Illusion - 1995 MacGregor 65

is FOR SALE

US$230,000
Side View Layout 1995 MacGregor 65
Hull #96
 Top View Layout
Specifications:
Illusion winning regatta in Vava'u
Why we are selling...
Length65'

We regret to let Illusion go, but she's served us well and we are now land-based, so it is even sadder for us knowing that she's not out there exploring the world's oceans and islands. We kept the hope alive for a while, and even made a trip from New Zealand to Fiji and back, but we only had 10 weeks of vacation time, so it was a quick trip. We are truly land-locked and need to set Illusion free to continue to explore the world. She is built for the open ocean and beautiful anchorages! Help her get back there.

Illusion has been well cared for and is a very easy boat to sail and to take care of. She has no wood to speak of, so there is nothing to rot! Most of her surfaces are stainless steel, aluminum, or gelcoated fiberglass. We outfitted her to be self-sufficient with solar energy and easy to maintain, so we could live on her in the tropics for two years and not be caught up in boat work. We enjoyed being in anchorages and spent only a few weeks in marinas, most of those weeks were because we won them in a sailing contest!

We've kept Illusion these last few years because we hoped to return to cruising soon. There are no other boats in her price range that even compare to her comfort and performance. We now realize that our hopes are not to be for many more years and it's time to let her find another loving owner to continue to explore the world.
Beam12'
Draft5.5'
Displacement38,000lbs (loaded)
EngineMerCruiser 150hp Turbo Diesel
Fuel250 gal
Water220 gal
FabricationGRP
Open Ocean Sailing12,500 nm
Top Speed Logged26.4 kts
Top Speed Cruising19.3 kts
Max 1000nm Avg10.0 kts

Illusion is a very special boat, one of the few M65's that Roger MacGregor created with a rear engine! Illusion was one of those last few in the line of MacGregor 65's produced in Costa Mesa, California - the production line was closed with a 2-year waiting list! The official reason was that they were making so much money on the M26's (their smaller trailer-sailer), that they needed the M65 production space, but I think they were also losing money on the M65 line. The M65 started life as a 'research' project to build a fast, light production racer. Then as Roger noticed that more owners were outfitting them for cruising, he started altering the interior to make it more cruiser-oriented and less all-out racer. The price hardly changed over the years, but the cost of production kept rising. The production manager told me as the line was shutting down that almost all the M65's left the yard at over US$300,000, even though the 'list' price was $149,000.

A Quiet Day in Fiji

There is just that much MORE that you want on an outfitted cruising boat! That has had the unfortunate effect of making it seem as though they are cheap boats.

Here are a few additions for Illusion that I can recall offhand:

  • 2x Roller furled headsails
  • 130% Genoa headsail
  • Bruce, CQR, & Fortress anchors
  • 260 feet of 3/8" Hi-test chain
  • 200 feet of 3/4" anchor rope w/ chain segment
  • 200 feet of 1.5" polyprop 'hurricane' rope
  • refrigeration: engine & A/C compressors
  • stand-alone office refrigerator
  • Winslow 6-person life-raft
  • 406MHz EPRIB
  • Lewmar Concept 2000 anchor windlass
  • Bimini
  • 2x VacuFlush toilets
  • 70 gal Holding Tank
  • TankTender 3-way tank level gauge
  • 11 gal engine/120vac Water Heater
  • B&G Network Sailing Instruments
  • Autohelm 7000 Autopilot w/6000 Controls
  • Raytheon 24nm radar
  • Masthead tricolor & anchor light
  • SGC SSB Radio, autotuner, & backstay
  • VHF w/ masthead antenna
  • AM/FM/CD Stereo System
  • Custom wheel stand & instrument pod
  • Shower on transom
  • Electric & engine hot water heater
  • 1100 Ah, 12V AGM "house" battery bank
  • 3x 55W Siemens solar panels
  • Trace 30A charge controller
  • 1000W True Sine wave inverter
  • Wiring for 120vac & limited 240vac
  • 2500va isolation transformer