I think you're vastly underestimating how slow it is to ship things by sail. Take a look at some of the routes boats had to take to avoid the doldrums and find favorable winds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winds_in_the_Age_of_Sail. Having to sail 2/3 of the way to America just to stay in good winds added 3 weeks to a month to every trip out of Spain or Portugal.
You are correct for that time period and technology. Linen sails on square rigged vessels required directional winds towards your destination, as they were only efficient for downwind sailing.
Things have greatly improved with the wide adoption of the Bermuda Rig allowing you to efficiently set a course on all points of sail;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_rig
There's many challenges for sailing commercial freight but I don't think this would be as much of an issue these days.
Yes, your avocado's have to be delivered very time-sensitive. But coal, oil, soy and most other bulk not so much.
In fact, due to price-fluctuations, ships delivering bulk goods sometimes deliberately slow down their route (but I cannot find the incident where and when this was reported anymore)
Edit: three guys I know, operate a sail-powered cargo service [1]. Time is a factor, not because clients require speedy delivery, but because paying three sailors for 2 weeks on-board is more expensive than 3 days. They deliver e.g. chocolate from the west-indies to Amsterdam with their boat.
Comments
I think you're vastly underestimating how slow it is to ship things by sail. Take a look at some of the routes boats had to take to avoid the doldrums and find favorable winds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winds_in_the_Age_of_Sail. Having to sail 2/3 of the way to America just to stay in good winds added 3 weeks to a month to every trip out of Spain or Portugal.
Take a look at the clipper route https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route. To ship goods across the world by sail in any reasonable amount of time, you have to sail way down in the southern ocean, where the winds and seas are incredibly rough and dangerous, and many many people have died horribly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Forties.
We stopped using sails, because people were tired of sailors taking one for the team.
You are correct for that time period and technology. Linen sails on square rigged vessels required directional winds towards your destination, as they were only efficient for downwind sailing.
Things have greatly improved with the wide adoption of the Bermuda Rig allowing you to efficiently set a course on all points of sail; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_rig
There's many challenges for sailing commercial freight but I don't think this would be as much of an issue these days.
Also note that many ships don't require speed.
Yes, your avocado's have to be delivered very time-sensitive. But coal, oil, soy and most other bulk not so much.
In fact, due to price-fluctuations, ships delivering bulk goods sometimes deliberately slow down their route (but I cannot find the incident where and when this was reported anymore)
Edit: three guys I know, operate a sail-powered cargo service [1]. Time is a factor, not because clients require speedy delivery, but because paying three sailors for 2 weeks on-board is more expensive than 3 days. They deliver e.g. chocolate from the west-indies to Amsterdam with their boat.
[1] https://fairtransport.eu/nl/tres-hombres/