Musings of a Subversive Sailor

Life is full of little mysteries, this I know, but one that keeps me permanently bemused is: why don't people with sailing boats, sail them?

Now I can quite understand why you might not want to beat to windward for 4 miles when you can motor there more quickly and comfortably.  On the other hand, if you feel like that - why go to all the expense of a high-tech Bermudian rig?  Why not go for an honest motor sailer and put a junk rig on it that will be much better for the motoring bit as well as being perfect when you want to run downwind and save fuel.

I can understand human impatience which makes people reach for the starter button when the boat starts drifting sideways and doing the 'painted ship upon a painted sea bit', although I personally rather enjoy it.  But I am quite happy to make use of my engine to get in to an anchorage rather than sit for hours staring at it.

But what I truly cannot understand is those people who motor, with a nice F3 or 4 on the beam.  I've been yachting around over the Christmas period, and seen an amazing amount of this happening.  I mean, these people have roller furling jibs, for heaven's sake.  How much work is it to pull it out?  And why would you put up with the noise of an engine when you could be going just as quickly and a lot more quietly.  And that's before I get on my soap box and start ranting on about the profligate waste of finite resources and the sheer immorality of using diesel when the wind is free and infinite - and fair.

So why do they have sailing boats?  And why do these same people mock my junk rig and claim that it can't possibly sail to windward anywhere near as well as their boat?  How would they know?

One of life's little mysteries.