The motorsailer: Not good at anything or just a motorboat with sail?

That's the second time today you've mentioned wives, PAR. Something you'd like to share?

And if you think a SOR is important for a boat, it's 10 times more so for a wife! As in boatbuilding, most people go wrong because they don't know what they need, just what they think they want.

 

Wonderful statement, almost philosophical.

In a sheltered bay nearby, an elderly Austrian couple on a tight budget anchor every summer for 2 or 3 months. They have a 12 meter motorsailer that spends the winter in a cheap inland marina in Italy.

A slow, ugly boat, but very spacious so they carry an impressive library, spare parts, tools, 400 gallons of water and 2 large freezers with all the food they need during their stay: they come to the village just to buy vegetables.

 

When selecting a motorsailer, you can rely on luck: I did that with my wife and it worked out OK, but from what I read in this forum the odds are against it. Probably the most important thing is to ask yourself why you wnat a motorsailor in the first place. If the answer is related to practical needs, like getting in and out of a harbor with awkward winds, then look at those needs and make your selection based on those. If it merely seems like a good idea or you don't really want to bother with the hassle of sailing but would like to give it a try, then you're heading the wrong way IMHO.

 

a boat larger than a oversized dighny is probably pretty far off in the future for me, but i like to sail when it's nice weather, or in any weather if im feeling like it, but otherwise i like the idea of being able to stay in the pilothouse on a bad day with a nice cup of coffe and a blanket.

 

I want a motorsailor so I can sail long distances if I want to leave this ****** up place but if I'm inland where there's no wind you can motor. Sorry just really fed up getting ripped off left right and center. A boat in the US is about half price it is here.

 

also, here in the Stockholm archipelago, the islands are very close, so sometimes it can be hard to tack through a straight or you might find yourself in lee of the islands.

 

Looking to smaller size, I working on new motorsailer Soler-34 MS, based on modern hull form, light weight construction and powerful outboard. And pilothouse for sure. Have a look on her.

 

Motorsailors are great boats. The "Motor" side of the description is not so much about the power plant but the yachts internal volume. Plenty of water, stored energy, beer, nik naks, stuff, junk and all the things you need to enjoy a cruise. No need for them to be slow. Not long ago I sailed a Doug Peterson designed steel motorsailor...good looking, big sailplan , moderate proportions and her light weather performance was excellent. Sailing along nicely on a gentle summers day is what life is all about.

 

Agree.

 

My last 25, an old Coronado, fitted with a small diesel had a range of 600 miles with a tank buit into the keel. Not too many powerboats have that range. I call that a motorsailor. If the capability of crossing the ocean under power is the criteria, then most powerboats would not be powerboats but auxiliary barges.

 

Its interesting that marketing men have started to put wheelhouses on light displacement yachts to market them as motorsailors. Beware...these things are lightweight steamrollers. Motorailors need volume and practicality, not fine sections forward and a lightweight bulb hung from a deep keel. . Nothing more ridiculous that to observe these modern fine ended yachts with complex anchor handling systems, retractable keels and heaps of systems like water makers to overcome the yachts inherent defects as a true motorsailor.

 

what 'inherent effecs' are you talking about?

 

..defects The abilities to carry a load...water fuel, couple anchors hung ready for use, long keel so the yacht is versatile and easy to handle, low freeboard so you can climb aboard without a ladder. .
Simply look at the depiction of the motorsailor above.. 2 rudders ? and a drop keel ?... wide beam and high topsides, shallow bilge with no storage.... big deal, lightweight steamroller...
how are you going to handle it in a harbour ?... twin rudders picking up mooring lines, fish buoys, I see no bow to stern rubbing strake on the topsides...no natural ventilation in the topsides, no on deck storage, no davit hung tender, no beefy toe rails bulwarks, no way to ground out on a tide and not wreck havoc. This is simply a modern light displacement yacht with a wheelhouse. These are OK to, just not motorsailors. Motorsailor are different beasts...practical, designed to be used, designed to be independent from the dock for a two week cruise. This is a well concieved modern motorsailor.

http://www.amel.fr/

 

A boat is a boat, of course, of coarse, but when is a boat a horse... or a cow...
Depends on the owners ... of course, of coarse

 

Well, as far as cows...couple years ago on a transatlantic I came across one of those French motorsailer cows...it was making 200 mile days and the frogs onboard seemed plenty happy as they hauled in the dorado.