Mac Hate?

[LordElsinore]

Before buying my in 2020, I remember reading a lot about the Macgregor 26 being a polarizing boat because people either love it or hate it. Seems like it was mostly the traditional sailboat owners that tended to dis it either because of the big outboard or because they believed it didn't sail well.

Four years later, I can say that I've never experienced the "Mac Hate" first hand. Everyone I have ever run into at a boat ramp, boat check station, on the lake, at a gas station, or wherever, has had nothing but compliments to offer. "Cool looking boat!" "Wow, nice boat!" I think many people think it cost many times more than it did. Always makes me laugh because I know how expensive their fancy power boats are and how relatively inexpensive my Mac was. A Mac is certainly an unusual site in my area and it turns heads. I'm sure the sight of an or is much more common in coastal areas, so maybe they are less of a head-turner there, I don't know.

Just curious if you folks in other areas get similar reactions, or if people actually are rude or snarky about our unique boats in areas where traditional sailboats are more common.

[Russ]

It may be a coastal thing. The vitriol on SA is well documented. Of course FEW of those so called sailors even own their own boats. Yet they mock the impurity of the Mac 26X/M.
It is true it doesn't sail very well. As a power boat it doesn't perform well. But who cares.
I have zero interest in racing or going fast. I REALLY enjoy having those horses when I need them.

My local experience is similar to yours. "Cool boat". "Nice boat". "The Macgregor is one the best boats". Yea, a guy told me Macgregor is a premium boat manufacturer. All positive and zero negative.

There is one other 26M and two 26Xs in my marina. We have a mix of ultra expensive wake boats ($250k) pontoons and some pure sail boats including a 26S.

The vast majority of Mac owners USE THEIR BOATS and use them often. Compare that to expensive power boats or the others who rarely go out.

The Mac is the perfect boat for me. Without marina travel lift services, my boat is the largest sailboat I can trailer with a standard truck. No other boat can do that.

As for hate...haven't experienced any of that.

[Be Free]

In person, all comments have been universally positive. Onlookers are curious, admiring, and complimentary. Online, the ones I've interacted with fall into a few categories.

Some have owned a Mac and found them too small so they moved up to a bigger boat. Some (not as many) found them too large and moved down to a slightly smaller day sailor. Most had nothing worse to say than, "It just wasn't what I needed." The one's who found them, "just right" are mostly here.

Quite a few I've spoken to sold their Macs in the past for various reasons and are looking to buy another. They are usually nostalgic and sorry they got rid of it.

I've run across a few posters who I'd classify as informed, honest, and negative toward Macs. The gist of their opinion is, "It's not the way I'd build a boat and it's not a boat I'd like to own, but for some reason there are a lot of people who like them." Unfortunately, a lot of them can't just leave it there. They often follow on with unflattering opinions on the Mac owners themselves to try to rationalize why we like the boat. C'est la Vie.

Then come the haters.

I've found that the vitriol of the negative comments and opinions directed toward our boats are inversely related to the experience the poster has with MacGregors. Members of this last group are the one's who have never set foot on a Mac and are proud of the fact. That does not stop them from having very strong and very loud opinions about the boat. Without any experience of their own, they fall back on parroting something they read which anyone who ever sailed or motored on a Mac would know to be utterly false.

To paraphrase our 40th president, "Well, the trouble with [these posters] is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

[kmclemore]

My experience mirrors those stated previously. I will say that literally everyone who has come aboard, whether on the water or on the trailer (i.e. at home or while transporting it) has expressed being truly impressed… by the internal spaciousness, the simplicity, and the amenities. Now, admittedly, my boat’s interior has things that “stock” boats don’t - a refrigerator, powered water, full stereo system, VHF, inboard fuel tank, etc., but not that many more mods than most Macs have. Also, I’ve had comments from fellow boaters like “Wow, I’ve never seen a sailboat be able to motor that fast!” which of course then generates a conversation about the benefits of said speed. Like others, I’ve never had a negative comment from anyone who has encountered my boat.

Online, I’ve seen folks criticize the boat for being poorly made, dangerous and unsafe, and generally a crap boat all around. As noted, most all of these folks are those who have never been aboard one, and certainly never piloted one. They usually point to the very few (2, I think) cases where Macs have capsized and killed folks… but of course they ignore the fact that there are more Mac 26x’s & M’s than any other sailboat ever made, so naturally there will be at least a few idiots who misuse them… and they ignore the fact that there are thousands of instances of boats capsizing and killing folks, and that they are ‘cherry picking’ Mac reports to allegedly prove a point. However, these same folks have never looked at other common and well-respected boat incidents. Try searching for these:

"grady white" boat capsize killed 

"boston whaler" boat capsize killed 

"beneteau" boat capsize killed 

Pop those into your favorite search engine and be ready for a long list.

[LordElsinore]

Makes me grateful that the folks on here are so supportive and knowledgeable. Also makes me grateful that I took the online comments from haters with a huge grain of salt when I was trying to decide to buy my Mac or not. Great boat, great community, no regrets

[Russ]

Fortunately for me, I found THIS website/forum before I bought my boat. I never stepped foot on a Mac before purchasing it.

HERE, I found many happy Mac owners who USE THEIR BOATS in so many great ways. HERE I learned the safety record, how much fun people have on their boats and the many cool mods people have performed.

It was blind faith as I drove 800 miles to pick up a boat I never even stepped foot on, but the wonderful Mac owners on this site convinced me it's the right boat for my needs.

