How practical a sailboat to tow a power cruiser for long distance travel?

[rickykngo]

Suppose we have a 40' power cruiser and I buy a cheap sailboat to slowly tug o'war our power cruiser to some faraway destination using the autopilot of the sailboat to set the course where we want to go. May be we have a maintenance crew to live on board the sailboat. This way we can live on a spacious boat and be able to travel long distance without the high cost of fuel. Imagine you camp out at sea for several weeks in the comfort of the roomy cruiser until you reach your destination. If in rough condition, we will use the power cruiser to tow the sailboat to get out of the storm. Is this doable? How slow will it go? How big a sailboat need to be? Please see attachment pictures for example of the boat.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm in the process of buying a boat, but don't know whether to go with the power or the sailboat.

[boatman61]

Not practicable.. but start around 120ft to be effective..

[Terra Nova]

Ridiculous.

[a64pilot]

Much better to take your cheap sailboat money and hang twin outboards on the back of your cruiser.
Still ridiculous, but less so.

On edit , I didn't notice that the Cruiser has operable engines, just use the engines it has.
Let me explain, the BSFC of a Diesel is sort of flat, meaning that there in nothing magic about a sailboat motor that makes it ten times more efficient than other Diesels, they are actually pretty close efficiency wise.
The Magic comes from a Sailboat requiring very little power to make it move, I am sure this is because the power you can get from sails is limited so the way to go faster or sail with little wind, is to have a very efficient hull shape.
"Cruiser" power boats are inefficient hulls because other things like roominess is more important, want to go faster? Put in bigger engines has been the recourse, of course there are some pretty efficient power boats too, but they tend to cost more and lose some of that roominess etc.

Want to save the most fuel? Buy a sailboat and sail it, it is what most of us do.

[svHyLyte]

Buy a Trawler with a steadying sail mast/boom (though most trawler owners don't seem to realize what the rig is for and simply use it as a crane). We met a couple with a large-ish Trawler at the Galleon Marina in Key West that told us of using the steadying sail on their boat to "sail" from KW back to their home in Naples, albeit slowly, while only using fuel in their generator for their on-board power needs. Not my cuppa tea but they were very pleased with themselves for the effort and fuel efficiency.

A dedicated motor/sailor might have been a better approach, eh? For example:

[ebsail]

Why not keep it simple. Just use the powerboat's engines at very low power settings (say just above idle). Full use will not be much more than the sailboat would use towing the power boat, and you don't have to maintain two boats. Watch the tides (current) and it will be cheaper stili. Managing two boats is kinda overwhelming and not economical.

[PuttingDoctor]

Plenty of option in motor sailors or deck salon type designs.

You didn't mention the size of the crew you're traveling with but something from 40-45' in the choices above will have plenty of room.

[svthreecheers]

Who comes up with questions like this ??
Cheers
Siggi

[Suijin]

Not only is it not practical, it's galacticaly unsafe. I'm thinking you've never been on a boat before if you're really even contemplating this.

Towing is something that demands near constant attention by crew on the towing boat and the towed boat in all but flat, uncongested waters. To even think of doing it offshore in anything short of a dire emergency is sheer folly. And to propose doing it in a storm. Dear lord. Two boats tethered to each other in rough seas? That's a recipe for disaster for both of them.

Yes, tugs and barges do it, but they are built for it with trained crews and even then it's not a casual thing and is fraught with risk in rougher weather.

[zeehag]

ok so
many said you will die.
ok
fact is--sailboats suck at long distance tows especially when under sail. the effects of wind and current on your endeavor will create a frustration on you ..make sure both boats have propulsion and take em one at a time to the ultimate destination or make up your mind via practicing sailing until you understand the physics of it all, then reconsider your decision to tow something nonfunctional a long distance with a sailboat.

[tkeithlu]

If your 40' cruiser is diesel and you keep it to 7 knots, your burn is going to be better than 2 nautical miles per gallon. A thousand dollar's worth will get you about a thousand miles, and that's not very expensive in boat terms. If you don't buy a motor sailor or a trawler, just slow down and you've solved your problem.

[Juho]

Towing is not really an option since the dimensions of sailboats are designed to move themselves only, and maybe a small dinghy behind. Towing larger boats upwind does not work. Towing the sailboat in a storm does not work either (too risky, better sail them separately than tied together).

I think your options are either a power cruiser with lots of fuel, or a sailboat that is somewhat bigger than in your original plans. If you want to sail to save fuel, why not have a proper sailboat. There are sailboat models that have plenty of space inside, and big windows. Maybe a motorsailer, a pilothouse sailboat (like mine), or a deck saloon sailboat. I don't know your budget, so I can't recommend any model.

[Suijin]

I think the guy needs a trawler. Probably does not know how to sail which is a whole other can of worms.

Basically they want a party platform that is miserly on fuel. Trawler.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Buy a Trawler with a steadying sail mast/boom (though most trawler owners don't seem to realize what the rig is for and simply use it as a crane). We met a couple with a large-ish Trawler at the Galleon Marina in Key West that told us of using the steadying sail on their boat to "sail" from KW back to their home in Naples, albeit slowly, while only using fuel in their generator for their on-board power needs. Not my cuppa tea but they were very pleased with themselves for the effort and fuel efficiency.

A dedicated motor/sailor might have been a better approach, eh? For example:

Trawler owners know what their rigs are for. The fact is they are much too small to effectively steady a boat & are in fact designed to be a lift for the dinghy. They are also effective as a wind vane to keep the boat from sailing around at anchor.

[Scout 30]

Build a house on a barge & move it with a tug boat.