Jeff Morris wrote:
"Jim Cate" wrote in message
...


Jeff Morris wrote:

You keep claiming these are "different" boats. Whether the changes are
sufficient to call them different is academic. The bottom line, however, is
that the company has a long history of building cheap boats and making
exaggerated marketing claims targeting inexperienced sailors. Nothing seems
different in this regard.


I suppose that you are right in one respect. - The MacGregor boats have
incorporated a long list of advantageous features not available in most
displacement boats, and the new Mac 26M carries that tradition forward
as did the earlier models. The Macs were one of the first cruising
sailboats to popularize the use of water ballast, the advantages of
which are so obvious that their competitors (e.g., Hunter, Catalina) are
now offering it also. Further advantages include positive flotation (the
boats actually float, even if the hull is compromised. - Imagine that. -
A boat that actually floats!)


Flotation is nothing new - I sailed for a dozen years before using a boat
without positive flotation. It has long been required by law for boats a bit
smaller than yours.

And did I say that the Mac's are the ONLY boats to provide positive
flotation, Jef? I can't seem to find a statement to that effect in my
previous note. - What I DID say was that the Macs included that
particular advantage. And if you're honest, you will admit that only a
relatively small number of cruising sailboats incorporate positive
flotation. - If you don't believe me, try conducting a poll of this
newsgroup, asking them whether their boats would float if the hull were
compromised. Or whether their boat would quickly sink to the bottom
under such circumstances.


. Further advantages that are unique with
respect to most of their competition is the ability to "fly away" from
the "displacement-speed-barrier" that keeps most sailboats locked in
their place (unless they are surfing down a wave during a storm).


Your boat can't do that under sail unless it is used recklessly - without
ballast in a strong wind. THis is exactly the type of exaggeration I'm talking
about. They make it sound like it performs better than any other boat, even
under sail, when in fact its a dog.

Once again, Jeff, did I say that I was talking about planing UNDER SAIL?
The facts are that very few of the boats owned by contributors to this
ng could plane REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY WERE POWERED OR UNDER SAIL. -
Unless, of course,they were caught in a storm and planing down a wave.
It's also true that the Mac CAN plane under sail, under certain
conditions.




Still further advantages include the ability to float in waters as
shallow as one foot, and to be beached for picnics, camping, etc. A
still further advantage is that they are trailerable, permitting them to
be conveniently relocated to a desired sailing area hundreds of miles
from their usual port.


Most of what you're talking about are standard features, long available on a
large number of boats.

Really Jeff? Why don't you ask the contributors to this ng whether their
boats can be beached for picnics, float in one foot of water, trailered
down the coast to a desired sailing area hundreds of miles away, etc.
The point isn't that the Mac is the only boat to incorporate each and
every feature named above. Rather, the point is that it offers a package
of advantageous features not often available in a 26-foot cruising
sailboat.


You can claim the 26X has a unique combination of these
features, but the question the prospective buyer must answer is whether this is
enough to overcome the obvious shortcomings.


And what are those shortcomings, Jeff? (Remembering that in my case, we
sail in the Galveston Bay area in which there are hundreds of square
miles of waters of limited depth.) My boat is fast, comfortable, and
stable in severe conditions. Also, it incorporates a number of controls
and lines that can be adjusted for tuning the boat to achieve
substantial speed.

Jim


All in all, Jeff, you are quite correct in suggesting that the Mac 26M
incorporates many of the same features and characeristics developed over
the years in earlier models. It merely carries the tradition forward to
a higher level. - Very perceptive comment on your part.


And a damning one.


Damming? I suppose you mean damming for its competitors who don't offer
anywhere near the same package of features, yet charge substantially more?

Jim