Jeff wrote:
JimC wrote:

You don't get it, do you? The Mac 26 in its various embodiments is
one of the most popular sailboats of this size ever built, with over
30,000 sold.


You used to be emphatic the the 26M was a total redesign of the 26X, and
that no conclusion could be derived from the problems of the earlier
boats. Now you're lumping together every Mac ever made (and the
Ventures) and claiming that by their very numbers, they must be good.

...

Jeff, you need to avoid mixing up your apples and oranges. The Mac 26M
is the current model and does include a major redesign of the hull,
along with other improvements such as additional fiberglas in the hull,
a vertically retractable dagger board rather than a pivotal keel, a
rotatable mast, a traveler, chainplate redesign, etc. Accordingly, I
have said that if you are going to criticize the boat's handling and
rigging, you ought to talk about the current model rather than boats
they were building 15 years ago. However, the boats Ellen was talking
about (the one mentioned in the anecdote she dug up on the net) was one
of the older models. Also, her negative comments about "flimsy build"
apparently related to Macs in general. - AFAIK, she hasn't sailed one of
the new models and doesn't know much about them. Therefore, my reply
regarding the overall satisfaction of over 30,000 Mac owners and her
inability to dig up more than a handfull of reports of significant
structural or mechanical failures out of 30,000-plus Macs built over the
years is appropriate because it addressed what she was talking about.



Sure are. But when thousands of Mac owners obviously like their
boats, and when over 85% of 26M owners state that they would buy the
boat again, it strongly suggests that most Mac owners are happy with
their boats.


Omigosh! I didn't realize it was that bad! You're saying that 15% of
Mac owners say it was a horrible blunder?


15% said it was a horrible blunder? - Nope. The 85% (positive) figure is
from a site in which owners of the Mac 26M were asked to comment on the
boat and indicate whether, based on their experience sailing the boat,
they would buy one again given the choice. - The majority of the
responses were highly positive. The 15% figure includes several who said
they couldn't predict whether or not they would buy a Mac again
(undecided); several who hadn't made up their mind yet because they
hadn't had the boat long enough to make a valid judgment; several who
said they realized that they needed a larger boat; and a very small
minority who didn't like the boat and would look for something else.

As I have said many times, I'm not trying to say the Mac is the greatest
boat on the water. - I'm just trying to provide a little balance to what
in the past has been an imbalanced Mac-bashing in which those with the
most negative comments have no substantive evidence to back up their
comments and usually have never even sailed one of the newer Macs. Of
course, the Macs have good and bad points (as do all boats), and I
wouldn't recommend one as a liveaboard or for anyone planning to make
extended crossings, for example. But calling it a flimsy boat not
adequately built for its size and weight isn't a rational or balanced
approach. And so far, NO ONE has been able to provide evidence or
statistics (not anecdotes) showing significant numbers of Mac failures
because of "flimsy" build, inadequate rigging, etc.

Plus, they're lots of fun to sail.

Jim