Singlehand Suggestions - Hunter 25

[WiscoSailor]

Hello,

Anyone have experience rigging a Hunter 25 (or similar sized small boat) to be more friendly for single-handing?

I can generally sail the boat fine once the sails are up, but I'm running into an issue where I am wondering how to effectively raise/lower the main once out on the water. The main has a series of bullets attached to the bolt rope that slide into the mast, but I'm concerned that just releasing tension on the halyard will not be enough to cause the main to drop fully, especially in any sort of breeze.

Any suggestions? Rig some sort of down-haul on the top bullets? Bite the bullet and buy a autopilot so I can go forward to the mast?

Given that this boat just has two small house batteries and no real way to recharge them except for bringing the boat to the pier and plugging it in, is an autopilot even feasible due to the load?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[Rick Macdonald]

I get by with lazy jacks and a downhaul, both "home made". The lazy jacks I'm sure used to be findable by searching for "tom's lazy jacks" but that didn't turn it up now. It's been a long time (13 years or so).

 

[Ward H]

Go with the auto pilot. Have one battery which is only charged by the outboard charging circuit, which is not much. With two batteries, I would think you would be fine.

 

[peptobysmol]

I use a tiller tamer. All lines are run to to cockpit. I also have a downhaul on both my main and jib and home made lazy jack.

 

[Kings Gambit]

On some boats you can lower the main or reef it when hove to. Might try that, but you would need lazy jacks. Then use the jib w/ down-haul or OB(?) to power the boat to final destination if near.

 

[ebsail]

Nothing beats a simple auto pilot. Lets you fuss with anything else while it keeps the boat on a heading. You can reef, change sails or whatever. I have 2 group 24 batteries in my Oday 25 and they get charged (12 months per yr) by a simple 50 watt solar panel and controller (total cost $80) that we don't put out in the sun except when at the mooring. When under way it is stowed.

 

[Rick Macdonald]

WiscoSailor,

You asked specifically about the main sail so I only mentioned that, but I guess I'll give everything I've done for single-handing, which I do nearly 100% of the time.

Roller furling, lazy jacks, downhaul for main, SpinLock Power Cleats for the jib so I can adjust with a flick of the wrist without moving from wherever I'm sitting including the stern rail seats, tiller lock, autopilot. Topping lift is controlled by a shive/v-cleat at the boom. Furling, outhaul, boomvang and downhaul all done from the cockpit.

The only thing I have to leave the cockpit for is reefing at the mast (done while hove to) and dropping the anchor. After 15 seasons with this boat I've never felt the need to look into single-line reefing. I'm on a 1x7-mile lake though, and my boat is a little smaller.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Get a tiller extension and a tiller lock box, cheap auto helm and no batteries required. Run the halyards aft to the cockpit and add a jib down haul if you don't have roller furling. Lubricate the mast slides with a dry teflon lubricant and the main should fall down if you are head to wind. I have been doing this on a 24' boat for the past 10 years with minimal hassle.

 

[vhoisington]

On my H25 I did not have an autopilot but it was rigged for one. Never needed it. These 25 (fin keel) will handle a tremendous amount of wind. Even in 40 knots of wind I could never quite get the rail in the water.

That being said, I could put the tiller between my legs and raise /lower the main. I made sure the roller furling worked ok and never had an issue. If I dropped the main it all came down and I could sail/control things just fine with the jib.

Keep a little extra line on the furling line, as well as the main halyard and you should be fine.

Good luck,

Victor

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Wiscosailor;
What year is your Hunter 25 which would help us a little more on how to advise. Where do you sail and if on a lake, what are the wind conditions. Can you post a photo of the deck so we have a better idea of how your lines run. There are things you can do and I use to sail single handed long before many of the modern conviences plus I was a sailboat dealer. Send me a private message with your contact information. I generally will call and then advise back on this thread. As for your information I do not give it out nor do I keep it for security reasons. Never give out your email on the forum either but a private message.

 

[WiscoSailor]

Wow. Thanks for all the quick replies. It seems there are a few other sailors out there whose enjoyment for the sport surpasses the availability of crew on short notice.

As far as the boat it is a 2008 Hunter 25 (shoal draft, wheel steering, roller furling 110 foresail).

