Lars Johansson wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Where Technology is Failing Boaters
...
There seems to be no serious effort to build or design mass-market
boats that are more fuel-efficient; and in fact the current state of
the market indicates that the more HP stuffed into a hull the faster it
will sell.
...
The technology to produce the ultimete fuel efficiency for boats already
exists: sails.
/Lars J

One would think. At least up this way, the vast majority of sailboats
motor almost everywhere. Some will motor-sail, with a jib or even a
spinnaker deployed. Most of the
sailing seems to be done after reaching a general destination, as part
of an organized race, or on a sunny afternoon where the goal is just to
blow around outside the breakwater without any particular need to
actually go anywhere.

Even so, those sailboats are pretty efficient under the iron wind. A
lot of them make 5, 6, or even 7 kts on about a gallon per hour.