Welcome back to the sailing corner of usenet.

I'd really like to hear about your real experiences with your new
boat. Its fun to consider the hypothetical virtues of a boat, but
what really counts is how they are used.

Jim Cate wrote:
....

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. )

You can argue that it was not handled well in this case, but the fact
that it could happen at all, regardless of the circumstances, does not
bode well for a trans-Atlantic.

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.

Actually, its fairly easy to add flotation to a small boat. But
here's the question: if you were in a Mac 26 in a North Atlantic Gale,
and the boat got rolled (as it almost certainly would) and lost its
rig, which was now pounding into the hull, and the hull started to
leak, would you be trusting your life to a few blocks of foam, or
would you be headed to the liferaft?

....


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.

Lots of boats have been rolled without sinking. In fact, this is one
of the basic scenarios that must be considered by any long distance
cruiser. Just assuming the boat will go down in a few minutes is not
the solution most cruisers have. Even a serious hole can often be
dealt with, especially if a boat is designed and built with this in
mind.