If I am going to be slow boating, I prefer sailing.

Agreed.

... It is the most
economical and the quietest.


That very much depends... you would not believe how noisy a sailboat can
be under the right/wrong conditions. It's also every bit as expensive as
any other form of boating.

wrote:
I would agree that quiet is nice but going dead to windward (or with no
wind) at 9 kts has its attractions also, as does the comfort factor.
It would take a sailboat of at least 80 to 90 feet to equal the
interior space of our GB49 and it still would not have the visibility
from the flybridge or the stability of gyro roll stabilizers.

What about a 50' catamaran? And sailboat stability is a whole 'nother
thing... I prefer heeling to rolling, even with stabilizers.


Economy is open to question. Sails for large boats cost $10 to $20K
each and require constant repair and replacement. I used to spend over
$5K a year on sail repair and replacement on my old 34 footer when I
was racing it seriously. That will still buy a lot of fuel even in
these inflationary times.


Darn right.

One of the things that I've noticed about cruising sailboats is that
about 95% of them are under power, rising to more like 99% if they are
really trying to get some where, or are in constricted waterways. If
you are going to be under power most of the time anyway, why not get a
boat designed for it?


Darn right, again. I have my own theories about why so many sailboat
cruisers motor all the time, including the fact that so many of them
choose boats with poor/awful sailing performance in the first place and
then load it down. Another is the refusal to accept the constraints of
nature in making a schedule.

However, a big plus in cruising under sail is that it is a demanding &
esoteric endeavor that provides it's own rewards... tremendous ones.
There's nothing else like it. A motorboater will have some difficulty
finding the appeal in this, and even more difficulty understanding
racing under sail (which is even better).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:33:13 -0400, DSK wrote:

racing under sail (which is even better).

That I agree with.