MacGregorSailors.com

Well, for a start, here are some statistics about Australian Membership:
As at today, there were:
4,347 Members on the site;
1,307 Locations are blank (including some from Oz who have added to this thread);
52 Locations have recorded "Australia" somewhere; and
5 Have recorded "Oz"; "AU"; or the name of the city only (there might be more of these).

All up, a grand total of 57 Aussies (1.3% of all members, 1.8% of given locations) of whom:
14 are in New South Wales;
14 are in Queensland;
10 are in Victoria;
6 are in Western Australia;
1 is in South Australia;
1 is in the Australian Capital Territory; and
11 are in unstated parts of Australia

37 have made at least one post to the site (1,951 posts in total out of more than 111,000 posts) and 20 have yet to make a posting.

I'm a bit reluctant to ask for details beyond those that Members have already included in their profile's "Location" (privacy issues), but if anyone is willing to PM me the details Mistral suggested, I can add those in to the list if you wish.

What I DO suggest is that anyone who hasn't already done so, checks that their city, State, "Australia", boat's name, type of boat (X, M) and type of motor they have are included in the "Location" area of their profile.

Fantastic work Oskar, you did well to get that and will ring Phil tomorrow to see if he can help to locate some he has sold to.
There will be plenty more than that around but when the profile only lists an alias and no location it makes it a bit hard.
There are quite a few Macs on Trailersailerplace.com that might be worth a try.

Just to start the ball rolling, I'm suggesting that those who are from the Victorian part of the world get together on the long weekend coming up in June.
Further, that as many as can make it, meet up on Saturday arvo/evening at St Helen's Marina in Nth Geelong and stay the night at the public berths, go for a sail on the Sunday together and possibly stay over again on the Sunday night. This would give us a start and a place to get together and just chat about all things Macgregor. Cost would be $4.00 for launching the boat, and the rest is up to you.

How about it?

Thanks Boblee and thanks brianhar

Its a pity the site doesn't offer a search facility on location. (Well maybe it does but maybe I haven't been able to figure it out Perhaps it will be part of Heath's upgrade.

Thanks also to those who have provided the extra details Mistral suggested. Some detailsI will be able to sort out by dissecting what is shown on individual profiles (that might take a while), but I obviously wont be able to sort out any additional information.

So what do we do with the information? I guess (for example) I could provide brianhar with a list of the registered Victorian Members if it was requested via a PM (since that information is available from the site anyway). But I would be reluctant to provide any more general information (and none of the 'extra' information suggested by Mistral and provided by some other members) such as names, pvt email addresses etc.

So, in any event, anything that is not posted on this site's Member's profile will only be released to other Members of this site, and then only with the permission of the Member concerned. This could get a bit cumbersome but it seems to strike a balance between privacy and Mac fellowship.

Thanks Boblee and thanks brianhar

Its a pity the site doesn't offer a search facility on location. (Well maybe it does but maybe I haven't been able to figure it out Perhaps it will be part of Heath's upgrade.

Thanks also to those who have provided the extra details Mistral suggested. Some detailsI will be able to sort out by dissecting what is shown on individual profiles (that might take a while), but I obviously wont be able to sort out any additional information.

So what do we do with the information? I guess (for example) I could provide brianhar with a list of the registered Victorian Members if it was requested via a PM (since that information is available from the site anyway). But I would be reluctant to provide any more general information (and none of the 'extra' information suggested by Mistral and provided by some other members) such as names, pvt email addresses etc.

So, in any event, anything that is not posted on this site's Member's profile will only be released to other Members of this site, and then only with the permission of the Member concerned. This could get a bit cumbersome but it seems to strike a balance between privacy and Mac fellowship.

Excellent work Oskar.
Really appreciate the effort put in sofar. Must have taken quite a while to gather the data.
It will be great if an get together can be organised at some stage.

Oskar
Would love to be down in St Helens but doubt we can make it as we will be in the midst of last minute preparations, there is always the possibility though that I may need to do a water trial prior to heading off on 7 July BRRRRR.
When is the long weekend? our calender doesn't show it.
I think the only way you can get info on Oz members here is by identifying them and sending a PM, also if the board is willing to start up a separate thread or even section to bring it to oz members attention on a permanent basis.
However it pans out I personally believe this site should remain the focal point for most activity and notices etc as this is the Mac owners hub of the world with so much knowledge centred here both for Macs and motor sailing in general, providing of course Heath has no objections.
We just need to promote our style of trailering in OZ in a more formalized way, I believe so that we all get the most benefit out of it in our unique country.
There are sites like the trailersailerplace.com which are great sites and have fantastic members representing all types of boats and do have a lot of Macs but as with any other site there is always going to be some who will resent the Macs superiority sorry that was supposed to be versatility.
Besides by being part of this board there is the huge benefit of our world cousins giving constructive criticism, help and hopefully coming up here to enjoy our unique part of the world one day in a Mac of course.
Most of the other trailer sailers seem to have a representative group for their specific boat and as before I am dumbfounded that Macs don't yet.
LETS DO IT.

Boblee,

I agree with you that we stay with this forum, as we get a wealth of information from here and it would be nice to have an OZ section. Although I do not think that Heath might be agreeing to this as every other country will want one too.

We also need to be careful as well if we would want to form an actual organisation, as we get into a legal minefield with regulations and insurances.
I feel it should be run as the trailersailerplace and just as group that have an interest in the MAC boats.

Dirk

!	Frank C:
	Heath's very busy with other issues right now, but this OZ thread is evident to him. Don't be concerned about what Heath might, or might not, agree to. Let's wait and see what the new software brings ... prolly something for everyone~!

Boblee,
my apologies for not putting the date down. The Saturday is the 07 Jun, with the Vic holiday being the 09 Jun. Would be a good excuse to get your boat wet. I'd also love to see your spinnaker setup too!

In regards to forming an organisation/association, I can pilfer a number of different associations rules/constitutions and modify them to suit the Macgregor boat. Would need extensive work to work out a means to have a e-committee as distance will not allow us to have physical meetings. But it could be done.

I am very keen to help get us organised and have a lot of ideas to help this along if other people are interested.

Probably not completely neccessary to have a formalised organisation except perhaps for racing? and probably better for the time being to draw as many owners and their comments prior.
Mistral perhaps an area on the site for local news here and other places around the world would be a good idea.

I agree with Boblee. In the beginning we should get as many OZ owners listed with their comments. If at a later stage it is decided to form an organisation than that is fine.

I am quite happy for my details to be circulated amongst the people that have shown an interest in forming the OZ group.

We haven't even looked at the long weekend in Victoria yet and will have to discuss this with the admiral. With a bit of luck I might get out this Sunday, but the kids are coming around and one of them has little interest.

I do like the idea of a dedicated section and hopefully it will happen.

Dirk

I agree with Boblee and Mistral that it would be better to stay within this forum than to set up a new organization. That would be a lot of work and difficult to manage with such a small number of widely dispersed members.

I'm also mindful of Frank C' s comment above about the new software Heath is working on so lets wait and see what opportunities that brings.

Meanwhile I'll keep an eye on the Member List and add new Aussie recruits to the list I've got. Capn Vinnie from Melbourne is the latest

Oskar

Join http://www.trailersailerplace.com.au/forum/ and we will just take it over, they love Mac.s there

Jack Sparrow

Good one, JS.

Oskar joined up yesterday, so we can start the take over bit now. We would certainly outnumber the Castle owners.

I know it's all good natured fun mostly but occasionally I wonder with a couple of them
It is certainly a good site but just feel a bit uncomfortable about bringing up macs there.