Time to have a one off moment of candidness here and just say it,,,,,,,,,,,, before I owned a Mac, I kind of got annoyed by them (although I never bagged them because I knew that one day I may be able to afford one and I’d look silly then
).
You see, where I live, they are probably the most popular trailer sailer on the water and my main (read only) problem with them came when I was puttering along into a tide and headwind under 6hp merc desperately wanting the next 2 hours to be over so I could get back and cut out that screaming little outboard, and all of a sudden a Mac would come screaming past. Some handsome well-dressed suave looking dude sitting comfortably at the helm would raise a hand in a friendly salute and smile as he passed me at two or three times my speed! I’d look at him and a little corner of my brain would whisper in my ear, “look at you standing here with your earplugs in on your 30 year old smelly little boat and look at that James Bond looking character in his flash new boat speeding past. You’re pathetic!! Bet he’s even got a much bigger willy than you!!”
And I would grit my teeth and keep slogging away with the kids crying in the tiny cabin of my Careel 18 and my missus standing in the companionway scrunched over like a hunchback and screaming at me how impossible it is to breastfeed a baby in a rocking sardine tin.
And eventually I’d get to the ramp to see that Mac all packed up in the carpark behind a flash 4x4 and its owner sipping a latte in the café with beautiful young waitresses swooning around him complimenting him on how lovely his boat looked. And I would screw my face up in disgust and think “No way, Iv’ got a REAL sailboat”. And I’d say to that annoying bit of my brain “you’re the fool mate, that lanky wannabe sailer in that space age looking monstrosity that passed us did NOT have a bigger willy!!
Well after a while, my wife refused to come out with me at all, and I wasn’t then at that stage of marriage where that is a plus either…. And my brain would keep whispering in my ear over and over “You’ve got a little willy mate!". After a while II realized that a bigger boat was what I needed but one that I could take a 1000 miles or so away for a 2 week vacation (had to fit on a trailer). And it had to be one that would allow me to ignore wind or tide when I needed to get somewhere fast, and it couldn’t be a sardine tin. There was only one boat that could do it all and I could afford (just). That boat,, is the one that all the big willy handsome suave James Bond types have
.
And the rest is history. So what's the moral of the story, there is none, but I know beyond a doubt that a lot of the Mac negativity ( by boaties in Oz anyway), is based on jealousy and that little willy feeling that we men get when something is coming along that is faster than us! They just hate the big motor! I have seen it on their faces now myself and it is fun
And so, if I see any of the known Mac bashers out on the water, I will make a point of shooting over and giving a friendly wave and doing a few donuts around them before shooting off. I know they will be cursing me and making a big fuss when they get home and on the interweby to their real sailor friends, but I also know that that little part of their little brain will be whispering quietly in their ear “ you know that James Bond looking dude in the flash looking fast modern boat has a much bigger willy than you”
As mumma used to say “Jealousy is a curse”.
All that aside, it is a bit sad that Macs are not recognized for what they are. There abilities as an alround protected water cruising boat can't really be beat. Your American sailboat hall of fame recognized one of his other designs but of course none of those sort of organisations will recognize the amazing success of Macgregors power sailer designs in fear of being ridiculed by other "real" sailors.
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