On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:58:22 -0500, Jim Cate wrote:



felton wrote:



I'm not sure who originated this, but it strikes a chord of
truthfulness with me. In fairness to Jim, though, if my dominant
criteria for selecting a boat were the ability to motor swiftly in
water less than 2' deep, well...I guess I would be depressed, but I
still wouldn't pick a Mac. He should have just gone ahead and bought
a pontoon motor boat with a grill on the back.


You have it bass-ass backwards. The Mac 26M has the ability to quickly
motor out to the best sailing waters. The motor is a means of getting
better sailing in an afternoon,or a weekend, rather than a week.

Jim

You are obviously unconcerned with the poor sailing characteristics,
the "build quality" and the aesthetics of the boat. You seem
entranced by the "advantages" of the Mac 26MX, as you perceive them.
Suffice it to say that the vast majority of sailors, as evidenced by
this newsgroup, don't share your priorities. A sailor would rather
sail than motor. There is nothing quite like sailing a well tuned
boat to weather with the helm balanced and the sails well trimmed.
That is something that can't be experienced on a Mac 26MX. If you are
in a hurry to get somewhere, then sailing is probably a poor choice of
transportation. If you want to "sail", then a Mac 26MX is a poor
choice of a boat.

Don't get your feelings hurt. People around here just don't share
your views. The same would probably be true if someone dropped in
extolling the advantages of Cigarette boats or jetskis. By and large
this is a group of sailors who appreciate sailing. Unfortunately for
you, the Mac 26M(X) is pretty much universally agreed upon as being
the low water mark in the sailboat world. I think there might be a
few Lancers and Buccaneers that would compete for the title but they
mercifully went out of business, leaving few current alternatives for
the naive and uninformed.