We just got back from a long cruise (long for us- 5 days) where the wind tended to be against us every day. We ended up motor sailing some of the time fairly close hauled with winds varying 5-10 knots. We were pressed for time and wanted to keep our speed up and direction to our destination so that ended up with some pinched sailing a bit too close to the wind, but better than either motor alone or sail alone. Periodically, (especially as the wind increased) the engine/hull would start intensly vibrating and if I adjusted engine rpm, I could usually get it to stop. I am presuming that I was getting resonances in the engine/prop due to the sails and prop trying to drive the boat simultaneously and not always in sync. Obviously strong vibrations are not a good thing, but my question is whether motorsailing like this is a bad idea altogether due strain on transmission/engine. Thanks- Dave
S/V Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
