So, you have decided to buy your first boat, a fairly large one for traveling and living on board, and now you can’t decide between sails and a motor. Your preferences at the moment may be shaped not so much by personal experience as by the nautical culture of your region, magazines and books that you have read, as well as an overly romantic idea of a particular category of yachts.
Since we are big fans of sailing, periodically race in small regattas and came to motor yachting from there, we will not be biased.
There is and continues to be an incredible amount of content about sailboats on the Internet (most of which, by the way, is not true, but that’s not important). Unlike motor yachts, the owners of which are usually quite wealthy and do not feel the desire and need to create a YouTube channel to talk about their travels, a used sailboat can be bought at a much more affordable price and operated practically for free until the first major repair, while simultaneously filming videos about your “extreme adventures” and trying to make money on it.
On the other hand, most keel sailboats up to 10 meters are capable of crossing the ocean, while to do this solely under motor power, you will need at least a solid-sized trawler with a huge fuel budget or an expensive solar catamaran.
In addition, it is easy to notice that there is some artificially created elitism in the sailing community, which can also attract some people. All this together can lead to the conclusion that a sailboat is exactly what you need. But do not rush, perhaps you are missing some nuances.
Sailing boats do have many advantages over motor yachts, but all of them are fair only under one condition: you must really love sailing. Only then will you be able to put up with all the inconveniences that sailing yachts have. Otherwise, their disadvantages will outweigh all the advantages.
The very fact of buying a sailing yacht implies that you will be ready to tinker with rigging and all the associated equipment. Maintenance of any yacht is an almost continuous process, but sails add even more hassle.
If you do not have a professional crew, then at sea you do everything yourself, including emergency repairs of all critical elements that will break sooner or later, and, as a rule, at the most inopportune moment. It is worth noting here that many popular models of sailing yachts, even from leading manufacturers, have quite a few vulnerable and unreliable components.
Of course, most yachtsmen like to work on board: to repair or tidy up something. After all, this is partly why you buy a boat, to enjoy every moment near the water. However, in a situation where you are looking for a spacious boat that can quickly fulfill its intended purpose and take you to the right place, a sailboat may disappoint you. Especially if we are talking about those regions where there are no stable winds.
When is a motor yacht beyond competition?
First of all, always when it comes to speed. After all, not everyone has a couple of free weeks or months for leisurely cruises, several days of which will be spent waiting for the right wind. And, of course, no one has canceled the pleasure of flying over the water surface on a planing cruiser.
Secondly, when the boat solves some specific tasks. For example, if your main hobby is diving, then a motor yacht becomes a mobile and comfortable base with an optimal layout, a swimming platform and spacious lockers for all the equipment.
Thirdly, when you need increased passenger capacity. With the same length, a sailing yacht will never accommodate as many guests as a motor vessel.
Fourthly, when a small draft is needed to approach shallow waters. Some sailboats have a lifting ballast keel, but this not only increases the cost of the design and adds maintenance, but also reduces the overall reliability of the vessel.
Fifth, when you don’t want to mess around with sails and you want the boat to just sail in the direction you turn the wheel, without any additional conditions.
Sixth, if you like it warm and dry at the helm and don’t like the constant heeling of the boat while sailing.
Seventh, if you plan to travel along inland waterways and often pass under bridges.
And most importantly, if you prefer relaxation on the water, and not intense teamwork, then comfort comes to the fore. Modern stabilization systems, spacious decks, a flybridge, as well as interior design dictated not so much by the requirements for the performance of the hull, but by the convenience of the owner and guests – all these points are often key for motor yacht buyers.
Aesthetics
As for the aesthetic side of sailboats, it is not shared by everyone. And in general, in most cases, when they mention the beauty of sailboats, they mean elegant classic wooden yachts, and not modern fiberglass soapboxes built mainly for the charter market.
In addition to the fact that all modern sailboats are the same, and you can hardly tell the difference between boats from different manufacturers, you also may not find any appeal in aluminum masts, steel shrouds and synthetic sails. You’ll enjoy being next to a tall lightning rod during a thunderstorm even less.
At the same time, motor yachts are incredibly diverse in design, purpose and performance. Yes, many of them are quite ugly and spoil the landscape much more than plastic sailboats, but since we mentioned the classics, it is hard to argue that some luxury neoclassical cruisers have been brought to perfection, as well as many old-school displacement motorboats.
Cost of purchase and maintenance
New motor yachts of comparable sizes, with rare exceptions, are almost always more expensive than sailboats. But the secondary market is huge, and it is quite possible to find a very reliable used trawler for the price of a sailboat.
A weighty argument in favor of choosing a sailboat can sometimes be the cost of ownership. But, as a rule, in this case many important nuances are not taken into account. For example, sailing equipment, including standing rigging, can be very expensive, is subject to heavy wear and tear and needs to be replaced regularly, and every sailing yacht has an engine and complex onboard systems that need to be maintained in the same way as a motor vessel.
In general, the whole question is just how many engine hours your motorboat will wind up in a season. The trend towards new technologies and electrification of boats of all sizes will of course alleviate this problem somewhat in the future, but for now the internal combustion engine continues to exist and dominate, so the issue of continuously rising fuel prices remains very relevant.
Beginning boaters can find information about the indecently high fuel consumption rates of motor yachts. Leaving aside the issue of environmental friendliness for a moment, it can be argued that for many this is indeed the main obstacle to buying a motor yacht, because fuel bills can reach tens and hundreds of thousands, depending on your currency.
At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between planing cruisers with two or three inboard engines of 350 hp each and displacement trawler-type yachts with very economical diesel engines. And we must not forget that most of the time, sailboat owners also operate under motor.
One way or another, the biggest misconception is that a sailboat can protect the owner from unnecessary expenses, allowing travel with virtually no maintenance costs. This is true for small sailboats, but with the increase in their size and complexity of equipment, the cost of ownership becomes as relevant as for motor yachts.
The lack of a sufficient budget for maintenance often becomes the reason for selling sailboats. This is especially true for modern high-tech models or, conversely, classic wooden yachts. The cost of maintaining many of them is almost comparable to the cost of maintaining economical displacement motor yachts of similar gross tonnage. Moreover, together with fuel.
A sail is an incredible invention that for thousands of years has caused delight and sensations incomparable to anything else. Sailing is an end in itself and a kind of philosophy. But that’s exactly why a sailing yacht might not be right for you, and perhaps one of the fast motor beauties would be better suited to your needs.