Ed Gorgon, with his love of the Mac26 line of trailorable boats, got me
thinking last night. Especially the posts about putting them in shipping
containers and shipping them all over the world. And how they fetch such
handsome prices in far-away lands.

While I'm not too particularly impressed with MacGregors (I'd rather
have my solid, full keel, Allied Seawind under me for coastal work and
my Swan 68 for ocean passage making!), I've got to give credit where
credit is due. After all, what other boat has such a widespread world
presence? Just think about that for a minute. MacGregors being shipped
to ports all over the world and being enjoyed by thousands and maybe
millions by now. No other model of boat can even come close to that
record.

Roger MacGregor is a genius. No other manufacturer has managed to be so
successful at gauging the pulse of the average neophyte boater and
filling the niche with a capable vessel that, though a compromise,
manages to please to such an extent that it has become the most popular
model line of all time. That's quite an accomplishment, by anybody's
standards. This line of boats fits the "legendary" category.

I think this is what's at the root of much of the Mac bashing you hear
in this group and others. It's simple envy and a reluctance to admit
MacGregors are wildly successful because they work.

Kudos to Roger MacGregor. Shame of people like Jeff Morris who will
never admit the MacGregor represents a real value and does more to keep
sailing alive than any other boat made.

Wilbur Hubbard