I have long been an advocate of sail assisted powercats. Wild Wind IV came real close to being one. Brian, If you put a rig on a powercat you are not worried about tacking. Just start one engine and power tack. If one is not going to cross oceans then I wonder why you would want a rig on a powercat. When I brought WWIV back from NZ I would have been more comfortable in WWIII, a 50' Prout sailing cat. Particularly from Hawaii to Seattle. I might have made the trip faster in WWIII. Just after leaving Hawaii I met with winds ahead of the beam and I reduced speed to conserve fuel. In WWIII I would have been able to sail faster. When the wind went on the beam I would have sailed as fast or faster than I motored. Sail less cats are not the kindest in a beam sea. We rode in a beam sea all the way to 40 north before we turned east. I remember sailing from Jamaica to Panama in a fresh beam sea. The trip was fast and more pleasant that our trip out of Hawaii. With all this said, I would only recommend a sail assisted cat if one was to do a lot of long distant off shore traveling. As you may be able to tell I have given the concept a lot of thought. Here are some of my ideas. First of all the boat should be a good powercat in it's own right. The rig should be removable and stowed onboard if possible. The rig should be made most for reaching and running. When we circumnavigated I can hardly remember going to weather. The rig should be able to carry very large down wind sails. All sails should be roller furling or roller reefing. Controllable pitch props would be essential. CPP's are fantastic for motor sailing and the ability to feather the props is a must. Running one engine saves a lot of fuel and engine hours. The safety fact of a rig is important. Not to mention fuel burn. When working on WWIV I did not pursue my sail assisted powercat design because I was not planning more long offshore trips other than bringing the boat home. I have a design that I would glad to share with anyone who is interested. Particularly someone who is planning a circumnavigation. Part of the plan is a dual taper mast that has no shrouds and the mast could be stored on board. Also no boom. Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday to all. Dennis