I’m glad you telling people about the rigging cost. I don’t think people realize how expensive rigging is especially if you had to buy it in some island. I myself can’t do heights so climbing a mast doesn’t appeal to me 😅
Thanks so much for the comment, yes its a very large cost to be added to the overall running costs of the boat. Particulary when you divide the major overhaul costs over say 5 to 7 years. Off course you can get away with a cheaper option then we used , infact we sailed with plenty of people who spent very little on rigging. But we wanted a stress free time as possible, and yes climbing the mast can be not fun particulary when somthing has broke or got stuck at the very worst time. Heights have never worried me but lets face it im not getting any younger!!!
Thats so true!!! many more sailboats use there engines a lot more then they let on. We are doing a lot to keep the engines quite particulary at low revs, lets face it thats the nice thing about sailing , the quitness.
I think people seriously underestimate the amount of fuel that’s actually used to push these giant sailing yachts around. I’m completely sold on your thought process and looking forward to watching the last year of progress on your new cat!
Watching this video has confirmed a lot of what I was wondering in the back of my mind. It has kind of sold me on a Silent Yachts solar boat. It takes everything that was said to the next level. Only one diesel genset to maintain and you could get by without it if you needed to.
@@CruisingSunrise I understand what you're saying. A pure electric boat wouldn't ever get anywhere on pure solar. But if a person sets expectations properly and you look at it more like a hybrid car then it's a compelling case. At anchor you never use diesel and always have a surplus of electricity. So most of the time you burn nothing. When underway you cycle the genset on and off through the trip. Don't quote me but I believe that the fuel burn is better just from doing this alone. But then on sunny days all of that extra solar goes to work for you and makes it so that you cycle the generator less often. This adds up on a trip and really impacts fuel burn. It's tough to come out on the wrong side of this equation provided you have enough fuel for the trip. Maintaining only one diesel engine on the boat really appeals to me. If the generator has an issue then the electric only system is limited but still capable of doing everything except get you out of the middle of an ocean. But if you have enough food and time then even that can be done.
Russ: Love your genius and practical wisdom... Thank you for sharing with us older guys who not had the ceiling experience you have. When you explain the cost of rigging so I have 'bout faded. I think I would love to find a way to purchase a used old 40 footer and DIY it into a solar powered boat. Just for cruising the Mediterranean or the Bahamas. My adventure days are waning. :-) Thank you for being a beacon for us to still enjoy life.
Hi Russ, someone may have asked this before so excuse me for asking again. You were talking about the cost of sailing v. power. What would be the cost of rigging your 50 footer, blocks, lines, cleats and of course the mast. Obviously that is a saving too if the boat is a dedicated power vessel and doesn't need all that gear. I designed and built a houseboat on the Murray River a few years ago. It was 23m X 8.6m. Took me 9 years to build on my own but I loved every minute of it. Obviously nowhere near as sophisticated as your level of craft though. Really enjoying the videos of the build, it brings back a lot of fond memories. Thank you.
@@brickus1249 He never answers. He might be another vaxed death? I heard 100,000 150,000 every 7 yrs. Something like that. 14,000 per year. 270,00 per week.
I agree with your comments about the costs of sails/rigging vs fuel, however, one area that needs lots of engineering/innovation is reducing vibration and noise on power boats. It's one thing if you are sprinting at 15+, but at 8-10-12 knots it should be near silent. Higher-end trawlers use thrust bearings so the engine mounts don't have to transfer the drive forces into the hull and can be tuned for better vibration isolation, but there is still a long way to go to get the peace and silence of sailing. The noise really gets to you after 12, 24, 48 hours.
Totally agree, thats why we bought a sail boat in the first place. We have demanded that as much noise and vibration be eliminated. They are using thrust bearings and have spent a lot of thought into the mounting system. they are also using 80mm sound proofing. i hope we are able to archive a fairly quite engine bay. I will show this in more detail in a future video.
