Brian replied: What would you think of this 'downwind sail-assisted vessel'?? Seems to meet a lot of your requirements New Age Trawler/Motorsailer <http://tinyurl.com/yo96xt> Instead of the tri configuration, just make it a cat Dennis replied. I can just see the boat trying to handle all that machinery and associated weight . Just a simple mast and rig with powered furling and winches would be easy to handle, even for an old guy like me, if the wind died, blew to hard, or changed. Something flying loose from the boat is not to my liking. It's bad enough to handle a spinnaker in the middle of the night when short handed. Sail assist should be simple and easy to manage with the least amount of gear.