Years later.....I found rudeness towards the Mac on another site not to be mentioned. As I perused their Mac bashing forum, I found a couple of ACTUAL Mac owners defending their boats. And what hit a nerve on all the critics was how Mac owners USE their boats A LOT! Whereas most of those critics don't own boats, crew on races and have no family lives.

As mentioned above, the Mac seems to suffer from criticism from people who have not been on one.
I don't think I've ever heard a Mac owner with regret for their purchase. Some will outgrow the Mac but never regret.

[Starscream]

I think I may have contributed to some MacHate at our club earlier this week, via sheer jealousy. Our marina is almost exclusively sailboats, and we are on the younger side of average despite having been with the club for more than 10 years. They typical boat in our marina either doesn't move, or only goes out for a weekly race just outside the club, and the owners are, let's say, deeply rooted in tradition.

On a windless day there are a number of smaller sailboats from our club, mostly with younger owners, that you may find anchored out on a shallow sandbar in the middle of the lake actually being used for recreation other than club racing, but none of the dock queens or "racers" will be out.

This past Sunday was windless, so I took my family out for some wakeboarding at 20+ MPH back and forth in the lake in full view of the clubhouse full of landlocked "real" sailboat owners. Didn't make ourselves any friends

In this video Son #3 is trying to get the board outside the big wake wave to see if it's possible to ride the wave. Waaaay better than being at the Marina clubhouse talking about how fast my raceboat is.
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In general though, outside my own marina, all we get is positive comments.

[Tsatzsue]

I bought a 1977 V25 17 years ago and it was the best thing I ever, ever bought. Raised my kids as sailors. Night sails to Martha's Vineyard while they were sleeping with life jackets on and many, many adventures. And misadventures!! Everyone was impressed by how fast it was. A couple of years ago a member of our club NETS offered me his 2005 26M for a steal so I went for it. It is not the sailor the other boat was but is so awesome in many, many more ways. It is a camper with a good size motor and the ability to sail pretty good. I love it. Everyone I meet with the boat has nothing but compliments to say. It is a cool looking boat for sure. I love showing her off. Turns heads when I drive right up on the beach or go in super shallow water. I absolutely love it. I do find the mast heavy with the Genny and second halyard mount. The mast raising system is must, albeit a little shaky. A few must do mods need to be done like engine detachment mount and using pins in the spreaders. Dual batteries and a solar converter. I am trying to figure out a dingy outboard mount for my 4hp Evinrude(currently stowed under the v-berth).
Unfortunately I had a respiratory infection last winter that caused me to cough so hard I herniated two discs which checked out my right foot and leg. Looking at another surgery and will be sidelined for the entire season this year. She is polished up and looking mint in my yard. I still climb on and have a couple bears with her and dream about next year. I hope. I am living this season through all of your eyes. Happy Sailing Everyone and keep sharing!!

[LordElsinore]

Sorry to hear that you are laid up Tsatzsue, but glad you are still able to enjoy vicariously and enjoy the boat even when its parked in the yard. Hope you feel better soon

[NiceAft]

I have only experienced it first hand once.

In 2019 we were in Barcelona, Spain. We went on a sunset cruise. The boat was slightly over 30’ (9.7m). I asked the captain if I could take the helm; telling him I own a sailboat and have taken courses. When I told him I owned a MacGregor 26M, he winced, and began to tell me how bad the boat is. With much gusto, I corrected him. He decide to let me take the helm, but stood behind me. He gave me commands, and I did them. I performed them well enough that he went below for a bit; came up and took a nap on the boom.


I sailed that boat for quite awhile with no supervision. One of the other passengers asked where we were going. I told him that since we are heading east, and the captain isn’t giving any instructions, we’re going to Italy.

[LordElsinore]

Ha ha, that's great!

[dustoff]

Ironically, the only real negatives I've ever gotten is from the power boating community folks in MD. Weirdly, the power boat and sailboat communities in the Chesapeake often have antipathy toward each other. Especially the power boaters who fancy themselves watermen, or wannabe watermen. (I.e. recreational boating fishermen). Because it's principally looks like a sailboat, they lump me into what they fell is the bourgie sailboat community. The powerboat chops of the 26M/X don't allow me to be part of their 'clique' This also weirdly tends to imply association certain political affiliations as well.

Whereas the sailboat community at worst considers me some kind of neophyte that hasn't made the emotional transition to a true sailboat and just needs more encouragement to buy a real sailboat.

I don't give it much concern. Having been on a lot of sailboats and powerboats, I personally feel if you have mastered proficiency of sailing and powering on your X/M you are probably better at sailing than many sailboat people, and a better overall powerboat skipper than most of the powerboat people.

Dustoff

[Russ]

In this video Son #3 is trying to get the board outside the big wake wave to see if it's possible to ride the wave. Waaaay better than being at the Marina clubhouse talking about how fast my raceboat is.
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Awesome.

I tried to fix your linky

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[Russ]

I sailed that boat for quite awhile with no supervision. One of the other passengers asked where we were going. I told him that since we are heading east, and the captain isn’t giving any instructions, we’re going to Italy.

[Stickinthemud57]

I think to understand "Mac Hate", one has to question why anyone would want to disparage anything as trivial as one's choice of sailboat. My armchair psychology view is this: Sailors like to think of themselves as rugged individualists and purists. Why else would they choose to spend so much time and money on an outmoded means of transportation? As such, have a notion that there is only one way to sail and one boat to sail - theirs. Apparently there are plenty out there with egos so fragile that they feel they must put others down for their choice of boat. It's the same kind of tribalism that fuels sports rivalries among fans of cars, sports teams, politicians, etc. We are the best, and everyone else is a schlub. Kind of silly and pointless, I think.