On Fri, 9 Apr 2010 20:34:37 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

OK, my sailboat can go about 6 kts and while that is fast sailing, if
you go for days at 56 kts, it is Sl-o-o-o-o-ow. Trawlers can go 8-9
kts. Do trawlers owners think that is slow? If you could go 15 kts
for days, would that be slow?
What I am asking is: Am I likely to be impatient no matter how fast a
boat goes? Would your expectations of where you can go increase as
your boat speed does? How many people think their power boats are too
slow?

Einstein had the answer, it's all relative. I've done quite a bit of
sailing on racing boats in the 50 ft range. They can go 8 to 10 kts
easily in the right conditions but it usually feels slow unless you
are near land or a slower boat. Same with trawlers which I also know
something about: 8 to 10 knots frequently feels slow although 10 feels
a lot better than 8, at least on our boat. The problem is that 10
burns almost twice as much fuel and creates a lot more wear and tear
on the engines so we frequently run somewhere between 8 and 8 1/2. If
I'm really trying to maximize fuel range we'll run single engine
between 7 and 7 1/2. That feels really slow unless you are close to
land. There's a lot of psychology involved with how we perceive
speed, and a lot of that seems to be related to how close you are to
the water, how close you are to other objects, and how smooth is the
ride. One of our neighbors has a go fast that peaks out around 70
and cruises comfortably at 45 to 50. It feels fast but you get used
to it quickly. To him it's too slow however because he sometimes gets
passed by some of his go fast buddies. It's all relative...

The fastest I've ever gone in a sailboat is 17 or 18 knots. It was in
a fully race equipped, ultra-light 29 footer. It felt like 100 miles
an hour with the rigging and rudder vibrating, and the boat acting
really skitish and on the edge of control. Exciting stuff but all too
rare in my experience.