What is a motor sailer?

snowleopard

snowleopard

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We all know the stereotype - Fisher, Colvic Watson etc. But what are the essential characteristics of a motor sailer? When I started sailing the rule of thumb was 1 HP per ton for an auxiliary and 3 for a motor sailer but most modern yachts have more than that. So what defines one for you?

Min HP per ton
Small sail area
Enclosed wheelhouse
Heavy displacement
Ability to motor to windward in strong winds

Any others?
 
A motor sailer usually..

(1) Looks like a tarted-up brick outhouse.
(2) Sails like one.
(3) Motors like one.




P.S. If fuel were to become cheap again, as in 4/6 a gallon, I would probably want one.

;)
 
This season, more attractive every day, that's what it is !

I suppose enclosed wheelhouse & very powerful engine, but there are some good sailing boats with those too nowadays.

maybe 'something which won't go to windward effectively without engine assistance' ?
 
Mine isnt really a motor sailer, more motor with auxilary sails.
But a useful amount of sail, saves fuel.
 
Definition will vary according to who is defining it!

It is just a shorthand to conjure up an image which varies from person to person and over time.

For some it is positive term representing some kind of ideal and for others a derogatory one describing a compromise.

So use it in the way that either you see it, or in the way that you think your audience would like to see it! Whichever way you do - it will be wrong (or right).
 
This is my idea of a Motor Sailer. Pescadou is owned by friends. She is 36 feet over deck, Dutch steel construction and fitted with a Gardner diesel engine. The ketch rig is faily small compared to the heavy displacement, but she does sail. The photo was taken on a windless day.

June2006038.jpg
 
What it isn't, of course, is any sailing boat that has an engine on board. A point that seems to confuse many non-sailors.

Pete
 
Norman_E said:
This is my idea of a Motor Sailer. Pescadou is owned by friends. She is 36 feet over deck, Dutch steel construction and fitted with a Gardner diesel engine. The ketch rig is faily small compared to the heavy displacement, but she does sail. The photo was taken on a windless day.

June2006038.jpg
Click to expand...

36 feet and a GARDNER motorsailor for sure!

Better looker than many though.

The French call them 50/50s and I met a couple recently who had circumnavigated with theirs a Beneteau of about 33 feet. They said mostly under sail except they motored through the red sea and most of the med.
 
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Yes - I would class my old Prout cat ( Quest 33CS) as a motorsailer because it would not sail to windward effectively in a chop. You had to motor to get anywhere.

And there are quite a few boats like that. Catalacs for example. Old Westerlies like the Centaur.
 
TQA said:
36 feet and a GARDNER motorsailor for sure!

Better looker than many though.

The French call them 50/50s and I met a couple recently who had circumnavigated with theirs a Beneteau of about 33 feet. They said mostly under sail except they motored through the red sea and most of the med.
Click to expand...

I believe that Pescadou actually sails quite well, but needs a bit of a breeze to get going. The Gardner is amazing, a tall long stroke four cylinder job, that revs slowly, turning a prop that looks about 2 feet in diameter. You can even pump up the oil pressure before starting it, and turn individual cylinders on and off whilst it is running. Ken and Clio who own it were in Istanbul last time I heard from them and intend taking it up the Danube and through the European canal network to the North Sea, with an eventual plan to take it home to Canada via a North Atlantic crossing and the North West Passage.
 
Perhaps the clue is in the name....Motor (is the prime source of motive power) Sail(er) (is the secondary source of motive power).....and the boat is designed around these parameters....Its got little to do with whether or not there is a wheelhouse, long keel, heavy displacement or how well it goes to windward under sail. If the sails/rig are obviously more powerful than the mechanical engine it is a sailing boat with an auxiliary motor.
 
wotayottie said:
Yes - I would class my old Prout cat ( Quest 33CS) as a motorsailer because it would not sail to windward effectively in a chop. You had to motor to get anywhere.

And there are quite a few boats like that. Catalacs for example. Old Westerlies like the Centaur.
Click to expand...


I'm afraid I have to disagree re. the Centaur; in the right hands they sail quite well.

They suffered from the motor-sailer tag for 2 reasons; Westerlys happened on a good deal with Volvos for the then large 23hp engine, so people thought it needed it, and a lot were sold to inexperienced people who couldn't get the most out of any sails so on went the engine...
 
prv said:
Just idle curiosity, but any idea what that thing is on a bracket on the front of the mizzen, between the radar and the deckhouse roof?

Pete
Click to expand...

Compass for a Neco autopilot I think. I had one on my Ryton 38.

Come to think about it maybe that came close to being a motorsailor? I tended to sail it everywhere but everything passed us. Solid steel boat with humungous water tanks.
 
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