Thanks Amanda and thanks so much for your comment. I dont have many women that comment so it makes me very happy that you found some enjoyment in them. OMG. in real life the boat and layout we have designed is spectacular. I hope you can meet us and see it in real life someday.
Hi Russ. Thanks for the contact details. We’re on our annual Greek (Leros ) holiday and will be in touch upon our return to Cape Town. Lots of cats visiting the island and 90% are motoring. Seems to tell a story re the hassle of sailing as opposed to motoring. Great channel
Paradise on earth. You’re going to love it. We’ve hired a gulet a few times and done both Turkey and Greece and have been dreaming of getting a large enough boat to do extended cruising with my wife and children (3under 4) ever since. Never experienced any crime in the 15 years I’ve been coming here. If you have time I recommend you try Leros. It’s totally unspoiled, not touristic and has a fascinating history. Hard to argue with the Ottomans, crusaders, Italians, English and German occupiers. We have a small SUV and a scooter on the island which you’re welcome to use to explore the island.
@@michaeltownsend4644 Thanks so much for that info and for offering us your scooter and SUV. And the more we hear about greece and turkey, the more excited we get. We're meeting our friends at Marmaris and going north (well that's the current plans, depends on weather etc). Glad to hear you love it so much there and are thinking of doing some extended cruising. I think we would say that its the best decision we've made. We met lots of families with young children and they home school and are very happy cruising. And the children are amazingly smart and adjusted to being on the water. thanks again and we''ll be in touch if we can go to Leros on our turkish trip. I'm not sure how the visas would work out. Are you Australian?
Just found your Chanel today. We plan on doing a full time livaboard on a power catamaran as well once we retire. There aren't any real Chanels with power Catamarans out there like the sailing ones. Ones that are informative and entertaining. So keep up the great work would love to see more after your on your new boat. I have never sailed and only have a limited amout of time on smaller power boat. So i think i have a fairly unbiased opinion looking from the outside in and comparing the two. After spending the last 5 plus years watching the sailing Channels on UA-cam, tring to decide what would be right for us i noticed what they spend on fuel and riging what I noticed was that. 1. a sailing catamaran is just an underpowered power catamaran with sails so you have the expense of a power catamaran in addition to some very expensive sails and riging. So maintenance is going to be more than double. 2. Most livaboards don't want to sail when the sailing is great becouse the ride sucks and it can be a little dangerous. But if you do then your maintenance and replacement of sails and riging will be more often adding to the overall expense. 3. The noise from the engines are loud on a power cat but if you not using your sails your using your engines anyway and they are underpowered and on the wrong type of hulls. 4. Power cats have way more room for storage, solar and living space. 5. Sailing is work and who wants to work when your retired. Also have you seen the kite sail that attaches to the front of the boat don't know what they cost but silent yatchs are putting them on their boats to help assist with speed and some comercial vessels are using them to help with fuel efficiency. Again that's for the information that you putting out it really helps with the decisions that some of us are trying to make about power vs sail
Welcome aboard Jim, you are absolutely correct. Most liveaboards we travelled with do motor or motor sail a lot. Of course there are some that can put up with sailing at 3 knt, but thats not us. When you are cruising around the world you are in areas at certain times of the year for a reason'and yes the weather is nice and calm. So a lot of times when we were in the Pacific or in the Kimberley there was not much wind. So yes, you do end up with a lot of money and stress (in terms of sails and mast) just sitting over your head. Youré also right about the discomfort of sailing fast in 25knt of wind and 3m seas. Perfomance catamarans with families slow down because otherwise they're bouncing off the walls because of there light weight. Or their wife and kids will scratch the captain's eyes out or get off and leave him to it. We saw this a lot in our time. A marketing push on perfomance cats is big at the moment and they are faster in light winds and strong winds. But they're not really factoring in a wife and kids and don't have space for lots of toys and a big tender. You really needs toys and a big tender have fun and explore, when you get across that ocean. Sailing cats have a lot of space as well but generally they are made to stack people on, and are not really designed for liveaboards. Sailing is beautiful when its nice, there's nothing better.... but thats not often and you do need to be constantly on your game about wind shifts and squalls etc. I have seen that kite on the Silient yacht. What a joke! It only works almost down wind and i think they have added it because the boat can not motor for very long on the batteries. I think this is just more marketing about crossing oceans without using diesel VERY SLOWLY. If you want to do that you might as well buy a sail boat.
