Richard Casady wrote:
(about hull speed to 25 MPH winds)

I figure maybe 100 HP for a thirty foot boat. Maybe less.
It's the fifteen horse motors I object to. Battleships won't do hull
speed on 1 to 4 HP per ton either.


Here in Denmark, 100 HP in a 30' boat would immediately classify it as a
motorboat. With enough rig we might accept it as a motor sailer, but most
people here would not consider it a reasonable configuration for a
sailboat.

Maybe it is a cultural thing, but most sailors here don't compare their
boats to battleships.

"Hull speed", as far as I understand the term, is the maximum a boat can
possibly do. Not the minimum it has to attain under any circumstances, sail
or motor.

I quite enjoy sailing on an old 8-meter boat, about 30' long. I don't
remember the details of the engine, but it is well in the neighbourhood of
your 15 HP. It is more than sufficient to get us out of Copenhagen harbour
and in again.

In my (too short) spare time I dream of building my own boat - that's why I
follow this newsgroup. It will be under 30' long, probably rigged as a
schooner, and I will not go to the excess of 15 HP motor, more like half of
that.

But, of course, it all depends on where, how, and why you want to sail.


Best regards

Heikki