Jeff wrote:

Jim Cate wrote:
...

The point is that most owners of the "real sailboats" you keep
talking about don't often make use of their capability. I think
it's better to have a boat that is sailed often rather than a boat
that COULD be sailed to the Bahamas but is seldom taken out. I think
that the Mac owners probably get in more time sailing their boats
than most owners of ocean going vessels..


I certainly agree that its better to have a boat that's used than one
that's not used. And for some people, the Mac should provide that
usability.

On the other hand, I see almost no Mac's where I sail in New England.
Giving the numbers, one might expect to see as many Mac's as Hunters
and Catalinas. However, I spend most of the summer on the water and
hardly ever see a Mac out there. In fact, I've traveled the East
Coast from Maine to Florida several times over the last 30 years, and
have only seen a handful of Mac's actually being used. There's been
one in my marina for the last few years, and I've never seen them more
the a half mile from the dock. In fact, to my knowledge, they've only
been out 3 times in two years. Some years ago, there was a 26X that I
would see powering out, but they seem to have left the scene.

Since the Macs are manufactured in California, it's probably to be
expected that there are more of them on the west coast and fewer of them
in New England.
I do see reports on the Mac discussion groups of Macs sailing the Keys,
Pensacola, etc.

Jim