Are sail cruisers the modern Motorsailer?

Steve,
Speed and distance is well possible with a good sailing yacht. 11 to 13 knots on power are common figures for modern yachts. Speeds under sail can be faster depending on weather conditions. There are modern compact hybrid systems that achieve excellent fuel economy and good power generation values. Sailing however is not a choice of convenience or economics. Sailing is a way of life!

No mention was made as to point-of-sail versus desired destination.
True motorsailers, e.g., a 63/78 Cheoy Lee will point, in 15 knots of wind, to maybe 45 degrees off the wind. So, yeah, you may get your miles albeit with a lot of tacking.
Interestingly, these boats, powered with a pair of naturally-aspirated 3208s--but running on only one with the other's prop feathering in the breeze--burn maybe 2.5 gph, well within your hypothetical fuel burn.

These are big tubs (and I mean that in a nice way) with substantial freeboard which translates to a dry, easy ride...no worries about losing a stab, and the autopilot leads a happier life as well.

Bjorn (<-------- sorry, no umlaut on Amerikansky laptop) is right: you're either a sailer or you're not.

As is perhaps obvious modern fast cruising yachts are very efficient under power as their hull configuration is intended to be slippery of course. Their keels offer inherent stability under power as well and they can easily match transoceanic transit speeds of most similar length motor yachts, irrespective of wind assistence when appropriate. However, the reality is that these days they commonly have all the comforts, conveniences and toys, powered winches etc so their auxiliary energy usage is substantial nonetheless. Fuel cost may still be a fraction of the bulky motor yacht but overall cruising costs taking into maintenance of sails and sailing systems has to be factored in. Some of us may enjoy the pleasure above almost anything else when carving off 200kts plus a day under sail on a big yacht but that result also costs and, when you boil it down, the comparative fuel efficiency probably did not feature too much in the owner's choice to go sailing.

To me most owners of large cruising sailing yachts mostly plead they are keen sailors who really enjoy the oceanic voyaging experience, and the odd race, whereas many motor yacht owners may rather lean towards the destination experience perhaps with only short voyages between locations. The relatively efficient explorer type motor yachts bridge these perspectives of course.

You can't use the term 'no sweat' when achieving 15knts plus under sail. It's a thrill and can involve a bit of work and nous, at least for the crew but there's nothing like it as far as I am concerned!

Steve, good stuff! There's so much design talent out there for fast cruising yachts you wouldn't lack for ideas and options if you made enquiries. Most will be only too happy to brain storm with you without any great commitment and let's face it, there's surplus build capacity even in the renowned yards presently.

[Maybe come for a brief holiday in NZ and chat with the local talent? Summer's starting and you can do a bit of sailing as well. Posssibly around 50% of local builds of 60-100+' range for cruising yachts (with designs from all over) have been for North American customers with similar objectives to you.]

Hi,


LÖREN, This is typed on an Americansky Laptop.

You can find all sorts of things like this in Word, Insert, Symbol Font: Normal Text, Subset Latin-1

If you use any of them a lot you can also assign a shortcut key to them so it is quick and easy to add them when you want.

Thanks for the lesson in Umlauts For Dummies, K1W1, although I remain unencumbered by 'quick and easy'.

I have been following the sail / power debate for a couple of years with a view to deep sea fishing off shore. The efficient 55 ft and up sailing cat Hulls that can achieve 18 kts plus under sail only need 110 hp to achieve 14 kts under sail.. Will trawl a Kona head lure at 7 knots in 12 kts of wind and have the get up and go to meet a charter timetable. It has to be the way to go. sail for fun and silent fishing and then power up , if necessary, for getting back to the timetable of reality.

The 'Modern' Motorsailer

I'm on a foreign computer at the moment so I'll make this a short reply for now


http://www.runningtideyachts.com/motorsailing/

...an excerpt...

We don't hear much of motorsailers these days. They're not a popular subject. Traditional motorsailers have always been such a compromise, they have fallen into disfavor in the market, and in the boating literature. The term has even had negative connotations for several decades now. Should not today's boats be faster and better with new materials, light marine diesels, and better shapes? Should not this be the sensible alternative, the common sense move up from the beloved family sailboat? When trawler options are discussed, suggestions of boredom arise. A lifetime of sail would be discarded, and what happens when the motor quits? Well, hopefully it won't quit, but one can always sail home in a boat with sails on it. For truly long-range cruising and/or remote exploration, the motorsailer can outshine both the sailing aux and the trawler types.

We need to modernize the motorsailer. The multihull plan-form holds great promises to improve this breed. The long slender hulls of the catamaran type vessel have proven themselves to be real efficient to push under both power & sail. And not only are they efficient, but they can be pushed beyond the traditional hull-length/speed limitations. Just what the modern motorsailer needs, a far less compromising increase in both their sail & power performance, while maintaining an economy of operation that allows truly long range capability.

Lets explore a ~ 40 foot example. Take the single big 120-140 hp diesel used to push the conventional 40' monohull trawler or motorsailer to a maximum 8.3 knots hull speed and divide it up into two smaller 60 hp diesels driving two long slender catamaran hulls. Voila!, maximum to 15 knots under power with the reliability of twin engines and the stability and sea worthiness of a twin-hulled vessel. Add a modest sailing rig to these easily driven hulls, and you now have a passagemaker capable of cruising 12 knots under sail or power compared with these older 7 knot boats. With 12 knots of speed at your command, you can really take advantage of 'weather windows' ; to make your passage as smooth as possible, or to make some lengthy passages you might never have considered in a slower boat. In many cases this vessel will be slowed less by an obstructive seaway, and will accordingly make a passage at almost twice the average speed of the single-hulled vessel. Twice the speed for the same total HP. There is an economy of operation here that cuts fuel bills and/or greatly extends the range of these vessels. And in light airs, running one engine often is all that is needed to bring the apparent wind forward to make the sails work harder and the combination provides much better results than either motoring or sailing alone.

The modern catamaran "motorsailer" is blessed with such a dramatic improvement in performance, that I have chosen to redesignate it "Motor/Sailer" to differentiate, and yet emphasize its motoring and sailing capabilities. Those expedition yacht seekers of today should give serious consideration to this type and take a look at what's coming in future motor/sailers.

Sorry, trying to use the obvious understatement as a weak humour attempt - probably 15 gals per minute is somewhat closer to the mark for about 10,000+ high revving horsepower at full tilt!