Thanks for the info about the kite sail never could find much out about it from someone who actually used it. Look forward to seeing what you think when you get your new boat.
Whatever works for you old mate, dark side or not! Some really nice toys there, too Russ, vr headset from an underwater drone ! Whatever next! Meant to post on one of your previous vids ref meile appliances, we`ve had nothing but meile for thirty odd years and I see you mentioned a steam combi oven. We have one and it has self clean coatings which to be frank, are crap. The old pyrolitic were far better so beware! The oven itself is great but those "perfect clean" linings suck. Ref meile induction, you will never use anything else mate, they are the muts nuts ! Not all "induction cookware" actually is, however and brands that do work efficiently are Meyer, Tefal and Scanpan. Ref the deck cranes, can you post some information as to how the structural loads are transmitted into the hull? Be very interested to see how they are dealt with, there must be massive cantilever forces here. Stay safe guys, fair winds xx
thanks for the tips about Meile, our combi steam oven dosent have cleaning so i guess thats good. we have been trying to get meile cookware but they are delayed like everything theses days.will do some more filming when we get back over in Thailand on the 22
I love the idea of sails, and just silently cruising along with the breeze, etc, but and im not sailor, (wish i was) but Ive thought this way too . Its a pity that you cant sail still, to pick up some free miles. But i love the idea of not being at the weathers mercy, ie you can power on through to get somewhere if needed. Brilliant idea with the solar, She does sound so good, i just need to win the lotto as i left it too late to ever affoard soemthing as beautiful as her. Is she a hybrid? Or how the hell do you get 4000nm outta her?
@@CruisingSunrise Do you think it's possible, in the future to outfit a Catamaran such as your, with electric motors. I realize It won't have the speed capabilities of a diesel motor, but that's something I can live with. I'm hoping for a catamaran that can operate like one of those "Silent Yachts"
@@The442nd I think you might wont somthing better than those, Do you know of any that are actually operating as a cruising catamaran? Apparently there will be a hybrid option at some stage. We are thinking the tecnology is not quite there yet so will wait a while and may retro fit latter.
@@CruisingSunrise I don't know of any. hoping technology catches up with my imagination. I was sold on the Aquila 54, but after coming across your videos from Multihull Central, you made me see there are other options. How long has this process with Longreach taken to where your Catamaran is today?
I’m glad you telling people about the rigging cost. I don’t think people realize how expensive rigging is especially if you had to buy it in some island. I myself can’t do heights so climbing a mast doesn’t appeal to me 😅
Thanks so much for the comment, yes its a very large cost to be added to the overall running costs of the boat. Particulary when you divide the major overhaul costs over say 5 to 7 years. Off course you can get away with a cheaper option then we used , infact we sailed with plenty of people who spent very little on rigging. But we wanted a stress free time as possible, and yes climbing the mast can be not fun particulary when somthing has broke or got stuck at the very worst time. Heights have never worried me but lets face it im not getting any younger!!!
Fully agree, Power is the most preferred and used more often than sail
Thats so true!!! many more sailboats use there engines a lot more then they let on. We are doing a lot to keep the engines quite particulary at low revs, lets face it thats the nice thing about sailing , the quitness.
