Sailing Zataravideo
SAILING VS MOTORING: When To Drop the Sails and Turn on the Engines [Ep 126]
10 September 2020 · 14 min · 190K views · Viti Levu
What this video covers
Deciding between motoring and sailing depends on wind direction, channel width, and fuel efficiency. When navigating narrow channels in Fiji with winds directly on the nose, motoring with one engine at six knots proves more efficient than tacking, which yields minimal progress.3:02 Motoring with two engines increases speed by only one knot while doubling fuel consumption.3:02 For an eight-hour passage at eight knots, the 47-foot catamaran Zatara burns approximately 16 gallons of fuel, compared to 36 gallons for a similarly sized motorboat.8:38
The crew also upgraded their electrical system by installing two Mastervolt ProCombi units in parallel.11:01 This configuration allows for a 200-amp charge rate at 24 volts, enabling the boat to charge its battery bank in 60 to 90 minutes.11:16 A custom switch allows the crew to toggle between a 7kW Northern Lights generator and an ONAN generator to manage power loads, such as running an electric oven.11:36 The system provides redundancy and significantly reduces total diesel consumption.12:22
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