"DSK" wrote in message

Well, obviously sails don't burn fuel, but they are expensive and have a
limited life span. You could, if you were diligent, figure out how many
miles/$ you got out of sails, but you'd probably prefer to not know.

Which would certainly be among the most useless pieces of info any sailor
could ever hope to acquire. Boaters should really not do the numbers w/r/t
costs vs. miles, or cost vs. time spent on the boat, etc. The bottom line
is never pretty.

They're too beamy and they're dragging an extra prop through the water.

Not all of them have wing engines. They're optional, and most don't have
'em.

Which is about twice the power it'll ever realistically need.

Matter of opinion. Nordic Tug sells more boats than they can produce
annually, and they all have 300hp Cummins or better. Same with American
Tugs, Pacific Seacraft Fast Trawlers, Sabreline, and others.


No twin is fuel efficient, but that's not the point. Twins are supposed to
be fast.

Twin Cats on a 42 Grand Banks is really pretty silly, if you think about it.
If the boat owner really wants speed, he should consider a planing hull with
the same engines for about the same money.

And it's my point that fuel simply isn't that great an expense, compared
with all the other costs of having & keeping & maintaining the boat.

That's a very nice point, Doug. Glad you made it. Now, why did you make
it? We weren't discussing fuel costs, apart from the fact that I just
mentioned--in passing--that I spent damn little for fuel this year. Not
that it's any big deal.

So? Do you always sail faster than 6 knots?

Not generally, but I'd sure like to. My next boat will be capable of at
least a sustained 7 kts. under sail or power. If I had the resources, I'd
own a Saga 43, which can do 8 kts. in 15kts. of wind, and 9-11kts. with
enough wind and wave to surf occasionally.

We generally go 7 to 7 1/2 and burn from somewhat less than 1 to 1 1/2
gph. At 6 kt we burn about 1/2 gph. If I slow down to idle, the boat goes
4 1/2 and the engine actually pulls in hyrdocarbons from the air, converts
it to diesel fuel, and pumps it into the tanks

Have I told you about my cold fusion reactor that I'm putting on my next
boat? g

Max