I think people seriously underestimate the amount of fuel that’s actually used to push these giant sailing yachts around. I’m completely sold on your thought process and looking forward to watching the last year of progress on your new cat!
uploading now
Watching this video has confirmed a lot of what I was wondering in the back of my mind. It has kind of sold me on a Silent Yachts solar boat. It takes everything that was said to the next level. Only one diesel genset to maintain and you could get by without it if you needed to.
you need to look very carefully at the actual boats on the water and what they can really achive, you may be very surprised.
@@CruisingSunrise I understand what you're saying. A pure electric boat wouldn't ever get anywhere on pure solar. But if a person sets expectations properly and you look at it more like a hybrid car then it's a compelling case. At anchor you never use diesel and always have a surplus of electricity. So most of the time you burn nothing. When underway you cycle the genset on and off through the trip. Don't quote me but I believe that the fuel burn is better just from doing this alone. But then on sunny days all of that extra solar goes to work for you and makes it so that you cycle the generator less often. This adds up on a trip and really impacts fuel burn. It's tough to come out on the wrong side of this equation provided you have enough fuel for the trip. Maintaining only one diesel engine on the boat really appeals to me. If the generator has an issue then the electric only system is limited but still capable of doing everything except get you out of the middle of an ocean. But if you have enough food and time then even that can be done.
Russ: Love your genius and practical wisdom... Thank you for sharing with us older guys who not had the ceiling experience you have. When you explain the cost of rigging so I have 'bout faded. I think I would love to find a way to purchase a used old 40 footer and DIY it into a solar powered boat. Just for cruising the Mediterranean or the Bahamas. My adventure days are waning. :-) Thank you for being a beacon for us to still enjoy life.
Very welcome, but i would love to see you out there on the water and having the best life you can. Age is only a number!!!
@@CruisingSunriseNo updates Russ?
Hi Russ, someone may have asked this before so excuse me for asking again. You were talking about the cost of sailing v. power. What would be the cost of rigging your 50 footer, blocks, lines, cleats and of course the mast. Obviously that is a saving too if the boat is a dedicated power vessel and doesn't need all that gear. I designed and built a houseboat on the Murray River a few years ago. It was 23m X 8.6m. Took me 9 years to build on my own but I loved every minute of it. Obviously nowhere near as sophisticated as your level of craft though. Really enjoying the videos of the build, it brings back a lot of fond memories. Thank you.
@@brickus1249 He never answers.
He might be another vaxed death?
I heard 100,000 150,000 every 7 yrs.
Something like that.
14,000 per year.
270,00 per week.
I agree with your comments about the costs of sails/rigging vs fuel, however, one area that needs lots of engineering/innovation is reducing vibration and noise on power boats. It's one thing if you are sprinting at 15+, but at 8-10-12 knots it should be near silent. Higher-end trawlers use thrust bearings so the engine mounts don't have to transfer the drive forces into the hull and can be tuned for better vibration isolation, but there is still a long way to go to get the peace and silence of sailing. The noise really gets to you after 12, 24, 48 hours.
Totally agree, thats why we bought a sail boat in the first place. We have demanded that as much noise and vibration be eliminated. They are using thrust bearings and have spent a lot of thought into the mounting system. they are also using 80mm sound proofing. i hope we are able to archive a fairly quite engine bay. I will show this in more detail in a future video.
Very pleased to meet you at the 🇹🇭 boatyard today...happy sailing 🙏🙏🙏
thanks Mark
This is a great perspective. The new catamaran is coming along great Russ, I look forward to your episodes.
Thanks Amanda and thanks so much for your comment. I dont have many women that comment so it makes me very happy that you found some enjoyment in them. OMG. in real life the boat and layout we have designed is spectacular. I hope you can meet us and see it in real life someday.
I agree with pretty much everything you wanted in a boat....so which one did you get????
Longreach 58
fantastic insight Russ thanks so much for explaining
Glad you enjoyed it
Hi Russ. Thanks for the contact details. We’re on our annual Greek (Leros ) holiday and will be in touch upon our return to Cape Town. Lots of cats visiting the island and 90% are motoring. Seems to tell a story re the hassle of sailing as opposed to motoring. Great channel
Thanks Michael, we are heading to Turkey to sail with some friends and check out what it would be like to cruise over there . What do you think?
