T&T: Sail costs. fuel costs

[LRZeitlin at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/2/08 12:01:36 AM, Bob Phillips writes:


> Being a sailmaker, I can speak for the relative values of sails 
> versus fuel; fuel is cheaper in an economical boat like mine.  If she 
> was a sailboat, a suit of sails would run well north of $20K, last 
> five to six years down here.  In eight years of ownership I haven't 
> used $7K in fuel, so am well ahead.  Sails deteriorate when they 
> aren't in use, whereas the costs of not operating my machinery are 
> fixed at near zero.  Every sailboat I know of a like size puts on 
> almost as many hours and seems to motor more than they sail.  
> Certainly the gens are running just as much.
>

Bob,

With all due respect, I disagree. At least for cruising sailboats and
motorsailers equipped with suitable cruising sails. I currently own two boats
with
sails. One is a 1965 Westerly Nomad twin keel sailboat, only on its second set
of sails. The first set lasted 25 years, the second is still going strong.
Both
were made by Rockall in the UK. The second boat is a 1974 Willard Horizon
motorsailer still on its original 34 year old set of sails. Replacement of
either
set of sails is less than one BU. Certainly a good deal less than replacement
of an engine or the fuel cost that appropriate sail use has eliminated.

On the other hand I used to race an Ericson 36. In the racing world sails get
changed every several years, not because they wear out but because they
stretch and lose the carefully engineered shape the sailmakers put in. But the
sails don't "wear out." They just become less competitive in a sport where
success
is measured in performance differences smaller than one percent.

Certainly if you keep your sails on the mast or jib furled, exposed to
tropical sunlight, the fabric will deteriorate in time. But most prudent
sailors use
sail covers or acrylic sunshields on jibs. These extend sail life for years.
And I've never heard of sails deteriorating when stored in a sail bag during
long periods of motoring.

I am a trawler advocate and in my old age I prefer the certainty of power to
the ambiguity of the wind but, at least from my experience, to say that sails
are a more expensive form of propulsion than fuel is absurd.

Sorry Georg.

Larry Z


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