MacGregorSailors.com

Just thought I would make this offer here before heading over to the generic big boards.

I am looking for an individual with a sailing background and the ability to write advertising/technical copy about trailerable sailboats. Copy would be used for brochure and a website.

If nterested, please PM me as soon as possible. Thanks!

Thing is cold boat. Have weals for some transpotting and getting someplase els. If not wind can be mota to budaful enkrige. Have the lead to pick up to not grownd in shol water. After finish, can unsink on taler to other place.


Have toylut.


Do I get the job?

Ha!

Funny stuff.

Hmmmmm. Maybe if you use a spell checker.

Hi Art

If there's one thing I've learned in my business, it is that pretty much everyone thinks they are a designer. Methinks that goes for writing too? Maybe you can get any takers to submit a short 50 words or less intro? If they can't get your attention in that much space, they may not be right for the job, eh? I know a screenwriter in California. Maybe , I'll give her a call.

On other matters: Thanks for sending the video of the K-280c. Pretty exciting! I tried to send it to others .but it quit working? I keep visiting kiwiboatworks.com, hoping for the grand opening, and maybe a SAIL magazine review? Gee! These things do take time, don't they?

Lease, Did you write the instructions for my camcorder? I thought that I recognized the style.

Richard O'Brien

Hi Richard.

Thanks for the post. Things have been real crazy around here. The first production boats for each of the five models have been completed and will be shipping within the next two weeks.

We have renamed the company. The new name is Freedom Boat Works. It makes more sense as the boats are now being built on two continents. The shell of the website is complete. I was going to write draft copy and have someone clean it up but I just can't find the time to sit down and do it.

The boats go on sale as soon as the site is up. There will be reviews in Sail, Cruising World and Sailing magazines as well as some of the larger regional publications.

We are still debating where to debut the boats. Strictly Sail Chicago and the Seattle Boat Show both run at the same time. My preference is Seattle but space is limited. It looks like we would actually be put on the Seattle Sea Hawks playing field inside the stadium. As far as the show is concerned, it is kind of off the beaten track.

The 280 prototype is still at Harbor Island in San Diego. I hope to get out there after Turkey Day to get in a little more sailing. She is a lot of fun. We had her offshore in a 15 to 18 knot breeze and she bit into it like a dog with a bone. Didn't require a reef and did 7 knots pointing. Not bad for a trailerable.

If you or someone you know can write, let me know. If one knows sailboats well and can write in the style of a Sail or Cruising World boat review, that's who we are looking for.

Well, you get sick of it, don't you?

Trying to interpret half-arsed English instructions on products from odd places.

On the other hand in my job I have to provide end-user marketing materials to support our product, which is wholesaled to major vehicle OEMs and branded in their precious logos, look and feel, blah blah blah.

When the consultants come in and rabbit on about how that line draws the eye to the 'hero' of the piece and so forth, my eyes glaze over and I start thinking about my boat.

It's not that I don't think this stuff is important, I know it is. It just bores me senseless.

Good luck AWK. I really like the design of the boat.

Lease.

I get sick of it.

I spent most of my career in advertising and public relations. I have written and reviewed more copy in my 47 years of life that I now have a tough time reading anything anymore.

Why do you think I am looking for someone to write it for me!

Art,

Glad to see you're moving forward. I watched your 280C video and am looking forward to seeing your web site. When you get the boats maybe Richard and I can take a trip down to see them!

Daniel

Art,

Glad to see you're moving forward. I watched your 280C video and am looking forward to seeing your web site. When you get the boats maybe Richard and I can take a trip down to see them!

Daniel

Talk about copy review,
I for one can't make heads or tails of 8'.202" measurement for beam of 280C. Is it 8 feet 202 inches or 8 feet 2 inches or is it 8 feet and 2 tenths of one inch? If it is the latter why bother even mentioning it, 2/10 of an inch is too miniscule to make a difference.
For the life of me I still cannot understand why boat makers are so resistant to maxing out the beam on trailerables. In most jurisdictions 8'6" (eight feet six inches or eight and one half feet) is the max legal width. I know some modern containers are at least 8'5" wide inside dimensions and if one were to even tip the boat slightly it (the container)would accommodate a boat beam of 8'6".
I was once at a marina and met a guy with a rather large power boat but what really got my attention was the presence of a bow eye, his boat was 10' wide. I asked him if it was trailerable and how so, he said yes he tows it with a honkin big tow vehicle and simply gets a permit. I don't know how many jurisdictions would allow this but my point is "What is so difficult about 8'6" beam"
Using the Mac 26M for an example it is spec'd at 7'9" beam (pitifull), there is room to add at least 8" (eight inches) to this beam. It may not sound like an enormous amount but just imagine what 4 more inches on each side of the daggerboard would give you. No more heel to toe walking to move forward between the head and port settee and 4 more inches of galley counter on '03-'04 M or 4 more inches of seat on later models. I really don't think this is asking too much and it is the only thing that will ever get my money, otherwise I just have to make do with my current skinny beam.

Speaking from a market perspective of one person, the ability to trailer without a permit for me is huge. I have trailered in 7 states and one province - I cant imagine trying to deal with permits across that span of bueracracy...

I agree with Cat - at least in New York you need a wide load permit to carry anything over 8 feet wide and you pay more in tolls as well.

What you ought to be asking is if State jurisdictions don't prevent the sharing of information relative to licence restrictions/points accumulation and disqualification, how come they can't agree on width limits?

Don't know how it is there, but at least here all of the State Road Authorities have agreed to uniform width limits and towing rules. Eight foot six in the old scale is the uniform width limit without a permit.

Once upon a time our states held on to their imperium like rabid dogs. Up until about 1970 if you caught a train from Sydney to Melbourne, you had to change trains at the border because of the different track gauges in use.

Things are a little more sensible now.

Terry,

There have been trailerable sailboats built over the years with a beam in excess of 8' 6". The most recent that comes to mind is the now defunct Hunter 260. I think she was very close to 9'.

All five of our boats were designed with the upfront knowledge they would be built overseas. A standard shipping container measures 8' wide by 40' long. These are the measurements from the outside.

We spent a lot of time looking at different shipping scenarios before the boat even went into design. The Mac is 7' 11" for a reason. It will slide into a standard container on its trailer minus the fenders and wheels. It is pretty frightening to see how little room there actually is at the boats most widest point. You have to literally wedge packing material on both sides to cushion it. The containers are handled several times once a boat is placed inside one. Additionally, the boat is prone to moving around in rough seas.

There are larger containers available but there is incredible cost in using one. If you cannot figure a way to get it in a standard 8 X 40, then you can pretty much plan on your transport costs increasing two to three times. Depending on where you are shipping from and to, the cost can be massive.

Increasing beam on a sailboat is very deceptive. The 280 is 4" wider than the 26M. It may not seem like much, but when you enter the 280 you will simply not believe what two extra feet of length and 4 inches of beam will give you. Yacht design is an art and science. Get someone who truly knows what he is doing and you will be amazed at what can be accomplished.

One other point. If you wanted a trailerable boat with an 8' 6" beam, it probably woulf not be road legal as most state laws are looking at the total width of the boat and trailer. Those tires and fenders will get ya.

Have keyboard will travel. I only charge $150 an hour. Plus expenses. But I type really fast. In fact my mother was in the Guinese book of world records at one time for typewriter speed and I have her genes.

Let me know if you're interested. I have more clients than I can keep up with at the moment so maybe I can get to it sometime next year.

Kind Regards,
JonBill

PS. hey in case you couldn't tell this post was a joke!