wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 May 2004 23:24:54 +0100, "Donal" wrote:

*IF* you spend less that 50% of the time with the engine running, then
you
either sail in an area with fantastic breezes, or you may be
overestimating
the time that you are running under sail alone.

Wow, are you ever way off the mark! I'm beginning to think that you really
have
a Mac26x, not a Benetofu. That's the only explanation I can think of.

That's because you're not very bright.


I sail after work quite often. I have to motor in and out of my marina
down a
channel. It never amounts to more than 10 minutes of motoring each way.
That's
20 minutes of motoring, which even as part of a very short sail of two or
three
hours does not come remotely close to your estimates. Once I'm out of the
channel, it is very rare that the motor gets used. When it does, it's for
a
couple of minutes to get over to where the breeze appears to be.

What kind of sailing do you do? And what kind of boat do you have?

Most of my sailing is not of the "after work" variety. I would dearly love
to be able to do this, but the marina is an 80 minute drive. So most of my
sailing is at weekends. Usually there is a destination involved. If the
destination is closed at certain states of the tide, or if we need to get
somewhere for a meal, then the engine may be needed.



Regards


Donal
--