Not to extend this further but I think a couple comments are in order. I would say the summary is (a) it's not good or bad, but different strokes for different folks. and (b) different tool for a different job.

Part of the rant is just about sail vs power, not mono vs cat, I like them both for different circumstances.  The other point I would make is judging all sailing cats by a small Fountaine Pajot is like judging all power monos by a Bayliner.  The design requirements are (1) be cheap, and (2) pack on a lot of people. When I need a getaway I'll charter a sailing cat in the tropics and a power mono in the PNW.  I chartered the 46' FP cat in French Polynesia in '02 and indeed they are a cheap boat for the charter trade, the base manager even said as much when we talked about some of the problems on the vessel.  Also Raiatea to Bora Bora is often upwind/downwind so people on a short charter are in a hurry and just power every place.  On the other hand in the early 90's we had a Privilege cat in BVI and it really performed nicely and we sailed most of the time.  In the PNW with the strong currents and unpredictable winds and weather, I prefer power.

Passagemaking is another story all together (different job needs a different tool).  I must say I enjoyed surfing waves in the tradewinds on a Calif to Marquesas passage, but it was a fair bit of work.  Thankfully we had a decent sized crew.  As Peter rightly pointed out, if you talk to sailors they spend a lot of time under power.  I'm also looking forward to a long distance trip under power.  Anyone need crew? ;-)

Mark
Marina del Rey, CA

----- Original Message ----
From: Peter Sheppard petershepp@gmail.com
To: passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 1:35:50 AM
Subject: Re: [PUP] Motor/sailing Vessels

Subject: Re: Motor Sailing/vessels

Scott,
Scott,

Bloody well said on your view why catamarans suck. I couldn't agree with you
more. I have just had 2 weeks cruising the Leeward Islands of French
Polynesia in a brand new Fountaine Pajot Lavezza (40') with 3 other mates.
In the two weeks I think the motor was switched off for only 6 hours max.
Mucking around with the rags was hardly worth the effort. What got me
however is the non stop bruising we all sustained due to cramped conditions
and badly designed fittings. Also having to have a leak like my sister, or
contorting myself into a back spasm to do it the way I was taught seemed
ridiculous to me in this day and age. However one thing I liked was that the
escape hatches (designed for when inverted) in the heads gave you a chance
to glimpse at marine life, or any other foreign matter floating by.

Thank goodness I'm a trawler man.

Peter Sheppard

--
Peter J Sheppard

Passagemaking Under Power and PUP are trademarks of Water World Productions, formerly known as Trawler World Productions.

To be removed from the PUP list send an email with the
subject "unsubscribe" (no quotes) to the link below:

mailto:passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com

Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List

In a Dashew video, they said that they spent 85% of their time under power.
I had heard similar stories from other cruising couples traveling the Gulf
of Maine, etc. My own experience on Chesapeake Bay and to and from Cape Cod
convinced me that I owned a very good, very slow trawler - Pacific Seacraft
37 cutter.

Since childhood, I had always been in love with Hand motorsailers and even
got to see one on the Severn River. At that time I consulted Charles Neville
and he said he had designs for a few, but they (then) had poor resale value.
He was kind enough to send me a line drawing of a magnificent motorsailer,
but my then wife was not interested.

Now I am happy on a Willard 40 FBS.

Ron Rogers

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark" mark424x@yahoo.com

As Peter rightly pointed out, if you talk to sailors they spend a lot of
time under power.  I'm also looking forward to a long distance trip under
power.  Anyone need crew? ;-)

Great posting, full of good information and valuable perspective.

This is a place to talk about sail and power, one hull or two, or three for
that matter, if the context is passagemaking.  I believe there are many
forums for sailing, so I'd suggest we should focus on the aspects of a
passagemaker along the lines of Beebe (sail assist, power primary).  Heck,
people even want to fly kites from their boats, kind of like a sail.
Everyone's opinions are worthy of consideration, or not, the delete key is
merely a fingertip away :)

Thank you for the contribution.

Scott Bulger PUP list administrator