It is very rare to find people who will sail in light air. Or heavy air. Many a time I've almost been alone in sailing, while nearly all the sailboats are motoring. For example, in this pic I was sailing from PIB back to Sandusky (that's Kelleys in the pic), and in that stretch between South Bass and Marblehead, I was the only sailboat sailing. Everyone else headed back at the close of the weekend was motoring. And the sailing was great, with pretty small waves since the wind was from the SSW! Had I motored, I wouldn't have been going any faster.On a trip of over 10 nm in flat water, we are usually motor sailing, so we seldom notice the issue.
It seems like that trend of motoring in a sailboat has increased a lot over the years since I first started sailing on Lake Erie, back in the seventies.