mac or slug - which is uglier

[dylanwinter]

here are two different - less than classically pretty boats


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smlP6iXnk2s

or this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ2tGhtDwvg


mac or slug -

Dylan





PS I would switch the engine off for the bits where I filmed the birds or the seals or the sunsets or the beautiful wooden boats

 

[fireball]

stick with the slug - you know you love her really ...

KTL is about you AND the slug.... not some other vessel ... or some other presenter.

 

[Captain Haddock]

*splutter*.... A Mac 26?!!!!

My god no! I had a look around one of these years ago and I consider them to be an affront to the sea. The sea was looking lumpy in that video, why? Because the gods themselves knew how vile a vessel the Mac26 is and wanted to smite if from the face of the planet

A sterile, soul less, tupperware petri dish vs the full blown character (and now celebrity) that is the Slug.

No contest... Slug wins in the beauty stakes and in every other area over the Mac 26.

 

[dylanwinter]

sentimental twaddle

the slug might appear to have more character as a boat

but that might be just because it is a product of a certain time in yacht design history.

The first flowering of Fibre Glass - a heavy lay for a heavy little boat - like the early westerlies.

A mac is, I put it to you, a classic yacht of its time too.

The fact that so many thousands of them have been produced and are being enjoyed means that many will survive.

In addition, if you can find one that has spent most of its life sitting on a trailer beside some-one house - the old ones can be almost like new.

Its my guess that in 500 years time its the mac that will represent the great age of small plastic yachts.

that aside - my guess is the audience for the series would grow because there are so many mac owners out there.

Mind you - I would hate to give up the tiller - I don't think I would like wheel steering that much.

Dylan

 

[Gwylan]

How many Mac's are ever used after the first outing? How many are languishing in drives and garages?

All the charm of a Tupperware box, surprised not to see them in the Lakeland catalogue.

The whole charm of your adventure with the Slug is the wonder of the eccentricity of the venture. Try a rename to Limax - she might feel better about things then.

 

[jamesjermain]

This is really difficult because both were designed to a brief which included the word 'pretty' not once in all its pages. For artistic merit both would score 'Nul Point'! But for fulfilling a design brief they would get 7 or 8, however misguided the brief might have been. The Mirror at least has the advantage of having a sort of post ironic cult chic!

That video of the Mac lies, by the way; the wind is not 50mph (even 40 knots) and the waves aren't 18ft high.

 

[truscott]

This Macgregor 26 would get a yes;

We have one of these at our club and it does a a fairly decent job as far as sailing goes. The previous owner actually cruised it from Bahrain to Oman and back with no problems IIRC.

This Macgregor 26 would have me barfing;

We used to have one of these down the club also. Thankfully it's gone now!

I saw in another post that Dylan was considering a Macgregor. To be honest, I thought it was a joke! I recall how appalled Dylan was about those French Lozenge's earlier in his journey. EVERY AWB ever launched has got to be prettier than the Mac 26 M/C/X or whatever these double decker versions are called. IMHO of course.

 

[taz]

Just watched a film on one of the new boats........watching a yacht with no sails doing 20mph and towing a skier looks very wierd to say the least. I do like it though(ish)

http://www.macgregor26.com/index/5_min_1_ea_oct_15_2009.htm

Slug for me.

 

[sighmoon]

Macgregor:

Slug:

 

[snooks]

That video of the Mac lies, by the way; the wind is not 50mph (even 40 knots) and the waves aren't 18ft high.

I know that the sea can look smaller on film, but that didn't look like 6 meter seas. I was out in 40 knots on the sheltered waters of the Clyde, with 3 reefs and a scrap of genoa. Yet a boat with less ballast and displacement is out in open water with what looks like one reef in the main and a few turns in the genoa. Hmmmmmmmmm

May be 20 knots as the commentary says, but 40??

Keep with the slug Dylan, she's not got the beauty of a Contessa or S&S, but she has a slightly Vietnamese pot bellied pigs beauty about her!

 

[fireball]

heres are two different - less than classically pretty boats


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smlP6iXnk2s

or this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ2tGhtDwvg


mac or slug -

Dylan





PS I would switch the engine off for the bits where I filmed the birds or the seals or the sunsets or the beautiful wooden boats

The Mac in the first video isn't out in Gale Force Winds ... there may be Gale Force Winds FORECAST - but that was (as my learned friends have already said) around 20 knots ish - if that ... and it didn't look that comfortable in that!! The person stating that it is in gale force winds is either mistaken or misleading the audience into thinking the Mac is better than it is. You will get 'done' for advertising like that in the UK soon ...

