"jim 0010" wrote in message
...
Frogwatch wrote:
On Jun 15, 4:48 pm, HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
On Jun 15, 3:54 pm, Vic Smith wrote:
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:40:20 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:
Took the Tolman out yesterday. Went far up the Ocklocknee River from
Ocklocknee River State park to where it looked like the river scenes
from Apocalypse Now. Side channels all over, swampy, muggy as hell
and gators everywhere. Stopped at an isolated landing way up there
and looked around.
Later, my wife remarked that although ti had been fun, she was bored
when I drove the boat for a long time and she did not like driving
it. She thinks she does a lot when we go sailing, in reality, she is
mostly an encumbrance when we sail but she thinks she helps.
This got me thinking about the two forms of boating and realized they
have entirely different motives. Sailing is ussually about the act
of
boating, ie the actual sailing whereas powerboating is mostly about
using the boat to go places. We go sailing for a day without going
anywhere, just back and forth across Apalachee Bay or just
out-as-far-
as-we-can-go. We always use the powerboat to go someplace cool (ok,
in this case really hot).
If I had to choose one over the other, I do not know which it would
be.
What you've said is probably a good reason the Mac 26 is so popular.
--Vic
I believe that boats like the Mac 26 are the future of sailboat
sales. When you consider the cost of keeping a boat in a slip, few
young couples can afford it. The Mac26 makes having a reasonable
sized boat affordable.
I will also argue that if used as intended, the Mac26 is probably
safer than most other sailboats because she can quickly get back to
port when it gets nasty out there. Her trailerability makes her far
more useful than most heavy boats.
Unfortunately, Macgregor has reputation for poor quality due to their
old line of Venture boats. I do not know how their reputation for
quality is right now.
A decently built sailboat of that size and style sells for twice as much
as the Mac, and I'm not talking top-drawer, either - just ordinary
construction, like, say, a 27' Hunter.

--
The modern GOP is little more than an army of moral absolutists led by a
gang of moral nihilists.

I was never impressed by Hunters. I'd like to see a truly
dispassionate evaluation of the Mac26 quality but mention them on any
sailing site and you instantly get flamed.

Hunters are nice light air sailors. But they will test your metal in
anything over 20 kts. I set out to buy a venture 23 but ended up with a
Hunter 25 instead. That was my last sailboat before I switched to power
and I never looked back.

From the models I've been on (22, 27, 36) I think Hunter is the best
moderately priced manufacturer for interior layouts (great use of space) and
are great for in and near shore. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to take a 27
to the Bahamas unless the weather was crap and who'd want to go then anyway?

mmc wrote:
"jim 0010" wrote in message
...
Frogwatch wrote:
On Jun 15, 4:48 pm, HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
On Jun 15, 3:54 pm, Vic Smith wrote:
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:40:20 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:
Took the Tolman out yesterday. Went far up the Ocklocknee River from
Ocklocknee River State park to where it looked like the river scenes
from Apocalypse Now. Side channels all over, swampy, muggy as hell
and gators everywhere. Stopped at an isolated landing way up there
and looked around.
Later, my wife remarked that although ti had been fun, she was bored
when I drove the boat for a long time and she did not like driving
it. She thinks she does a lot when we go sailing, in reality, she is
mostly an encumbrance when we sail but she thinks she helps.
This got me thinking about the two forms of boating and realized they
have entirely different motives. Sailing is ussually about the act
of
boating, ie the actual sailing whereas powerboating is mostly about
using the boat to go places. We go sailing for a day without going
anywhere, just back and forth across Apalachee Bay or just
out-as-far-
as-we-can-go. We always use the powerboat to go someplace cool (ok,
in this case really hot).
If I had to choose one over the other, I do not know which it would
be.
What you've said is probably a good reason the Mac 26 is so popular.
--Vic
I believe that boats like the Mac 26 are the future of sailboat
sales. When you consider the cost of keeping a boat in a slip, few
young couples can afford it. The Mac26 makes having a reasonable
sized boat affordable.
I will also argue that if used as intended, the Mac26 is probably
safer than most other sailboats because she can quickly get back to
port when it gets nasty out there. Her trailerability makes her far
more useful than most heavy boats.
Unfortunately, Macgregor has reputation for poor quality due to their
old line of Venture boats. I do not know how their reputation for
quality is right now.
A decently built sailboat of that size and style sells for twice as much
as the Mac, and I'm not talking top-drawer, either - just ordinary
construction, like, say, a 27' Hunter.

--
The modern GOP is little more than an army of moral absolutists led by a
gang of moral nihilists.
I was never impressed by Hunters. I'd like to see a truly
dispassionate evaluation of the Mac26 quality but mention them on any
sailing site and you instantly get flamed.
Hunters are nice light air sailors. But they will test your metal in
anything over 20 kts. I set out to buy a venture 23 but ended up with a
Hunter 25 instead. That was my last sailboat before I switched to power
and I never looked back.

From the models I've been on (22, 27, 36) I think Hunter is the best
moderately priced manufacturer for interior layouts (great use of space) and
are great for in and near shore. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to take a 27
to the Bahamas unless the weather was crap and who'd want to go then anyway?


The 27 is a different boat. My experience was with a 25 which is much
smaller and lighter. I believe it's taller too. I've had some pretty
interesting sails with it mostly due to my own inexperience and stupidity.