Bad Mouthing the MacGregor

[arknoah]

According to my wife we own one because it is BLUE.

That's as good a reason as any

[arknoah]

Owning a Mac at a marina is Childs play compared to spending Sturgis Bike Week on a Gold Wing! Try that sometime!

That actually sounds dangerous. I'm glad you survived it, Gary.

[DaveB]

What, don't you like haveing all them Harley bikers giving you the frown?
I do know what you mean and My Yamaha VStar is still running strong after 11 years with just maintanance.
Just Like my MacX!
Dave

[quote="GaryMayo"]Owning a Mac at a marina is Childs play compared to spending Sturgis Bike Week on a Gold Wing! Try that sometime!

[seahouse]

You know, I'm getting very tired of ad-infinitum threads on this forum where folks are somehow challenged justify their purchase of a Mac.

I own my boat because I want to. Deal with it.

I’m with you on this Kevin.

All this chatter risks the possibility of giving some credence to the "Mac bashers", and could make it appear as if they matter. I’ve got the best boat for me at any price. Period.

If someone is so concerned with what other people have, then that’s their problem, not mine.

-Brian.

BTW - Mine’s blue, and I’m not.

[bartmac]

In Australia there's a snob factor.....in cars motorbikes boats etc etc...involves the measurement of one's appendage....and word is the bigger your car,boat,motorbike etc the bigger one's .......So you'll always get the knockers who most likley haven't got a big boat motorbike car etc but have spent too much time playing with thier appendage....all talk

[Barnacle Jim]

Ahoy,

Perhaps in Scotland, as one lad commented, the MacGregor boats are not disparaged, but rather admired. I can understand that. After all, MacGregor is a Scottish name. And for the most part, the MacGregor owners are pleased with their fine boats and for the most part, discount any unsavory comments as we might a passing squall. This, too, shall pass. Yet, there are some, like myself, who had never heard of the MacGregor, or had never seen one. Indeed, my first encounter with the MacGregor design was in a book by Larry Brown, Frugal Yachting: Family Adventuring in Small Sailboats. I remember thinking as I looked at a photo: far too ultra-modern for my taste, but the cabin interior is remarkable!

At the time, I was working on building a Friendship Sloop, at least, a replica of that sloop. I was into gaff rigs, making many a gaff myself as I built her. No, I had never seen a Friendship Sloop, but I did order some plans from a maritime museum. Not that I could actually read the plans, you understand, but I did have a general idea on what the boat should look like. I remember setting the sheer of the deck by stretching a line, standing back some 30 feet and squinting. When the line looked good, the design was good. Later, a professional boat builder in Florida contacted me and made a number of suggestions on what I should do. You might say he took pity on a man-overboard. I had never built a boat before, and knew even less about sailing. Somehow, though, I wanted to do both. Working on the boat kept me off the streets at night, so Miss Pat kind of liked the idea. She was not so sure about sailing, though, at least, in waters that in any way might be connected to an ocean. Along the way, I even had two skilled sailors tell me how inadequate a wooden boat is when compared to a fiberglass hull. I listened courteously, but went on building my dream. At the time, I was into wooden boats, not fiberglass. I wanted to help preserve a tradition.

Later, I thought about the MacGregor picture and began an Internet search. You can understand my disappointment when I read some of the disparaging remarks written by unhappy sailors who promoted their own boats as the best of all possible boats. I knew that was not the case and what they were saying was an exaggerated reflection of someone's own discontent. Given that the MacGregor had a v-hull, their unhappy comments were unfair, and to my way of thinking, a bit misinformed. I remember thinking that if you know less about boat design than I do, we're both sunk. Why I am listening to you cry in your beer when I could buy a MacGregor with a relatively low maintenance hull, a spacious interior, and sail the Florida Keys, listening to Jimmy Buffett? Fair winds to your unfair comments!

So, that's how my own journey began and some of the reasons why the MacGregor look and performance took its hold on my dreams. Along the way, even Miss Pat began to appreciate the idea of sailing in a MacGregor. Granted, she is Scottish descent. At least, that is what she claims, and even told people that the last time we were in Scotland. She likes the boat, and its versatility. And honestly, I do, too.

Here are three photos, tracing how I came to feel as I do. The first photo is of a Friendship Sloop, a little larger than the one I was trying to build before a health problem set in, but the lines and proportions are the same. I still like the look of a gaff rig. Originally, these boats were work-boats. That's why the large cockpit. Who knows? Maybe the MacGregor people might look at the Friendship Sloop and even offer a fiberglass reproduction in a v-hull. MacGregor has done something like that before. Look at the second photo. That is an early MacGregor boat!



This photo is that of a MacGregor Ventura of Newport. The Ventura would sail out to a ship, pick up important cargo and important passengers, allowing the ship itself the needed hours to dock and unload. The MacGregor version, though, even has an enclosed head and berths! I told Miss Pat that I might eventually buy a Ventura of Newport and make the inside look like something out of the 1800's. I would enjoy doing that. I really would. In the meantime, what a beautiful boat!



