Eric,
I would suggest that the regen may not be practical on a 2 or 3 hour 5 knot sail but what if you sail for a distance and use power for the stereo or a few gauges? What if the total usage of power during an overnight run equaled your regeneration rate? "Anything that is free is for me" so any power I can get is good thing. It may not be able to fully charge your batteries but it's better than nothing unless the drag exceeds the benefit. What if you're on the back of a 20 foot wave heading down and can get 6 amps (or more) all the way down and half the way up the next wave? You could run your motors at 2 knots and gain 50 miles in a 24 hour period at no cost. I didn't do the math but should be close. Anyway even a little regen is better than no regen. But then again the majority of boats here are smaller and don't travel as far. I think if I had a smaller boat and it was free or included in the package I would think of it as a plus. Now if I had a tri (I do have a MR2 spyder) for nothing but speed the weight would definitely be a consideration. I'm surprised you don't just have a couple of paddles! You could probably still get up to 5 knots :o)
Steve in Solomons
I know that my 30' ketch has only touched 6kts a couple of times in over 10 years. 5kts takes a solid breeze for my old boat. So I don't expect much from regen from my electric drive, even when headed offshore to our local islands.
Alternatively, my 27' trimaran has hit 6kts boat speed in only 5kts true wind. If I converted that boat to electric, that kind of performance would no longer be possible. I'm not willing to sacrifice my good runs at 15kts+ boat speed to go electric. The 9.8hp outboard is auxilliary power that works for me.
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