"JimC" wrote
| Do you have any statistics or evidence to support your claim that the
| Macs are built "flimsy", Ellen? - Or are you just going to say that you
| don't have to provide any evidence because "Everybody knows....." Or
| that you don't have any evidence of multiple Mac failures, but you
| would just feel more comforatable if they were built heavier and had
| standing rigging like a 40-ft Valiant, ODay, Tartan, etc. The facts are
| that the Macs are light boats, and, accordingly, their rigging is light.
| Obviously, it's not the same as rigging needed for a larger, heavier
| boat. Also, the Macs are not sold as boats suitable for blue water
| crossings.


All you have to do is Google it. You'll find lots of things that say flimsy! Here's one:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...79239908e0a744

"Actually two different things were failing simultaneously. The cheap
steering helm "warped". This would appear to be due to the fact that
it is designed for small power boats, and is NOT designed to handle
the stress of feedback from rudders. This did not, of course, happen
instantly, but when it finally died it did it big time. This problem
can be remedied by replacing the stock helm with a good steel one,
available from a number of marine supply houses. You have to replace
both the helm and the cable. The mechanic who did the installation
for me could not believe that Macgregor had used such inadequate
hardware. The second problem related to having non-stainless mounting
hardware that corroded. A side item that we discovered later is that
one of the rudder brackets was cracking. There are numerous other
problems relating to the whole arrangement, including an inabliltiy to
get an adequate range of motion from the engine. The system needs a
complete redesign. "

There are lots more discussions. Lot's of stuff is built flimsy and breaks on MacGregor 26 sailboat.
Everybody knows about it. Here's the Google search from news groups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Ma...roups&ct=title
Not very safe when so many things wear out or break. Safety should come
first out on the water. You can drown just as easy near the shore as off shore. Duh!

Cheers,
Ellen