Some years ago Steve Dashew did a detailed comparison of power Vs sail costs for similar vessels and missions. Steve was well placed to do this comparison given his experiences building and seriously cruising performance sail boats. In essence the costs were comparable if not favoring a power boat.
True statement for costs, but in my opinion, not the full story for complexity and systems.
Speaking of true bluewater cruising sailboats:
1. Engine is often treated as auxiliary propulsion, not primary. Means it can be smaller and incurs much lower hours. Fewer and smaller spares and consumables.
2. As mentioned, no need for stabilizers and offsets need for get-home setup, though sails/mast/rigging is a non-trival expense and maintenance item.
3. Household appliances vs old-school marine systems. Vast majority of passagemaking trawlers in the last generation are sold with condo-style kitchens with electric stoves and sub-zero fridges. This translates into larger generators with more hours (and more spares), sometimes with a second generator. Power distribution systems are also larger and more complex - stacked inverters are normal on Nordhavns. I haven't been aboard mega-yacht style sailboats, but the ones I've been on - even larger ones - are never 24/7 generator boats. Powerboats commonly have more generator hours than engine hours.
4. Other. Sailboats often have simpler marine heads and systems. While this is a lifestyle choice, it also means smaller, simpler watermakers are more than adequate. Another item - Sailboats rarely have large hydraulic davits.
5. Navigation and bells/whistles. Again, a personal decision vs necessary, but for whatever reason, Nordhavn-esque boats tend toward triple-displays with black-box brains; FLIR, etc. These are power-hogs and add complexity that sailboats rarely incur. This falls into the minimalism camp I suppose, but still, it's a distinct difference in how these boats are typically equipped and used.
Look, I'm firmly in the trawler camp, though with a distinctly sailboat flare towards simplicity - personally, I find the gizmo's too great a barrier to the reasons I like being on a boat - intimacy with the surroundings. For whatever reason, the modern Nordhavn-esque passagemaker is typically outfitted with a lot more stuff and systems than the typical Amel-esque global sailboat. But that says a lot about the typical boater for each - over the last 25-years, technology has allowed neophytes (like myself back then) to 'buy' their way into safety via GPS, watermakers, Iridium, GRIB wx, etc. That's the target market for Nordhavn. Sailboats still require the ability to sail, so people come up through them differently. You rarely see someone say "Gee, I've never sailed before, but I want to buy an Amel 60 and girdle the globe." They may be green, but usually come-up through the ranks a bit more.
