[southwindphoto]

When looking at boat listing, I see all of them list boat speed as cruising and max. Is this under power, or are they attempting to indicate under sail.

 

[amarinesurveyor]

Under power. Max speed under sail can be more, depending on the conditions.
Brian

 

[southwindphoto]

I also see it posted as 5/7/9 sometime. Why three speeds listed?

 

[amarinesurveyor]

I also see it posted as 5/7/9 sometime. Why three speeds listed?

I'm not sure, it's not the usual way it's done. Possibly they are saying they have seen the boat do 9 knots under sail with ideal winds and surfing down the face of a wave.
Brian

 

[Cruisingdad]

Under power. Max speed under sail can be more, depending on the conditions.
Brian

This is generally correct. Do be aware that most of the time they compute max speed based upon the simple water line formula. Almost any boat can exceed that when surfing, and some boats (high performance race boats) will certainly exceed their hull speed.

I would not put too much stock in max speed. It is just a generality. More important to realize that in general speed is based upon water line, where some boats will perform better than others.

- CD