Hi,
I have looked into this myself and have found a few facts noteworthy.
First, I own a sailboat that some would class as a motorsailer because of
the size of the engine. 85Hp is a little to much to class as a auxiliary.
Top speed is 7.5 Knots at full throttle with a fuel burn of about 1.5-1.75
gals a hour. If I drop back to 6 knots my fuel burn drop to about .75 gals
a hour, and if I reduce to 5 knots I use just a little over .5 gals a hour.
These are rough figures in calm seas.
I would expect that a power boat of the same size 46'x13' and weight 30000
lbs loaded would get about the same. I have looked at the Diesel Ducks a
boat designed after the NW trolling fishing boats and the figures are about
the same. Some of the true trawlers that are designed to do hull speeds and
less have about the same figures. It seems that a full displacement vessel
could be a good choice to cruise anywhere with large tankage. One Diesel
Duck I looked at had 1700 gals of tanks with a range of 5500 miles at 5
knots. Remember that this is for a displacement hull, smallest diesel
engine, and speeds about half of hull speeds.
Mike

"Brad" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

Now I know that normally a sailboat would use a lot less than a
powerboat, and maybe that's not the right heading to use, but I am
currently looking at the possibility of buying one or the other type
of boat (used), and I am trying to get some info on boating long-term
on the Atlantic.

Although a powerboat would use oodles of fuel at a fast clip, any idea
of how much that would drop if traveling at the rate of a sailboat
(say 7 or 8 knots)?

The main reason that I am looking at the various options, is because I
have a spinal disease that prevents me from pulling, lifting, tugging,
etc. on anything more than about 10 pounds. I can get around on a
boat okay, but these other limitations require me to check out all
options. My thought (and I have never done much serious boating) is
that a powerboat would be easier on me physically, but I am concerned
about the comsumption of fuel while traveling. Fortunately I am tied
down to time, so if I have to travel at a much slower speed than the
boat is designed for, I can easily do so.

I appreciate any useful feedback,
Stryder