Well I have to say that I have come to like the Macgregor badmouthers for two reasons!
Before I bought one, I researched them and believed all the Mac bashers had to say, I got turned off them for another 6 months. Then later, after I realized that there just aint another boat that fills my families needs, I went back and started picking certain patterns in the badmouthing that made me realize there was more to it than I had been led to believe...
First time I sailed on one, I was astounded to see that they are actually not a bad sailboat!
So I bought one. For a bit, I got annoyed about the way I was suddenly treated in certain forums, and at some of the moronic comments I copped. I defended these boats a few times to people who came onto the mainstream forum I frequent asking about them and got fed crap by people who clearly didnt have a clue. Twice I actually met people who said they had almost bought Macs but were turned off by what they had heard and read on the internet.
Once I pulled into an anchorage and the boat nearest me actually gave me an evil look, hauled in his anchor and moved over to the other side of the anchorage!! Around then it dawned on me. THe Mac bash is actually a great thing!

Here's why:
Firstly, There is no doubt that people who research Macs on the internet and ask about them in yacht clubs, are turned off them and this affects sales. However they still have consistently been the best selling trailer sailer in the world for more than a decade. My local dealer sells more than anywhere else in the world, more even than any US dealer! Imagine if the Mac bashers were not slowing sales a little, there would be zillions of these bloody things about and the value of our boats would drop at the rate the family car depreciates!! So when I used to stick up for them in forums, I was working for Roger, not me!!! THe Mac bashers are our friends. I love them

My wife reckons whenever anyone asks about them in the mainstream forum I frequent, I should pipe up and say, Yes, I own one, and its all true, they are the most horrible boat in the world, dont buy one!
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, Have you noticed something, the guys in the forums who bang on about how horrible our boats are, are just about always the biggest dicks in those forums

They are the guys who you would really not want to waste your time having a beer with in an anchorage no matter what boat you owned. The good thing is, with their rediculously immature minds, they are not likely to come near you in an anchorage if you pull up in a Mac as was evidenced to me in that anchorage - brilliant

So the Mac means I get to relax in some quite anchorage and not have to put up with the dickheads of the world, which is exacly why I like going out there!
