Laurence:
LC>>We had a Mac 19 in our sailing club, and it's sailing performance
LC>>was so poor, especially upwind, that the unfortunate skipper was often
LC>>several hours later than everyone else in completing a cruise. As of
LC>>last January, that person has upgraded to a Catalina 27, so I guess
LC>>his Mac 19 is going to be sold...Anyway, I fear the Mac 26-X may share
LC>>many of the handicaps that were oh so apparent in the Mac 19.
Well - he's certainly moved up to a nicer boat!.. or perhaps I could
venture as far as saying, he's "played around" on the water long enough
and finally he's decided to GET a boat!
LC>>Now, the regular Mac 26 isn't too shabby under sail, at least
LC>>considering the price.
That's really the bottom line, isn't it?... the price!  Which isn't, by
itself, really all that inexpensive.  $18K or so, for the boat in
Canada, is a fairly steep price to pay for what you're getting - or not
getting.  It's a poor man's (read: fool's) way of getting into a NEW
sailboat; which is a shame that people would want to have, NEED to have,
a NEW boat when for the same price and a little time committment they
could get a used boat that would be so much better.
LC>>to keep up with the Chrysler 26's and Catalina 25's, of which our
LC>>club has several of each.
Catalina 25's are quite nice - but I can't imagine the idea of trying
to compare it to a Chrysler... they were DOGS when they first came out
and ugly dogs at that!  Ever wonder why they were only made for a few
years?
LC>>Nothing worse than trying to make a graceful entry to a marina berth
LC>>in a hard crosswind with a high-freeboard boat and a puny 5 hp motor!
You can always put in a slightly larger motor... thing is, of course,
you can't USE all that power when you're maneuvering in tigh areas...
well, you can - but it scares the hell out of the other boaters who are
SURE you're gonna stop by plowing into their transom!
 * OLX 2.1 TD * It's only a hobby ... only a hobby ... only a
 * S2S Toronto, Ontario  (416) 975-1547
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