Had quick look at your second video ... I recon if you could change the foresail for a taller, narrower one it would look better - but all in all she is boat shaped and isn't pretending to be something she isn't.

 

[rhumbunctious]

A 26X is much nicer looking (IMO) than the 26M. I don't own one any more, but here is a good example of where they excel...

(and I sailed mine alot, both in the US and later in the Baltic, yes, I brought it with me when I moved)

Most folks who criticise MacGregors have never sailed one. They are a compromise, yes, to get the powerboat functionality, but in their particular niche, they are ideal boats.

That said, my own needs and interests outgrew mine.

 

[dylanwinter]

full length genoa on the slug

The Mac in the first video isn't out in Gale Force Winds ... there may be Gale Force Winds FORECAST - but that was (as my learned friends have already said) around 20 knots ish - if that ... and it didn't look that comfortable in that!! The person stating that it is in gale force winds is either mistaken or misleading the audience into thinking the Mac is better than it is. You will get 'done' for advertising like that in the UK soon ...

Had quick look at your second video ... I recon if you could change the foresail for a taller, narrower one it would look better - but all in all she is boat shaped and isn't pretending to be something she isn't.

Its weird how macs stir such powerful emotions in people

almost hate

as for the slug - it does seem an honest boat and yes I would love a new full length genoa on the slug - but that would need a new foil, new genoa, new roller gear - in all about £1500 worth.

maybe next year

Dylan

 

[bluedragon]

Dunno what the Slug is, but it actually looks quite pretty to me

 

[dylanwinter]

mirror offshore

Dunno what the Slug is, but it actually looks quite pretty to me

a yacht for the working man designed in the 60s for the mirror newspaper

http://home.kpn.nl/mirroroffshore/

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/index.php/galleries/super-slug/


Dylan

 

[fireball]

as for the slug - it does seem an honest boat and yes I would love a new full length genoa on the slug - but that would need a new foil, new genoa, new roller gear - in all about £1500 worth.

maybe next year

Dylan

yup - these things quickly spiral out of control cost wise - that's why we never bothered changing the sails or setup on the Macwester Rowan - never bothered reefing either - if it was that blowy we just didn't put the main up!

 

[Woodlouse]

I don't like the idea of a boat that relies entirely on water ballast to stay upright. Not to mention the Macgregor looks ugly and doesn't sail that well.

I haven't followed KTL very closely, but what I have seen involves a lot of healthy criticism of speed boats. The Mac26 is a plastic speedboat with a stick.

 

[dylanwinter]

the slug

I don't like the idea of a boat that relies entirely on water ballast to stay upright. Not to mention the Macgregor looks ugly and doesn't sail that well.

I haven't followed KTL very closely, but what I have seen involves a lot of healthy criticism of speed boats. The Mac26 is a plastic speedboat with a stick.

that may be an accurate description of Mac -- the slug is plastic displacement motor launch with a stick





let me ask you a serious question though

and I do hope you don't mind me asking because what I need is a boat that more people would like to likely to watch or be interested in

if a bloke was doing KTL in the same type of boat you have - would you follow it more closely

or would it be better if it was an old wooden classic?

The Cenataur has the advantage of a big fan base and it does not upset people

A mac has an even more massive fan base

- but it certainly seems to upset the sailors in some way - upset them enough to not watch KTL - dunno


Dylan

PS- what is wrong with water ballast - the slug has a few gallons of it slopping around its capacious keel box most of the time. Its a self filling system - all I have to do is to regulalry pump it out

Dylan

 

[doug748]

- but that was (as my learned friends have already said) around 20 knots ish - if that ... and it didn't look that comfortable in that!!

Cor. I thought it looked iffy as well. I would have made an excuse to join the 70ft photo boat.

As for the Mirror, I always thought they were ok, separate lavvie and inboard engine, grand.

 

[Twister_Ken]

and I do hope you don't mind me asking because what I need is a boat that more people would like to likely to watch or be interested in

if a bloke was doing KTL in the same type of boat you have - would you follow it more closely

or would it be better if it was an old wooden classic?

Dylan

Since you asked, I really don't think the type of boat would put me off watching KTL unless it was some sort of all-singing, all-dancing modern thingummyjig (a bit like my new boat). For me the fascination (apart from watching you freezing your gentleman's equipment off) is seeing the sort of ditch-crawling I can't do with a fixed keel that's taller than I am. But, there's also added charm in the fact that you're doing it in the sort of boat and on the sort of budget that many people could manage - the antithesis of the 'all yachtsmen are rich, all yachts are luxurious' vibe that seems to be commonly accepted by unyachted readers of the popular press.