Paradise on earth. You’re going to love it. We’ve hired a gulet a few times and done both Turkey and Greece and have been dreaming of getting a large enough boat to do extended cruising with my wife and children (3under 4) ever since. Never experienced any crime in the 15 years I’ve been coming here. If you have time I recommend you try Leros. It’s totally unspoiled, not touristic and has a fascinating history. Hard to argue with the Ottomans, crusaders, Italians, English and German occupiers. We have a small SUV and a scooter on the island which you’re welcome to use to explore the island.
@@michaeltownsend4644 Thanks so much for that info and for offering us your scooter and SUV. And the more we hear about greece and turkey, the more excited we get. We're meeting our friends at Marmaris and going north (well that's the current plans, depends on weather etc). Glad to hear you love it so much there and are thinking of doing some extended cruising. I think we would say that its the best decision we've made. We met lots of families with young children and they home school and are very happy cruising. And the children are amazingly smart and adjusted to being on the water. thanks again and we''ll be in touch if we can go to Leros on our turkish trip. I'm not sure how the visas would work out. Are you Australian?
Makes complete sense, good on you.
Thanks Mark!!
Just found your Chanel today. We plan on doing a full time livaboard on a power catamaran as well once we retire. There aren't any real Chanels with power Catamarans out there like the sailing ones. Ones that are informative and entertaining. So keep up the great work would love to see more after your on your new boat. I have never sailed and only have a limited amout of time on smaller power boat. So i think i have a fairly unbiased opinion looking from the outside in and comparing the two. After spending the last 5 plus years watching the sailing Channels on UA-cam, tring to decide what would be right for us i noticed what they spend on fuel and riging what I noticed was that.
1. a sailing catamaran is just an underpowered power catamaran with sails so you have the expense of a power catamaran in addition to some very expensive sails and riging. So maintenance is going to be more than double.
2. Most livaboards don't want to sail when the sailing is great becouse the ride sucks and it can be a little dangerous. But if you do then your maintenance and replacement of sails and riging will be more often adding to the overall expense.
3. The noise from the engines are loud on a power cat but if you not using your sails your using your engines anyway and they are underpowered and on the wrong type of hulls.
4. Power cats have way more room for storage, solar and living space.
5. Sailing is work and who wants to work when your retired.
Also have you seen the kite sail that attaches to the front of the boat don't know what they cost but silent yatchs are putting them on their boats to help assist with speed and some comercial vessels are using them to help with fuel efficiency. Again that's for the information that you putting out it really helps with the decisions that some of us are trying to make about power vs sail
Welcome aboard Jim, you are absolutely correct. Most liveaboards we travelled with do motor or motor sail a lot. Of course there are some that can put up with sailing at 3 knt, but thats not us. When you are cruising around the world you are in areas at certain times of the year for a reason'and yes the weather is nice and calm. So a lot of times when we were in the Pacific or in the Kimberley there was not much wind. So yes, you do end up with a lot of money and stress (in terms of sails and mast) just sitting over your head. Youré also right about the discomfort of sailing fast in 25knt of wind and 3m seas. Perfomance catamarans with families slow down because otherwise they're bouncing off the walls because of there light weight. Or their wife and kids will scratch the captain's eyes out or get off and leave him to it. We saw this a lot in our time. A marketing push on perfomance cats is big at the moment and they are faster in light winds and strong winds. But they're not really factoring in a wife and kids and don't have space for lots of toys and a big tender. You really needs toys and a big tender have fun and explore, when you get across that ocean. Sailing cats have a lot of space as well but generally they are made to stack people on, and are not really designed for liveaboards. Sailing is beautiful when its nice, there's nothing better.... but thats not often and you do need to be constantly on your game about wind shifts and squalls etc. I have seen that kite on the Silient yacht. What a joke! It only works almost down wind and i think they have added it because the boat can not motor for very long on the batteries. I think this is just more marketing about crossing oceans without using diesel VERY SLOWLY. If you want to do that you might as well buy a sail boat.
