The MacGregor 25 is an American trailerable

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

that was designed by

Roger MacGregor Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages, Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", " ...

and first built in 1973. From the start of production until 1980, it was sold as the Venture 25.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 355.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

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, 2010.

Production

The boat was built by

MacGregor Yacht Corporation The MacGregor Yacht Corporation was a manufacturer of sailing yachts, located in Costa Mesa, California. History MacGregor Yacht Co. was founded by Roger MacGregor as part of a Stanford University MBA class project in the early 1960s. The comp ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

between 1973 and 1987, but it is now out of production. During its 14-year production run 7,000 examples were completed.

Design

The MacGregor 25 is a small recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, ...

rig, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

and a fixed stub

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

with a centerboard. It displaces and carries of ballast. Starting in 1980, a number of boats were built with a

rig and known as the ''MacGregor 25 MH''. The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. The boat is normally fitted with a small

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

for docking and maneuvering. The design has sleeping accommodation for five people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lack ...

in the bow cabin, a straight settee in the main cabin on the port side and drop-down dinette table on the starboard side that forms a double berth. The galley is located on the port side just forward of the

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

ladder. The galley is equipped with a two-burner stove and a sink. The head is located just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side. Cabin headroom is . The masthead rigged version has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 231, with a high of 246 and low of 222. All models have a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-t ...

of .

Operational history

In a 2010 review, Steve Henkel wrote, "This popular design started out as the Venture 25 in 1973, and in 1981 became the MacGregor 25, with no major changes to the design. Over the years there was a choice of two sailplans, either a three quarters fractional rig or a masthead rig ... The boat is lightly built and has ample sail area (note the higher SA/D versus comps) so she will have a good turn of speed if properly equipped and tuned."

American Sailboat Hall of Fame

The MacGregor 25 was inducted into the now-defunct Sail America American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2000. In honoring the design, the hall cited, "Henry Ford is often credited with bringing the automobile to the common man. Roger MacGregor, a one-time Ford employee, may well be credited with doing the same thing for the cruising sailboat. The popular MacGregor 25 was the flagship of his line for 14 years. With a swinging keel - a MacGregor invention - that made transporting and launching the boat a snap, and a price that hovered around the cost of a new car, the MacGregor 25 opened up coastal and inland sailing to thousands."

References

External links