Sorry, but a 26' sailboat has no business owning a 70 hp engine. Sure, you
can get home or get to your destination in a hurry, but it has nothing to do
with sailing. The whole boat is a compromise that anyone with any sense of
what sailing is all about would only accept in a very, very narrow set of
circumstances.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"JimC" wrote in message
.. .


Capt. JG wrote:
I for one have no interest in owning a 26 foot boat that comes with a
70hp engine. This is the antithesis of what sailing is all about.


The boat is built to be balanced in the water with crew and with an
outboard of 50 - 70 hp. If the moter were removed, the boat would tend to
"lean" forwardly, with the stern too high in the water. The weight of the
outboard is far less than the weight of a typical diesel in a 27-29 ft
boat, although, of course, the weight of the diesel is better positioned.

The chief disadvantage of the larger engine is that it gives Mac-bashers
who have never sailed a 26M another opportunity to turn their noses up at
Mac owners. Although the Macs don't point as well as conventional boats
with weighted keels, I doubt seriously that the weight of the motor is a
major factor. Rather, it's the compromises relating to the internal
ballast, trailerable hull, and lack of weighted keel. (The metactric
effect.)

The more important factor, however, is that they are lots of fun to sail.

Jim