This last photo illustrates a marked change in MacGregor design. In the background is one of the MacGregor designs from the '70's. Several people on this site own and sail such boats. Indeed, I suspect that of all the boats MacGregor has built, the MacGregor 26C is the fastest under sail. Look at the two hulls, especially the freeboard. The boat in the foreground is a prototype of what later would become the MacGregorX, and eventually the MacGregor 26M. No, the boat in the bacground is not a MacGregor 26C, but I am talking about hull design.



What does all this mean anyway? MacGregor knows how to design and build a boat. In fact, I would venture to say that any boat from MacGregor would be a good boat, one you can sail and have a lot of fun with, one on which you can create a lot of memories with friends and family. What is there not to like? Those critics who bad mouth the MacGregor may have sailed a number of boats. I doubt that they have themselves ever built a boat. If someone does not like the MacGregor, that's OK, but I'm not in that category. So, if you're like I am, thinking about the MacGregor, allow me to say, "Forget about the nay-sayers; these are good boats. Don't worry, be happy."

[Mac26Mpaul]

Here here, but I reckon I am with Kevin and Brian etc. Why are we even wasting our time with this thread. These kind of threads are for the would be sailers and small minded tossers found at sailing anarchy and similar sites...
I vote, Delete this thread Lets get back to talking about the sailing, mods, fixes, cruises and fun times that we have with our boats...

[Ixneigh]

That's the nicest looking Newport I've ever seen. Shows what a little paint can do.

Ixniegh

[kleinhhl]

Great post, Barnacle Jim. Although I recently sold my MacGregor 26X to a guy up in Calgary, I thoroughly enjoyed owning "Baja Riha" from the start. I first heard of MacGregor sailboats in an issue of SAIL Magazine (which is not necessarily "friendly" to these boats) and had the opportunity to tour the MacGregor factory when I picked up my 2000 26X from a broker in Newport Beach, CA.

These are great boats, made well and very safe when used as they were intended.

By the way, there are still plenty of original and replicated Friendship Sloops on the water. There is even a Friendship Sloop Society dedicated to preserving these beautiful boats. A lot of them are out of Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusets but especially up in the Rockland, Camden, Thomaston area of "Down East" Maine.

-Hugo
Mac-less for now...

[Tom Root]

People can Bad Mouth my Mac all they want. We who own it, know something that others must learn. People usually only move when there situation changes, and most miss their Mac when it's gone!

I have owned 3 Macs in my life, and if I move up, I'd hope I'd get a Mac 65'. I think anything Roger had to do with in his production is a great choice, from many perpectives. First and foremost is price point, which Mac's excell. My whole life is not revolving around my sailboat, it is a vessel which gives me joy, and Mac's serve that purpose extremely well!

Thanks to Roger, my life was enriched!

[Mac26Mpaul]

Just wait to you step up to a white M then

[zoneboy]

This photo is that of a MacGregor Ventura of Newport. The Ventura would sail out to a ship, pick up important cargo and important passengers, allowing the ship itself the needed hours to dock and unload. The MacGregor version, though, even has an enclosed head and berths! I told Miss Pat that I might eventually buy a Ventura of Newport and make the inside look like something out of the 1800's. I would enjoy doing that. I really would. In the meantime, what a beautiful boat!

Damn, now that is one fine looking sailing vessel I was thinking of a green hull for my vn23, perhaps in a few years with a little more work I can transform my old beat up sailboat to look as elegant as this one. As far as all of the naysayers of Macgregors, oh well, everyone has an opinion.

[GaryMayo]

As a moderator, that seems like a problem, People are not here to bash Macs, but to encourage each other, that is how I see this forum. This is not a half empty cup thread, it is a cup mostly full, capable of a little healing in the wind. lol

I love Macs. I would own a couple of them right now had it not been for two football Saturdays, and a guy falling off his horse.

Once a presents itself at a good price, I am back in again.

You know, I'm getting very tired of ad-infinitum threads on this forum where folks are somehow challenged justify their purchase of a Mac.

I own my boat because I want to. Deal with it.

[GaryMayo]

I am 6'7" tall, and I have a look that melts steel if I need it. My last fight was, er, a,,, Come to think of it, I have never been in a fight. The Sturgis crowd just lets me pass by.

VStar's are great bikes!

What, don't you like having all them Harley bikers giving you the frown?
I do know what you mean and My Yamaha VStar is still running strong after 11 years with just maintanance.
Just Like my MacX!
Dave

Owning a Mac at a marina is Childs play compared to spending Sturgis Bike Week on a Gold Wing! Try that sometime!

[Catigale]

Just wait to you step up to a white M then

That's step BACK to an , Shirley......