To some extent, yes. However when the horsepower available is far in
excess of anything the prop & the hull are going to keep up with, then
what is the purpose?


Maxprop wrote:
You're preaching to the choir on this point. But to make conversation, some
folks just seem to thrive on power, despite the skewed relationship between
power vs. hull design vs. displacement, etc.

Sure.

I love horsepower, but it should have some purpose. Driving an F1 car to
the grocery store makes no sense at all. Boats with huge amounts of
horsepower which don't do anything except make loud noise & burn fuel is
kind of pointless & stupid.


... I demo'd a Nordic Tug 37 this
past summer and was impressed by how fast the thing could actually go when
planing. But it threw a monstrous wake, was noisy, and would probably get
to a typical destination only about half an hour faster than if at hull
speed. The premium, however, was fuel cost: about 6 times that of 8kts.
for roughly twice the speed. Not a good trade, IMO.

Agreed. But the Nordic Tugs have always been overpowered, it's just been
getting silly lately. The worst part of the trade-off is that to get
that "high speed" capability, you make the boat a lot heavier, more
expensive, sacrifice steering at low speed, make more wake at low speed,
and give up a lot of internal volume to engine & fuel.




Nope. It will be in the 40'-44' range, which should easily do 7kts. under
power, and somewhat better under sail in the right conditions. We've looked
at a Cheoy Lee Pedrick 41, a Passport (Perry) 40, and a Baltic Doug Peterson
42, any of which would fit the bill.

Look at a Nordic 40 or 44. Another Perry design.

The Baltic DP is a great boat.



There are a lot of better boats available *much* cheaper IMHO.


The quality of the Sagas is excellent

Not my impression of them. Have you looked carefully in all the nooks &
crannies?

... and they are very fast for boats with
such an accomodating cruising interior.

Again I disagree. They're pretty fast, but not to touch a *fast* 43
footer. And they're not all that roomy, they're too narrow. Makes them
tender, too.

I understand there is a Saga 43 that sails to a 78 PHRF rating on the
Chesapeake, but the one here that I've sailed would have a hard time
being competitive at 100+. And that's not fast for a 40+ footer.

But I should be careful, we have a friends with one. It's a really
really nice boat. For the money, they could have had a Baltic or
Dynamique, but they are happy with the Saga and that's what counts.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King