Well, I'll come out of the closet. I've sailed a Venture (original Macgregger hull) and a Mac 26x but not the 26M (or as I affectionately call it the 26sux) I've also sailed a C&C 24,27,29 and 30, a henderson 30, an ultimate 20, viper and I-14...probably a few others.
I'll say that you can sail a Mac 26 to weather, most of the bad press it gets is because the overly fanatical owners of Mac's aren't that great at sailing. I wouldn't call it a great windward boat, but it is capable of pointing better than a bayfield. The reality is it really wasn't designed for that anyways...that's why they put that big honking engine on the back to get to weather and then gentlemanly sail off the wind back. I think the original design of the non-venture based hulls was for windward/leeward lakes, so you could power up there and then enjoy a nice sail back. The biggest drawback of the Mac is that it is very lightly built. I watched a repair of one in Ottawa (NSC has over 50 of them) which had a small hole in the starboard hull. By the time the repair company was finished grinding they had a hole about 15 feet long as they couldn't find enough material to adhere a patch to. I believe the 26M has a break away keel, in case you come up against something hard it won't damage the hull. All of the fittings on the boat in my mind seem way undersized. The 26M has the powerboat wheel, the 26x I sailed had the tiller. The wheel would limit the ability to get to a spot where you could sail and actually see the sail trim. All that being said, if you were in a lake like Ottawa typical wind would be straight down the narrow "lake" and you wanted a fairly roomy boat where you could power up to the anchorages at the head of the lake and then sail back the next day, it might be a good choice for you. If you want to race or sail to windward and occasionally be caught out in water where you can't walk home, I'd choose something different. Food for thought.... For the record, a friend of mine has a Warram 28 cat and powers to windward in Ottawa and then sails back, something he borrowed from the Mac fleet...Cat's of course do not tack well and if you got to do a bunch of them...slam on the 30hp. Cheers, Jeff Nelson Muir Caileag C&C 30 Armdale
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