Engines on sailboats, When? When Not?
bull****! Brand spanking new diesels under manufactures laboratory conditions
have a specific fuel consumption of just under 17 hp for each gallon burned per
hour.
That would mean you make 1,200 frickken miles in 20 hours, or 60 knots.
Even if you turn you engine at just 4 hp (fuel consumption per hp goes up then)
you would stil have only 80 hours fuel onboard, making your 1,200 on a tank of
fuel *average* about 15 knots.
Which means (if one is to accept the badly flawed concept of "hull speed) your
boat's waterline to be about 120 feet, even as its displacement is about 3
ounces.
Doug,
I was thinking the same about Joe's fuel load. I get 1200 miles on my
twenty gallon tank. Then I got to thinking about his Motor Sailor. He
can probably motor faster than both of us when he wants, I'm just
turning a 18 HP diesel.
Another reason for running my engine is when I'm using the Micro wave
Oven off the inverter. I need the fifty amp charging.
Ole Thom
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