I sail this boat almost exclusively in Lake Mendota (a roughly 15 sq.mi. inland lake) in Madison, WI. Generally, I use it for day sailing so I rarely have it off the pin in conditions exceeding 18 kts.

As far as the rigging set up, it is fairly basic standard layout. Halyards (Jib/Main), sheets, and jib furling line all lead back to cockpit. All halyards/jib sheets go through rope clutches on either side of the companionway just aft of the mast and before the two winches (within reach of the cockpit). The main sheet attaches to the deck at a fixed point just forward of the helm (allowing for easy trimming of main from helm)

It's a nice boat and handles well, but it can get squirrelly if I try to leave the helm with the outboard engaged even if I use the wheel lock (the freeboard is pretty tall for the shallow draft and the boat either gets blown off course or turns up if sails are already set).

Due to the fact I can't maintain a basic course for more then 20 or so seconds when away from the helm, I've been hesitant to try to single hand with the main up due to being concerned about getting it back down.

thanks to the great feedback here, I am definitely going to try to rig a down haul on the top bullet of the main, run it to a block at the goose neck and then down the boom. If I can easily lower the sail then I may be golden. I'll try this a few times while still at the pin to test it out.

I don't have any lazy jacks set up yet, but they are surely something else to consider.

The autopilot is also a good idea, but I need to do more research. The cheapest I've found was something like $1,250 for a Raymarine EV100 wheel steering set up. I also would probably need to set up some sort of solar panel to top off the batteries. If anyone has recommendations for an affordable auto pilot or cheaper solar panel/controller, I'm all ears.

Thanks again.

 

[Rick Macdonald]

On my boat, the downhaul would bind part-way down if attached at the uppermost sail slide, so I moved it down 1 or 2 slides to fix that. It means the top little triangle of a foot or two isn't snugged down but with the downhaul cleated off it's fine -- it's not going anywhere.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Wiscosailor;
I introduced the boat for Hunter Marine and was involved with the boat. Be glad to help how I single handed that boat alone. First, can you take a photo of the mainsheet where it goes thru the cam cleat. Second, do you have a wheel brake on the pedestal. Third, do you have a connector rod between the rudder and motor. Fourth, do you have engine controls for forward/neutral/reverse and throttle on the pedestal. Finally, is this the original wheel - is there a smaller one on board. Please respond and then we can go from there.

 

[vhoisington]

Gone other thing to think about is how well your rig is tuned. On both my 1981 hunter 25 and the 1989 Hunter 28 I was able to get the rig tuned such that the helm was completely balanced when heading just off close hauled in a light breeze.

You want some weather helm in moderate 10+ but, below that if everything is tuned right the boat will balance nicely. Which will allow you a little more time to make adjustments

Good luck,

Victor

 

[WiscoSailor]

Wiscosailor;
I introduced the boat for Hunter Marine and was involved with the boat. Be glad to help how I single handed that boat alone. First, can you take a photo of the mainsheet where it goes thru the cam cleat. Second, do you have a wheel brake on the pedestal. Third, do you have a connector rod between the rudder and motor. Fourth, do you have engine controls for forward/neutral/reverse and throttle on the pedestal. Finally, is this the original wheel - is there a smaller one on board. Please respond and then we can go from there.

Hi Crazy Dave:

Boat is in storage right now, but I may be able to get a photo in a few weeks.

First - MainSheet - just basically runs through the cam cleat at the bottom of the block.

Second - Yes, I do have a wheel brake on the pedestal.

Third & Fourth - I do not have a connector rod between the rudder and the motor nor throttle controls on the pedestal - these are pretty great ideas and have been on my list since purchase of the boat a few years ago. The outboard is an 8hp Tohatsu. I will check with the manufacturer and see if they have a kit for my outboard.

As it stands right now I have to lean back out of the transom to operate the outboard and was considering getting a tiller/throttle extender for the outboard as a temporary solution. I was also considering just locking the outboard in place, but I'm think if it is fixed that the rudder will hit the prop if I turn hard to port, so also not ideal. From the Tohatsu website it seems like a "drag link" is available if nothing else, but I'll have to take a look to see how I could attach it to the steering assembly.

