What is the average speed o fa modern ship?

Question

I was thinking what was the average speed of today's ships, sailboats. I'm not talking about giant transatlantic cruislines and such.

Ships of average size like a big sailboat for example.

How fast do you think they go in Km's?

Answer 1

It certainly depends on a category.

But I've done some calculations and accorging to available boats on BoatCouncil (http://www.boatcouncil.com) its about 25,9 mph

Answer 2

Most modern bulk cargo ship steam at about 13-16 knots. Container ships are faster,steaming at about 20-22 knots.

Answer 3

catamarans and some tricked out racers can indeed do 30 knots ( nautical miles an hour @ 6060 feet to a n.m.)

You have two types of ocean cruising sailboats:

those that have planing hull, where they can skip across the surface..see Volvo Ocean Race or goolge Ellen MacArthur.....those can do 20-25 and its a   hair raising experience.

Displacement hulls, where the bottom of the hull stays in the water are limited by physics to : the square root of the length on the water  times 1.2; answer once again in knots.

Answer 4

In some directions related to wind direction a sailboat can go faster than the wind, or at least faster than if the wind is at your back.  There are some sailing records over 45 knots, but less than half that average for races that loop back into the wind.

Your average cruise ship may be able to do 20 knots or more, but some car ferries can do 41 knots.  Large powerboats you see on Miami Vice may do upwards of 70 knots, while using lots of fuel.