations will likely become obvious.

On a recent post someone mentioned an old fella taking a 24 footer to Lord Howe. A few months ago there was a post about a bloke sailing a trailer sailer around the world. Both those sailers were praised on this site for their achievements.

With a bit of good planing and common sense, I can't see why you can't take your rig around Australia let along over the top (not in two weeks though, but I don't think that is what you meant in your post)..

It's not that remote and isolated..

hey stevetheadven............. have you had the boat out in the open ocean for any length of time yet ?

I sailed my x-yacht 372 from Fremantle to tweed heads nsw over the top in 07 leaving wa in May. It was a long hard great experience. Once you clear the Kimberly Coast and get into the Timor and arrafura seas you will want a yacht that points very high to windward. A hell of a lot of current up that way with short sharp chop. We got up to 4mtr seas. I can see you motoring a lot. I kid you not. It is a difficult sail in the direction you are planning. A long way in between fuel stops. Hf radio is a must. A great experience but it is a hard on the boat and crew bone jarring trip. Oh then you have the top of qld. Not a good place for trouble or breakdowns

You won't get past Geraldton.

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MorningBird said..
You won't get past Geraldton.

Yes, you're probably right there MB. Stevetheadven will get to the Abrolhos Islands, drop pick, have a beer, mung out on some fresh lobster and not want to leave.

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Toph said..
On a recent post someone mentioned an old fella taking a 24 footer to Lord Howe. A few months ago there was a post about a bloke sailing a trailer sailer around the world. Both those sailers were praised on this site for their achievements.

With a bit of good planing and common sense, I can't see why you can't take your rig around Australia let along over the top (not in two weeks though, but I don't think that is what you meant in your post)..

It's not that remote and isolated..

I think a few people need to Google MacGregor 26 images and check out what these boats are. I have watched one of these sailing in flat water and was pleasantly surprised. I would not sail one offshore under any circumstance. The bloody great outboard on the back is to get you to the bar pronto when the breeze freshens.

Seen a few Mac's getting around Rockingham/ Garden Island. Seem to get along quite well.
I'm sure that if the Abrolhos doesn't stop Stevetheadven, Shark bay or Ningaloo will. You could have allot of fun with a Mac.

That video is impressive showing some of the conditions they can handle. One of the conditions I don't think it can handle is long distance between ports.

I just don't think it has the stores carrying capacity for long distance passages.

The worlds best selling cruising trailing sail boat! I would hate to be trying to sell one. Mate was going to buy one in California and ship it back. Talked him off the ledge. Now has a sensible cruising 33 footer.

Went past one of these near my mooring the other day. Watching this video and im impressed. I think it would be great to trailor this boat around. looks easy to launch/pack down. pull up on the beach. how good.

That thing would be perfect in shark bay, lots of shallow areas to explore and relatively flat. Also lots of little breaks in Ningaloo that you could duck into for protection. Beach it in Broome, no worries. Up past Zuytdorp cliffs could be interesting though.


heading south to exit South Passage Shark Bay.


Exit from South Passage and the start of the Zuytdorp Cliffs






Somewhere in Shark Bay


Maud's Landing (Coral Bay), inside Ningaloo Reef.

Hi all

Here is a link to the operating manual for the 26 www.macgregor26.com/instruction_manual/OWNERS%20INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

Some interesting stuff in here on the first page regarding the water ballast system

Regards Don

I'm sorry to be frank but......not in a million years!!!

I have done a fair bit of work on Mac's in WA and IMHO they aren't built well enough to handle this trip.

The hull is built very light, in fact you can push in sections with your hand. Personally I wouldn't want that pounding into a current v's wind situation with short sharp chop.

The boat is designed to be light when motoring but at least two I know of in the states a have capsized while motoring with no water ballast in, so I would have at least some of the ballast in while motoring in a seaway.

I have also replaced stays on their rigs and IMHO the original rigging setup is not up to extended upwind work at sea in anything more than 20 knots. The jib furler is not a reefable system, the main has only one reef and everything on the rig is about 2 sizes too small.

Added to that the boat flexes so much that it is impossible to get any forestay tension so pointing (added to the boat dragging that bum around) is not very good at all.

That enough reasons why not!??

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rumblefish said..
I'm sorry to be frank but......not in a million years!!!



That enough reasons why not!??

I think that is enough reasons.

The McGregor 26 is an extremely successful solution to the need for a spacious trailer-sailer for sheltered waters. They fetch high prices, far higher than your typical 26ft keelboat.

So my solution would be to sell the McGregor 26, and with that money you could buy a 30+ foot solid keelboat, suitable for offshore work , and off you go!!

Spot on!!!

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Yara said..
The McGregor 26 is an extremely successful solution to the need for a spacious trailer-sailer for sheltered waters. They fetch high prices, far higher than your typical 26ft keelboat.

So my solution would be to sell the McGregor 26, and with that money you could buy a 30+ foot solid keelboat, suitable for offshore work , and off you go!!

If you can sell one they might. No bids on the two on eBay. Mate was buying one from California where are are fairly cheap and reasonable costs on shipping to NSW.

A lot was mentironed, it's impressive boat, T / S with comfort. Is fast in right conditions and
you can sit on the beach when too rough to handle.
Just one thing, has not been mentioned.
26 footer big dong engine and single axel trailer.
As my friends find out, trailer is not designed for long towing, on second trip
from Sydney to Gippsland Lakes, trailer start collapsing.
Re engineered, adding additional support to hold the boat in position, than all was ok.

Gday to you all i thank you and appreciate all of your input good and not so good ,however i would just like to clarify .i would expect to leave in the second week in april and cover as little as 25 to 50 miles per day i would expect this trip to take months, i have been in regular contact with the bom about what to expect , i am in the process of purchasing a satellite phone sleeve to use with a mobile phone for data for weather as said before i would appreciate any further input cheers

Gday Auscan the longest time i have spent on my boat is about a week and i would expect this trip to take months i am learning the limitations of this boat cheers

Gday Nowandzen great forum and a lot of fantastic input its nice to hear people that can sail and not armchair sailers i have come across quite a few of them so far cheers

Gday Yara i am planning on months if possible whar a trip cheers

Gday Sands mate the longest stint was 7 days at about 15 to 20 miles off the coast my planned trip would on the inside of reefs where possible still much to learn cheers

Id be wary of that soft hull and non pointing . ability as mentioned by rumblefish