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[Seafarer]

BOAT: You hit the nail right on the head! The Speed Mode option on Macs opens up a lot of options with regards itineraries. On the occasions when I sailed out to the Channel Islands (with my Mac 26x) I also discovered another neat feature of the Macs: Range Mode. Under windless conditions, drop the engine RPM down real low, just enough to push the boat at 4knots, and you can go for hours on end using very little gas. Was enough to get me all the way back when I wasn't able to refuel at the Isthmus. Range increases dramatically when RPM is near idle.

[sailboatmike]

I found the same after we hd an issue with our Merc 75, we powered for about 1 1/2 hrs to get to our destination, when we got there he had used around 15L of fuel, on the way back the clip that holds the throttle linkage on the motor broke so we came back at idle but in gear, it took a while but we averaged around 3 knts, the wind had dropped right out so no point in lifting the sails, when we got back several hours later we had used maybe 5L of fuel.

I was reasonably impressed, not as economical as our 6hp 4 stroke Tohatsu that would of pushed us a bit faster but not that far away