One of the first decisions most boaters will face is the fundamental choice
between power and sail.

Personally, I don't think that's true. Sailors want a sailboat. Period.
Motorboaters might or might not be interested in sailing... probably not.

Few sailing purists would choose a MacGregor. A performance oriented
powerboater would not choose a MacGregor, either. I see this boat as something
for folks who are willing to step outside the traditional "box", and who would
enjoy doing some recreational sailing without being restricted to 5-7 knots
when under power.

MacGregor invented the retracting keel adaptation that energized the
trailerable sailboat market.

That is a blatant lie. Centerboards, daggerboards, swing keels, etc etc
were all invented prior to the turn of the last century.

You need to read the entire sentence.
They invented the "adaptation that energized the trailerable sailboat market".
I wouldn't be sruprised to learn that the Egyptians had retracting keels- but I
don't think they had a lot of trailer boats. :-)

Still, I appreciate that insight. If you took the sentence to mean that
MacGregor invented retracting keels, others might as well. I'll consider
tweaking that a bit before
this gets published in the "real" world.



... The innovative solution was MacGregor's water ballast system.

They didn't invent this either.

No, they didn't invent water ballast- but they did design MacGregor's water
ballast system. Water ballast is an innovative substitute for iron ballast. I
might tweak this sentence a bit, too.

It might be noted that the MacGregor 26 has limited stability without
the ballast tank full. Several of them have flipped over, at least one
with fatalities.

I can't imagine anybody sailing without filling the ballast tank. Is that a
problem with the design, or user error?

... (With a 50HP outboard, the MacGregor 26 will turn about
22 mph).

This is where they skate lightly around the truth... it will make that
speed with the motor, 1 person aboard, and very little else.

Typical standard for "official" speed claims.

Increasing
the load aboard dramatically reduces the top speed.

No doubt. When a boat weighs only 2500 pounds, adding 1000 pounds of people
and/or gear increases the weight by 40%.
When a boat weighs 20,000 pounds that same 1000 pound load increases the weight
by 5%.


We didn't need to launch the MacGregor 26; it was secured to a dock at the
Blue
Water Yachts office. Launching a MacGregor is reported to be an easy task

Why didn't you test this out, Chuck? It's a very important part of the
functionality of this particular boat.


I've actually helped launch a MacGregor in the past. Aside from getting the
mast up and the forestay secured, it wasn't really any more of a hassle than
launching a powerboat. I thought getting the mast down and properly secured was
a bigger job, as I remember. However, we didn't launch the boat during this
short test and I
wouldn't want to claim that we did.

And it will continue to surprise many, as long as there isn't a *real*
sailboat passing it... which happens frequently.

This is one of the sore points, to me... these things don't really sail
well at all, if you're accustomed to sailing anything else. They don't
steer like a sailboat, they don't feel like a sailboat, and their
performance is sluggish at best.

I think you're probably right on all counts.
This boat would not be the first choice for somebody primarily interested in
performance sailing. It's a recreational sailboat. I think the idea is to have
"fun" doing some sailing, and not worry about whether somebody else is sailing
faster,
more directly upwind, etc.

The MacGregor sails better than almost any powerboat. :-) It certainly motors
faster than most sailboats. It's a unique, highly compromised vessel that can
provide a lot of fun- but will suffer in direct comparison with boats that
specialize in one aspect or another of the MacGregor compromise.

As Todd McChesney stated, no boat can be all things to all people. There
are
certainly higher performing, more technical, sailboats, (and more exciting,
speedier powerboats), than a MacGregor. What MacGregor does singularly well
is
to combine a very wide range of fun boating experiences into a single
vessel.

That's true. I'd give the Mac 26 points for the concept... it's also a
roomy, comfy boat... and not as expensive as many out there.

Basically, it's a travel trailer that is shaped enough like a boat that
it can move under sail or motor. If you compare it's performance under
power to similar motorboats, you'd come away with about the same
impression it gives as a sailboat. The real reason why people buy them
is because of the roominess/price comparison. If you shop for a new boat
with comparable cabin space, you're looking at roughly twice the price.

The MacGregor has put 35,000 people on the water. That ain't all bad. Will my
next boat be a MacGregor 26? Nope. Would I want to venture out into 6 footers
in a 2500 pound boat? Nope, again. But the concept has a lot of merit- an
affordable, functional, easy to operate boat that will provide a wide variety
of fun, family-level experiences on the water.




Fresh Breezes- Doug King