Cruising and sailing is meant to be relaxing. As someone said circumnavigating is boring interrupted by short periods of simple fear.
. - there have to be some upsides.
So, he went round a 60 mile course involving all points of sail, including 2 beats. In 6 hours. Even the Contessas did better than 4.5kn, but they do love a bit of wind. Al Wood averaged just over 10kn for the course, never mind the track though the water.
Good luck finding somewhere to park it.
The 50 miles is not allowing for tacking of course. Both Solent legs were to windward., that is over 20 miles of it. Which clearly makes the C32s quite impressive too. But it wasn’t a fast year, the wind direction was wrong for records. I’ve personally been round in less than 6 hours, by a whisker, the lead multihull did it in 2 hours 20 or something stupid. 2 million quids worth of boat, so let’s discount that for ordinary mortals.
Having done both - it’s a very different experience from sailing. Even at 10 knots navigating becomes more intense than at 5. Actually just not bouncing/slamming around enough you can make a cup of tea might mean a boat that’s 20% slower is more “comfortable” than one that gets you there quicker.
I think your question is a bit odd!
I absolutely agree - my question was more an attempt to rephrase the OPs question into something that could get a useful answer.
I don't think it's odd at all. It's a perfectly reasonable question.
The RTI race throws up a lot of anomalies, you could argue it’s not a particularly realistic scenario for cruising performance comparisons anyway. The early starters had contrary tide almost all the time, which happens often. If you set out to sail round for yourself, you’d have left at a different time. Later starters were more favoured. And rhumb line distances are never the story unless it’s a dead northerly or southerly wind. However, it’s what we have to work with. Most of the smaller multis will have had their usual cruising crew on board, I’ve done it about 6 times 2 handed. Another few with 1 extra.
The question even as rephrased in your final paragraph really doesn’t make sense. I’ve cruised a wayfarer - as have many people, in that sense they are not absolutely awful to cruise but if those level of creature comforts are on the table then it opens up a whole range of race boats. Everyone’s idea of “creature comforts” or “absolutely awful” are different. Fastest is an objective measure but comfort is a subjective one. It’s perfectly ok to want to sail boats fast. It’s perfectly ok to prioritise speed over comfort. But, I don’t think you can ask other people to define the answer without defining the comforts.
That's how you'd work if you were commissioning a new build maybe.
If you have a million to spend on it, there is a 40 foot Dragonfly with all the performance and everything you’d expect of a cruiser. For that of course there are a few 55 odd foot monos that are going to give it a damn good try as well. But, realistically, if you want to go fast short handed, ie no more than 4, and most of those the age of our esteemed members, then a multi is the way. You need a really big mono to get the numbers. And with all big boats, it’s very much not just the initial outlay. Cheap big boats especially. They’re cheap cos there’s a few big bills waiting, like the sword of Damocles. True enough of my boat too. I didn’t pay too much for her, but have spent 20k bringing her up to scratch. Worth it because DFs hold their value so well, but that’s not the case for every boat. Second hand racers particularly. They’re in fact little use once past their winning days, as, like as not they need a big crew and are unmanageable without. And IMOCAs may sail solo, but are you that guy? They are super fit, usually young, and brave beyond all reason. But still, in spite of Doug’s pessimism, I believe you can have it all, just not quite for 50k.
Can I tow it behind a Ford Mondeo?