Gilligan wrote:

use of binoculars is silly. Low light conditions are where binoculars become
useful. You aren't going to hit something a mile away in a sailboat, it
takes a good part of an hour to get that far. However in dark conditions the
binoculars gather much more light than the eye. Sailboats, thankfully are
slow otherwise they would be a real hazard to navigation.

In my opinion binoculars are not useful, if you can't see anything.
The most important factors being those that help you see what
you are looking at better.

1 point to Gilligan. Light gathering is very important. Honorable
mention to Joe and CM for pointing out quality as a factor. It's
clear that you get what you pay for.