jeffies, a boat under sail has one hell of a lot more drag than a boat motoring
in a flat calm.

also, keep in mind that the boat under discussion is a Westsail 32, a boat
usually having a minimum of 30 hp installed, and often 40+ hp.

A Westsail 32 with a 10 to 12 hp engine installed is unmarketable. One would
need one hell of a lot patience to wait for wind and tide before setting off.

keep in mind that props don't drag all that much anyway. according to the
MIT
data, even a fixed 3 blade only pulled 170# on a boat at 5 knots, or about
the
equivelent of 2-1/2 hp.


That's not much drag??? That's roughly the drag from a 25 knot breeze!
Are
you saying that this would have no affect on boat speed?

Are you claiming that a having a 2.5 hp engine pulling backwards would have
little affect on speed? At the low RPMs many boats use to go 5 knots, they
only
use 10 to 12 hp to go forward