Association Forum - Pro-Mac, Anti-Cat?

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Pro-Mac, Anti-Cat?

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
1234 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/16/2003 : 11:42:42

I was in Cocoa Beach, Fla a few days ago and I entered a bait & tackle shop there near Grills Restaurant. The guy behind the counter was talking to a customer, who evidently was considering the purchase of a MacGregor 22. The counter guy was saying he really likes MacGregors, because the swing keel is a really good design, and the hulls are so good. He said he hates Catalina's because of their hulls. <img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle>

I don't think I've ever heard someone slam a Catalina in favor of a Mac.

Just thought it was a bit of a head-scratcher...

Ben
Adventurous
#5553
C25 SR/SK
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce27b3127cce8fc3c58ee15b0000001010" border=0>

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 12:51:03

The very fact that garbage exists and is sold proves that some people have a, shall we say, different way of perceiving value, ie the trade off between price and product.

If you want more of the same experience you just had, park your gluteus maximus in the checkout area of a discount house of worship, like a Walmart, on a Saturday afternoon and observe.....<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Oscar
250WB#618 Lady Kay on the Chesapeake
<img src="http://www.woodenshoemusic.com/Images/familypics/Forumshots/Glitter2.JPG" border=0>

Edited by - Oscar on 10/16/2003 12:51:39

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 13:27:45

One of the members of our club is farily well know in the Central Valley of California (Not Arnold please) and somewhat in the bay area and Monterey as a top knotch racer. He has a hobbie 33 he races as well as interest in an Express 27. His big joy is buying fixing up for racing and selling Mac's, older ones not the new garbage. He puts a Kmart boat logo on some of them. He likes them because they are light, have a good rating and are fast. When I bought my boat he tried to get me to get a Mac, I resisted in favor of a more comfortable ride, as well as being a boat my wife would go in. I would still rather have my catalina over any mac, but I can see the point of those that like them, the older ones that is.

Matt/Brigitte Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cf25b3127cce91e544e83b8c0000001010" border=0>

Edited by - on

pwhallon
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
694 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 13:46:48

Hi gang,

Remember the picture of the Catalina 27 on the rocks that was towed off with only scratches.

I wonder how a Mac and its great hull would have handled that crash.

PW

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 14:57:48

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>the older ones that is. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

The older boats weren't all bad. The new "thing" takes the (wedding) cake though....

Oscar
250WB#618 Lady Kay on the Chesapeake
<img src="http://www.woodenshoemusic.com/Images/familypics/Forumshots/Glitter2.JPG" border=0>

Edited by - on

RichardG
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 15:13:22

Hit it!!!!

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3db33b3127cce8856c44e63c80000001610" border=0>

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce26b3127cce8ff91ad9f9d90000001010" border=0>

RichardG 81 C25 SR/FK "Sanity"

Edited by - on

osmepneo
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
1420 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 15:47:35

Some people like swing keels and some like wing keels. Some like Micky D's and others like the Outback. Some like Mac's (mmmmm hadn't thought of the relationship with Micky D's and Mac's) and some like Catalinas. All that makes the world go round.

I have a friend who had a Mac 22 swing and it failed in a hurricane that went up the Hudson. Started my dislike of swingers. Any one who wants his impression of Mac's, well I suspect he'd share.

Don Peet
c25, 1665, osmepneo, sr/wk

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce31b3127cce8f8c0cbf1bca0000001010 " border=0>
The Great Sacandaga Lake, NY
On the hard

Edited by - on

ppetracca
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
163 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 17:08:33

Funny how opinions can change, though. The only full-time sailboat dealer in New Mexico was a Catalina dealer for years. A few years back, he dropped Catalina and went to selling MacGregor's. The result, those are the two main types of boats found in the state. Luckily for me, one of his Catalina customers traded his '22 5 years back for a 26X. I bought the Catalina '22, learned to sail and have not regretted one minute of it. I routinely race against Mac's in my "new" tall-rig '25 and have them to thank for the tropies on my shelf! MacGregor's have their use.

<img src="http://hometown.aol.com/ppetracca/images/famreduced.jpg" border=0>

Patrick Petracca
"Yankee Spirit"
#4795 fk/tr
Albuquerque, NM

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 17:15:48

We had a guy named Gharlie with an old venture that would correct over anything he raced against. Those old hulls were fast.