Thanks for the info about the kite sail never could find much out about it from someone who actually used it. Look forward to seeing what you think when you get your new boat.
Whatever works for you old mate, dark side or not! Some really nice toys there, too Russ, vr headset from an underwater drone ! Whatever next!
Meant to post on one of your previous vids ref meile appliances, we`ve had nothing but meile for thirty odd years and I see you mentioned a steam combi oven. We have one and it has self clean coatings which to be frank, are crap. The old pyrolitic were far better so beware! The oven itself is great but those "perfect clean" linings suck. Ref meile induction, you will never use anything else mate, they are the muts nuts ! Not all "induction cookware" actually is, however and brands that do work efficiently are Meyer, Tefal and Scanpan.
Ref the deck cranes, can you post some information as to how the structural loads are transmitted into the hull? Be very interested to see how they are dealt with, there must be massive cantilever forces here.
Stay safe guys, fair winds xx
thanks for the tips about Meile, our combi steam oven dosent have cleaning so i guess thats good. we have been trying to get meile cookware but they are delayed like everything theses days.will do some more filming when we get back over in Thailand on the 22
@@CruisingSunrise cheers mate.
Me and my bride's thinking after 3 sailboats. Fabulous ‼️ 👍 ✌️ ✨ 🌊💨🛥🏝👙🌞✨
Love that! yes we want to keep cruising with as little stress as possible.
I have a Hobie Tandem Island. I love it... but I would trade you for your Longreach if you're interested 😉
Sounds great!
24:00 Just another confirmation of the old adage. "Sailing- the most expensive way to get anywhere for free."
too funny!!!
Did you ever consider just swapping the Leopard 50 Sail for a Leopard 53 Power?
yes , but they just not fitted out for cruising or do they have the range
So when do you take delivery of the boat and begin this new adventure? 😎🤙
hopefully around christmas.
Will the new power catamaran have any sails?
No , we wanted to get away from all rigging. Ived looked at what silient yacht have supplied as a option but it makes no sense to me.
I would say its a good choice to outrun Texan’s 😜
your right, he must always leave first and arrive first, no matter who it is!!
I love the idea of sails, and just silently cruising along with the breeze, etc, but and im not sailor, (wish i was) but Ive thought this way too . Its a pity that you cant sail still, to pick up some free miles.
But i love the idea of not being at the weathers mercy, ie you can power on through to get somewhere if needed. Brilliant idea with the solar, She does sound so good, i just need to win the lotto as i left it too late to ever affoard soemthing as beautiful as her. Is she a hybrid? Or how the hell do you get 4000nm outta her?
At 8 knts. she only uses 20 liters per hr
All your reasoning makes so much sense to me.
you can not under estimate how much the less stress is worth as well.
@@CruisingSunrise Do you think it's possible, in the future to outfit a Catamaran such as your, with electric motors. I realize It won't have the speed capabilities of a diesel motor, but that's something I can live with. I'm hoping for a catamaran that can operate like one of those "Silent Yachts"
@@The442nd I think you might wont somthing better than those, Do you know of any that are actually operating as a cruising catamaran? Apparently there will be a hybrid option at some stage. We are thinking the tecnology is not quite there yet so will wait a while and may retro fit latter.
@@CruisingSunrise I don't know of any. hoping technology catches up with my imagination. I was sold on the Aquila 54, but after coming across your videos from Multihull Central, you made me see there are other options. How long has this process with Longreach taken to where your Catamaran is today?
@@CruisingSunrise Check this out when time permits ----->
ua-cam.com/video/4m-Mt9beDaI/v-deo.html