'm not sure whether Popeye is a troll or not, but I think the truth is somewhere between his suggestion that the Mac could sail the Atlantic and your characteristic of the Mac as a "pretend" sailboat. I personally would never attempt an Atlantic crossing in a MacGregor, partially because of the lack of space for provisions, fuel, etc. On the other hand, MacGregor owners in California, where the boats are built, often sail and/or motor offshore to Catalina Island for a weekend. They may use the motor to get there in a few hours so that they can spend the rest of the weekend sailing around the island, and then sail or motor back, permitting them to get in some enjoyable sailing at the island even when limited to a weekend cruise. The difference between a Mac and a larger, fixed keel boat is that the owner of the conventional vessel doesn't have the choice. - He is limited to motoring or sailing at hull speed both ways and doesn't get much time to explore sailing around the island as does the Mac owner. In other localities, the ability to motor out to a desired sailing area quickly, at planing speed, and/or to return at similar speeds, permits one to get where you want to go quickly and to spend more time sailing, rather than motoring out and motoring in at slow hull-limited speed. In other words, on a typical weekend outing, the Mac provides more choices, more schedule flexibility, and more time sailing or relaxing.

As to whether the Mac is "unsinkable," probably not, but it's pretty darned hard to sink one. - The skipper of the one reported in the news that capsized was drunk, and the boat was overloaded and didn't have the water ballast. (Note that his attorney didn't succeed in his lawsuit against MacGregor. ) On the other hand, if the hull is compromised on a conventional keel boat, or if it experiences a severe knockdown, the keel can pull it to the bottom fairly quickly. Obviously, a keel boat with longer waterline may have better sailing characteristics than a Mac, but that doesn't mean that sailing a Mac isn't fun or that the Mac is a "pretend" sailboat suited only for pond sailing. (It's interesting that few of the Mac-bashers seem to have much actual experience sailing one of the current models.) I have had experience on the Mac 26M, but I have more experience on larger boats such as the O'Day 37, Valiant 40, Endeavor, etc. - They are different, but they're all fun to sail.

In any event, regarding safety, it's obviously true that the weighted keel on a conventional boat can pull it to the bottom in a few minutes if the hull is compromised or the boat is rolled.

Jim


Its unsinkable-ness ( yay- I made a word) is not a help in this case. As I mentioned in another post have a look at this link http://www.macgregorsailboats.com/safety.html and tell me if those men would still be attached in 20ft waves. Extremely unlikely. The boat would suffer continual knockdowns and those men would become shark poo by the next day.

In reality, they would have to move into the liferaft to survive. On a nice day they may ok. but not if the wind is up.

DP