------ Original Message ------ From: "Dennis Raedeke" <dennis@wildmountain.com> Subject: [PCW] fuel ecomy Dennis wrote: I also stand by my previous suggestion of modifying the fuel tankage etc. of a suitable under fifty foot sail catamaran to gain the range needed. I know, it's not a power catamaran anymore, but I don't see a non-sailing catamaran design under fifty feet long that would give me the confidence for ocean crossing bluewater cruising. Take it from a guy who has crossed the pacific in both sail and power, and the power was against the wind. It is much easier to deal with a mast and sails than to try to convert the vessel into a floating fuel tank. A fuel tank detached or added to the boat, is a disaster looking to happen. Under some conditions it is all you want to deal with the boat as designed. You are trying to do the imposable. Get a good sailing cat if you want a cheaper method of going a long distance over open ocean. In Wild Wind III a 50' Prout sailing cat, Which was heavy and not very fast, we still went faster than most smaller trawlers whether under sail or power. She had a lot of room and was a great home. After my wife and I put 70,000 miles on her the new owner, Brent Mullis, took her across the Atlantic to the Med and back again. Remember staying on the normal cruising routes IN SEASON and going the right direction is a piece of cake. A good example, when we went from Fiji to NZ in the fall of 1991 we were able to sail 200 miles a day for three days then motor 200 miles a day and had a delightful trip. If you could only go 160 miles a day the weather pattern would change before you got there. Just like Mike talked about. That happened to a lot of boats. _____________________________________________________________ Brian responded: Certainly sounds like a great endorsement of the MotorSailer concept I've been pushing for a long time: Monohull verses Multihull powersailers / motorsailers <http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4499> And then lately I added the kite-assisted concept that Dave Culp has championed at: New Age Trawler/Motorsailer <http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20319> RunningTideYachts.com