As a cruiser of a design known to have split the civilised world
in two, I don't have a problem with the looks of the Mac26*.

For those who sail in desperately thin water, there is a great
deal to be said for swing keels, extreme shallow draught, hard
bilges and, to a much lesser extent, high sides if one must have
sizeable accommodations. But the ultimate question has to be,
how does the boat sail, and...how _is_ it sailed?

That big motor is a trap, and my objection to the Mac26 series is
not the looks, not the light construction, not even the
observably poor sailing qalities other than well off the wind,
but the role which that motor plays in seducing the owners away
from sailing!

Jim the Deafer makes much play of motoring at speed to get
through the narrow, thin waters and out into "blue water" sailing
grounds, no more than 70 miles offshore, or was it 100? ie out of
the shallow, near coastal waters for which one uses swing keels,
extreme shallow draught, hard bilges etc etc. Yet, leaving aside
the pointlessness of taking a light shallow-water craft way out
to sea, the very business of motoring at speed through the narrow
thin waters misses totally the pleasures and the skills to be
gained in learning to handle a sailing craft skilfully and
deftly. It is just too easy to open the motor up and rush away,
never committing to the discipline of learning to sail in such
waters.

Perhaps the Mac26 owners have an aversion to beating their 26
foot boat through a 60ft wide slough, brushing the reeds on each
turn, or working their way up a larger but busier channel,
against a flow/tide, beacon to beacon. But it's a _learnt_
skill, and to do is to learn. Yet that huge motor sits, like
some mind-control machine, saying "use me instead", and they do.
The learning-to-sail never happens.

Meet a schedule? yes, at times we all have to, but the big motor
is an extreme. Yesterday, after 3 hours near-becalmed (1.2knots)
I gave up with 10miles to go and fired up the (10hp) motor, then
proceeded on at about 4knots (sails still up, giving me about
1knot and the motor working gently). And took great interest in
watching a Mac26 two miles away, still in light breeze and moving
at about 2knots, pull down all sail then use the giant motor to
move at ... 3 knots. What was the point, one wonders?

And yes, Jim, I know one set of the local Mac owners, who appear
highly defensive of their craft even before anyone asks questions
(!) and, with the Mac-bashing of this newsgroup to spur my
interest, watched closely for some years the pattern of use and
sailing of the local Mac26x'ers (all two of them, but numerous
serial owners--a new one each year in one case). Alas for human
frailty--I've found the newsgroup's cruel and harsh view of Macs
to be borne out in local practice.

--
Tim & Flying Tadpole
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