Hi folks, as a former (26d) and current (26s) Mac owner visiting parents in Stuart Florida (with my also boat crazy brother was in town), I arranged a tour of the new Tattoo Yachts factory where the former Mac 26m is in production. As some of you know, Tattoo is run by Paul Sharpe and Laura Macgregor Sharp (Roger's daughter). My dad also joined as the one member of the entourage who had ever bought a new Macgregor (a Venture 17 around 1975). I had met both Laura and Paul at the Annapolis boat show in October.
Paul very patiently showed us the mold and finishing shops while answering every one of my borderline-innane questions spanning fiberglass rovings to marketing strategy. They have one M mold in production and produce a couple boats a week. Parts for about 4 boats were in various stages of production. Paul said they were sold out through the middle of the year and emphasized their support for full dealer service and list prices to maintain resale value. Of course, being sold out could partly be refilling the dealer pipeline, but nonetheless is a great sign of maintaining the Macgregor momentum.
I had expected a nearly assembly line quick assembly of boats yet was surprised to see quite a bit of hand crafted manual work from the 10-20 employees that I saw working. For example a long piece of raw trim stock was being painstakingly heat gunned to conform to the contours of the companionway hatch. Raw mast extrusions were packed in a long crate while the interior cushions were being made in the loft area above. Paul explained that despite constant attention to molds, every hull gets a complete gelcoat buffing to reach a gloss finish.
Not being so familiar with the M design, I failed to notice what amounted the false floor of the ballastank in the inside hull, leaving me to ask where the heck the tank is even thought I was staring at a hull part with no panels over the installed hull liner. Ds and Ss have a more obvious tank closer the centerline but not the M's which is tabbed in tangentially to the hull. If prohibition ever comes back, we know where to put the liquor.
Paul isn't some newbie to the boating industry. He led the separate shop that made the Mac 65 and 70 ultra lightweight racer boats while with Laura being a European dealer for the better part of 20 years.
He was quite excited about the upcoming Tattoo 22 that dry is expected to be in the 1100 to 1500 lb range. While he allowed M photos he would not let us even look inside the 22 molds awaiting finishing touches. When asked, Paul appeared confident that he 22 would significantly outpeform the 26M, which should should be half a notch improved with the new chop top mainsail shape. I gave my 2 cents again to emphasize sailing performance with less focus on big engines, to which he dangled the idea to perhaps someday consider a tiller model of the 22 w/ a smaller engine. With much of the length reduction coming from overhang, I see the 22 as hopefully a bit like a 26d w/ more headroom from sinking into the ballast tank along with a wider cockpit.
Tattoo hopes to move into a larger facility in a few months, supporting addition of the 22 production along with a bit faster pace on the 26M output.
Surely I am biased to enjoy the tour being a composites engineer and a Mac owner, but the whole family enjoyed the trip including the girls who scored a lot of points. The only downside is that I am probably expected to go shopping at the mall on Black Friday for bathroom decorations -arghhhh.
Thank you to Paul and Laura for the tour and the earlier discussions at the boat show! A couple pictures are attached.
Paul very patiently showed us the mold and finishing shops while answering every one of my borderline-innane questions spanning fiberglass rovings to marketing strategy. They have one M mold in production and produce a couple boats a week. Parts for about 4 boats were in various stages of production. Paul said they were sold out through the middle of the year and emphasized their support for full dealer service and list prices to maintain resale value. Of course, being sold out could partly be refilling the dealer pipeline, but nonetheless is a great sign of maintaining the Macgregor momentum.
I had expected a nearly assembly line quick assembly of boats yet was surprised to see quite a bit of hand crafted manual work from the 10-20 employees that I saw working. For example a long piece of raw trim stock was being painstakingly heat gunned to conform to the contours of the companionway hatch. Raw mast extrusions were packed in a long crate while the interior cushions were being made in the loft area above. Paul explained that despite constant attention to molds, every hull gets a complete gelcoat buffing to reach a gloss finish.
Not being so familiar with the M design, I failed to notice what amounted the false floor of the ballastank in the inside hull, leaving me to ask where the heck the tank is even thought I was staring at a hull part with no panels over the installed hull liner. Ds and Ss have a more obvious tank closer the centerline but not the M's which is tabbed in tangentially to the hull. If prohibition ever comes back, we know where to put the liquor.
Paul isn't some newbie to the boating industry. He led the separate shop that made the Mac 65 and 70 ultra lightweight racer boats while with Laura being a European dealer for the better part of 20 years.
He was quite excited about the upcoming Tattoo 22 that dry is expected to be in the 1100 to 1500 lb range. While he allowed M photos he would not let us even look inside the 22 molds awaiting finishing touches. When asked, Paul appeared confident that he 22 would significantly outpeform the 26M, which should should be half a notch improved with the new chop top mainsail shape. I gave my 2 cents again to emphasize sailing performance with less focus on big engines, to which he dangled the idea to perhaps someday consider a tiller model of the 22 w/ a smaller engine. With much of the length reduction coming from overhang, I see the 22 as hopefully a bit like a 26d w/ more headroom from sinking into the ballast tank along with a wider cockpit.
Tattoo hopes to move into a larger facility in a few months, supporting addition of the 22 production along with a bit faster pace on the 26M output.
Surely I am biased to enjoy the tour being a composites engineer and a Mac owner, but the whole family enjoyed the trip including the girls who scored a lot of points. The only downside is that I am probably expected to go shopping at the mall on Black Friday for bathroom decorations -arghhhh.
Thank you to Paul and Laura for the tour and the earlier discussions at the boat show! A couple pictures are attached.
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