motorsailing cruise

[bmanley]

Considering the amount of time people spend motoring, should a motorsailer be considered for a circumnavigation cruise - if the intent of the cruise was not a race. I image it would be longer on the transocean legs but how much longer. What kind of speed can a motorsailer get on just sail?

~Brett

[Nauticatarcher]

We have a Nauticat 44 Motorsailer, given 15 knots and above, we sail well, if we choose to sail to windward (which should be avoided any way) we motorsail, on a recent crossing of the Tasman Sea from Launceston, Tasmania to Nelson, NZ, out of 4 yachts crossing at the same time by following our normal routine of reefing down and motorsailing at night and sailing hard duringb the day we arrived 2 days ahead of the next yacht, missed the front that caught the other yachts, did no damage and arrived well rested, sure we burnt a bit more fuel, but compared to the damage bill a couple of the other boats had I think we came out ahead, We enjoy the comfort of our pilothouse in hot and cold weather and because we are a motorsailor dont feel guilty using our engine, unlike some yachties I know who use theres just as much but dont like to admit.