<img src="http://members.cox.net/fhopper/Catalina25/sigbow.jpg" border=0>Frank and Martha in Wichita KS. Lake Cheney

Edited by - on

ppetracca
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
163 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 17:33:07

Sometimes they do correct over, but you never see one take home a first to finish trophy...The new ones have their points too, two old guys from our club just circumnavigated Vancouver Island in their Mac 26x's. Without their 50 hp's I don't think the currents would have been manageable from what they told about whirlpools and other conditions. (By the way, before I offend anyone - "Old Guys" are anyone 5 years older than me - 37. "Youngsters" are anyone 5 years younger than me!)

<img src="http://hometown.aol.com/ppetracca/images/famreduced.jpg" border=0>

Patrick Petracca
"Yankee Spirit"
#4795 fk/tr
Albuquerque, NM

Edited by - on

osmepneo
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
1420 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 18:51:46

Gee Patrick, I wasn't offended by your referance to "old guys", because at 60 I'm not an "old guy". Guys 10 years older then me, now that's different! <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

Don Peet
c25, 1665, osmepneo, sr/wk

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce31b3127cce8f8c0cbf1bca0000001010 " border=0>
The Great Sacandaga Lake, NY
On the hard

Edited by - on

ppetracca
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
163 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 19:06:40

Amen...perspective is everything.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

<img src="http://hometown.aol.com/ppetracca/images/famreduced.jpg" border=0>

Patrick Petracca
"Yankee Spirit"
#4795 fk/tr
Albuquerque, NM

Edited by - on

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 19:19:11

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
They are light and pretty fast and do provide a lot of enjoyment for the buck. They are easy to trailer and launch.
Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

My first sailboat was an '84 Mac 25 (swing keel), bought in 1987 for only $5000, including the trailer and a Mariner 8 outboard. At the time, a 3 year old Catalina 25 would have cost at least $12000, so the Mac let me get started in sailing for a relatively small investment. As Arlyn says in the quote, Mac 25's and 26's are easy to trailer, rig, and launch. The sailing performance of the older 25 swingers, and the 26C, while not blazingly fast, was reasonably good. Being a fractional rig cuts down on the potential maximum sail area compared to a masthead rig like the Catalinas, but I suppose the owner could move the headstay tang to the masthead easily enough if desired, for just the cost of a new headstay. The newest version of this boat, the 26-X, has a very hard chine and wide, flat bottom, to allow it to plane under power, and from what I have heard, this causes it to suffer in upwind sailing performance. The older Macs, the 25SK and 26C, can sail rings around the 26-X. One other plus for all the MacGregors is that they sit nice and low on the trailer, a lot like the Catalina 22, making them a lot easier to rig and do cleaning and maintenance compared to the Catalina 25, where you have to do everything standing on an 8' step ladder.

Larry Charlot
Catalina 25WK/TR Mk. IV #5857 "Quiet Time"
Folsom Lake, CA

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 20:28:08

Last winter when I was doing my shakedown cruise in the Keys of my new/old 89 Catalina 25 I had one of my longtime whitewater kayaking friends with me. He didn't know squat about sailing, but is a very bright person. After sailing a few days on my boat we met some folks in a marina with a Macgregor 26. After we were checking out their boat his statement was "That boat is the Coleman canoe of sailing"

A very astute observation
Anybody who is into whitewater sports know what a POS Coleman canoes are.

Frank Gloss
89WK/TR

Edited by - on

oldsalt
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 20:33:34

Damn those things are fast; and under bare poles!!! I can only imagine what they'd do if they raised their sails.

Mark, Silver Girl '83 fin keel tall rig # 3744

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2003 : 21:52:59

They are light and pretty fast and do provide a lot of enjoyment for the buck. They are easy to trailer and launch.

It should be remembered that the rigging needs of a sailboat are dependent on the load that they will sustain. A light tender boat doesn't need heavy duty stays. The 26C seems to be a very well thought of boat, and it seems for good reason. It will provide good performance and adequate cruising comfort for trailer cruising.

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
<img src="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/rr4.jpg" border=0>
N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.stewartfam.net/arlyn/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruising Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.