On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:59:30 -0500, I am Tosk
wrote:

In article a74c6712-fae3-4822-9e38-2b4b8e71b572
, says...

I met a guy in Marsh Harbor who had a Mac26 he had brought over from
the US. It had a 90 hp outboard and was seriously pimped out to be
very comfy for himself. I have extolled the concept of this motor/
sailboat by claiming that it is probably safer than a conventional
sailboat because it can get to safety faster than any other sailboat
and because it can be beached in shallow water for safety but most
conventional sailors disagree.
However, this guy seems to prove my contention. It took me 13 hours
on my 28' S2-sailboat motor-sailing to cross from West Palm to West
End whereas it took him only 4 hours motoring. Getting across this
body of water quickly maximizes safety. I believe sailors need to re-
orient their thinking about this boat. It is not a sailboat that can
motor quickly but a motorboat with sail backup.
Furthermore, the boat seems the ideal boat for the Bahamas with its
extreme shoal draft and ability to get places quickly and if the motor
fails, one can simply sail back to harbor. In the USA, it avoids the
need to sail ones heavy sailboat long distances to cruise because it
can be easily trailered.
I'd like to try chartering one of these somewhere to try it out.

Wow, that is a great looking boat... I love the fact that you can have
all that with a 50 horse outboard, and the full foam flotation is a plus
for your kind of boating. I don't know if you would really want to said
it swamped, but at least you could tow it in with the dinghy

With all due respect, apparently neither of you guys have ever been
caught offshore in a 50 to 60 kt squall line. Seas go from dead flat
to 12 ft and breaking in no time at all. Every year fast center
consoles (and bigger) from the east coast of Florida get caught in
conditions like that, and a fair number of them are capsized and lost.
Positive flotation will not save you when the waves literally pick
you up and throw you back down in the trough, rolling the boat over,
or pitch polling it end over end.

The Mac26 is a fine boat for protected waters, crossing the Gulf
Stream, not so much.