This could almost convince me to move over to the dark side

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Sybarite

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By Structures who make Pogos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqADwnRsS4o

0.5 litres diesel per nm at 10 - 12 knots.... (Volvo 50 hp, 75 hp, or 2 x 30 hp)

Here is a video of Bernard Deguy, 79, who sailed with Tabarly and Cousteau (he was the skipper of L'Alcyone) and has done 32 transats.

He describes the Loxo 32 as his dream boat after coming from sail. The video recalls his trip from Gothenburg to S. Brittany via Oslo, Shetlands, Caledonian canal.

https://www.bateaux.com/article/28406/n-y-a-d-age-vivre-reves-de-navigation
 
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Interesting, but as someone thinking of moving to the true dark side I am thinking that it won’t give the simple pleasure that you get from sailing with just the sound of wind and water? :)
 
Nigel Irens has done some very pretty lightweight and low-drag motor boats in the past but they all "suffer" the same problem in that the hull shape reduces interior space dramatically by 32' motor boat standards - and of course the ride will tend to be less comfortable in a low displacement design even with sails and some ballast to steady things - in a motor boat I would imagine that would be an even bigger issue. I do prefer the idea of a motor boat that gently moves the water aside rather than bludgeoning it out of way though.

Molly Ban is for sale at Berthon if you have €600K burning a hole in your pocket. I think she's beautiful (although I'd simply spend the money on a sailing boat if it was for me) but I can't see the average person in the market for a 60' motor boat going for it. I think one thing that's changed in more recent years is that it's so much easier to sail large boats short-handed these days, even when one gets older that there's no longer the need to give up sailing so early - as a result the market for "motor boat for the man who has been forced to give up sailing" is a lot, lot smaller.

http://www.nigelirens.com/boats/power-boats/rangeboat/

http://www.nigelirens.com/boats/power-boats/molly-ban/
 
grumpy_o_g said:
Nigel Irens has done some very pretty lightweight and low-drag motor boats in the past but they all "suffer" the same problem in that the hull shape reduces interior space dramatically by 32' motor boat standards - and of course the ride will tend to be less comfortable in a low displacement design even with sails and some ballast to steady things - in a motor boat I would imagine that would be an even bigger issue. I do prefer the idea of a motor boat that gently moves the water aside rather than bludgeoning it out of way though.

Molly Ban is for sale at Berthon if you have €600K burning a hole in your pocket. I think she's beautiful (although I'd simply spend the money on a sailing boat if it was for me) but I can't see the average person in the market for a 60' motor boat going for it. I think one thing that's changed in more recent years is that it's so much easier to sail large boats short-handed these days, even when one gets older that there's no longer the need to give up sailing so early - as a result the market for "motor boat for the man who has been forced to give up sailing" is a lot, lot smaller.

http://www.nigelirens.com/boats/power-boats/rangeboat/

http://www.nigelirens.com/boats/power-boats/molly-ban/
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The Loxo 32 has a base price of €120k including VAT.
 
It's slowly happening: efficient motor boats that don't need thousands of pounds of fuel to cross the channel. The Dashews went motor a few years ago ( https://www.setsail.com/ ) after years of building and sailing some very fast ( if not pretty ) long-distance sailing yachts like Sundeer and Beowulf. These were cruisers not racers, though they did set some record passage times.
 
Ok for day trips and the occasional overnight I guess. If I ever move to the dark side it will be with something like a Trader or Hardy.
 
Bobc said:
Ok for day trips and the occasional overnight I guess. If I ever move to the dark side it will be with something like a Trader or Hardy.
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My thinking, exactly.

Still, it's interesting that such efficiency can result from a hull form whose lines appear to owe much to a shoe-box.
 
Sybarite said:
By Structures who make Pogos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqADwnRsS4o

0.5 litres diesel per nm at 10 - 12 knots.... (Volvo 50 hp, 75 hp, or 2 x 30 hp)

Here is a video of Bernard Deguy, 79, who sailed with Tabarly and Cousteau (he was the skipper of L'Alcyone) and has done 32 transats.

He describes the Loxo 32 as his dream boat after coming from sail. The video recalls his trip from Gothenburg to S. Brittany via Oslo, Shetlands, Caledonian canal.

https://www.bateaux.com/article/28406/n-y-a-d-age-vivre-reves-de-navigation
Click to expand...

0.5 litres per nm is 9 mpg. My 35 foot sail boat does 13mpg under engine alone.

And where is the skill in piloting a stink boat at sea by comparison?
 
birdseye said:
0.5 litres per nm is 9 mpg. My 35 foot sail boat does 13mpg under engine alone.

And where is the skill in piloting a stink boat at sea by comparison?
Click to expand...

Navigating and piloting a fast boat is very different from a slow one: I used to disdain all the pre-plannning stuff on the grounds that the wind and tide would alter things - even the destination at times. Then I got drafted in as navigator on a big fast powerboat that then wanted to go into a complex entrance to refuel and get out again. Should have had a pre-planned list of buoys, transits, distances, estimated times at 35 knots .......
 
grumpy_o_g said:
Nigel Irens has done some very pretty lightweight and low-drag motor boats in the past but they all "suffer" the same problem in that the hull shape reduces interior space dramatically by 32' motor boat standards - and of course the ride will tend to be less comfortable in a low displacement design even with sails and some ballast to steady things -


Indeed, I can't see the motor boat boys going for it, looks like it would make a nice tender though.

Does anyone remember the VLAN (Very Long And Narrow), was that Nigel Irens? They did a round Britain demo voyage in the 80's / 90's.
Click to expand...
 
Having almost bought several small sailing yachts this year, and having each time been finally discouraged by likely post-purchase expenditure on sails, keels, running and standing rigging, I've begun looking at some nice old motor boats as an alternative which might be significantly less bother, if not actually cheaper to own.

Fuel cost always slaps this open-mindedness pretty hard, but every day sailing my dinghy pours a bucket of cold reality over my conceit about the ease of sailing, too.

Short of actually owning and paying for the upkeep of a sailing yacht and a motor cruiser, I think I'd still choose a motor-sailer for its versatility, rather than a very efficient motor yacht.

If a boat's design obliges its user mostly to employ either sails or engine, I think a degree of discontent is likely to set in.

I'd rather put up with the discontent suffered by owners of boats which neither sail nor motor, very well, but offer equal inefficiency either way. ;)
 
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