Fifth - as far as I know this is the original wheel, I bought the boat used so I can't be sure though.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Send me a ;private email. I can solve your issue but it will take some monies if you are willing to listen.

 

[jcrumpley]

I have the same boat, but a 2006 model. I can easily single hand it. There are several big difference in my boat and yours. The first, is the connecting rod from the rudder to motor does wonders for the boat. As you note, the free board is high and the boat can easily be blown sideways, especially at low speeds. The connecting rod between the rudder and the motor makes the boat turn and stay on course in wind so much easier. The other big difference in mine is that I have motor controls mounted just to the right of the wheel. I also added a locking pulley on the rear of the mast so that I can control the topping lift from the wheel.

The sail will drop easily on its own if you just motor directly into the wind at about 1 knot, keep the motor at that speed, lock the wheel, and release the main halyard. Needless to say, it is harder in heavier winds, but not a problem to get it down. You can drop the sail without the use of the motor, but you have to be quick about it, as if the boat turns at all, it can cause issues.

If your boat will not stay on course with the sails up, something is not balanced right. Mine will sail just where I point it until the wind changes. Make sure your rigging is adjusted correctly and the mast prebend is set right.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Autopilot will certainly make single handing your boat much easier, but I have been able to single hand our boat in winds gusting up to 30 knots without anxiety even without autopilot. The key is balancing the sails. I use a bungee at the helm to keep the wheel relatively centered. It doesn't have to be fixed, like a lock, just relatively self correcting. I do this by wrapping the bungee around the pedestal and hooking the spokes with the wheel in a centered position. If the sails and rudder are balanced, it will maintain a course, not indefinitely, but long enough to accomplish various tasks in comfort. The boat may wander a bit, but slowly, off course so that I can get back to the wheel without rushing.
I've never even thought about a downhaul for the main sail. Point the boat in the wind and release the halyard. If it doesn't come down on its own, I go to the mast and pull it down (which is the way that I prefer anyway so that I can flake it properly). The key is controlling your boat into the wind. If the wind is too strong to control the boat into the wind with the rudder centered, then you need the engine to help. Ours is an inboard, so your handling may differ with an outboard.
Roller furling should help your effort significantly.
I've found that there is no need to stop for reefing the mainsail. I sail upwind on a preferred tack and just let the mainsail out enough to get some luffing, maybe about 35 to 45 degrees outboard, so that I'm sailing up wind on jib alone.
When I reef, I am always keeping the boat moving forward upwind. It helps that I don't have to deal with waves (probably like you). If there were large waves in the equation, I am sure that I would have to modify my procedures for getting comfortable about going forward from the cockpit.
You only get comfortable by going out and doing it. Probably the most difficult part is getting back into the slip if you are in an exposed location.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Scott T-Bird;
I sent a private email for the gentleman to send me his phone number. There are many things to add that will make this boat single hand a lot easier. Example is to add a wedge to the camcleat on the deck that the main halyard goes thru raising upward so he can flick the line to loosen it to raise or lower the main when pointed into the wind. He may have to buy a longer mainsheet to accomplish this. Secondly, there are no controls for gear selection and speed from his outboard to the side cockpit wall or on the pedestal. There is a wheel brake but not sure if adjusted right. There is no motor to rudder connection which would help paticuraly in docking as this is a shallow draft keel (this is not a water ballast boat), too large wheel for the cockpit and so forth. So far, I have not heard from him as if he has died on us. I am willing to help but there is a lot to discuss. I looked at the photo of the newer 25 and saw what he could do. Again I was involved with this boat, introduced it, sold and sailed it and so on. It is his loss if he does not want to talk with me. l did advise of the owners manual under boat information for the 25 and was specific for the owners manual for a 2009 25. There is a reference to the orginal 25 and know Skip who bought and took delivery of the very first boat from Warren Luhrs himself light years ago.
There is nothing more I can do at this point but did advise what I would do if it were my boat.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Update, Wiscosailor believes he has enough information to figure out the 25 on single sail. Looking at the photo there are options to make this a single hand boat based on my knowledge of the specific model. I have left the door open but the key is engine controls on the pedestal for throttle and gear selection as he has a wheel brake and mostly the main halyard and the two suggestions are of course a longer main halyard to control raising and lowering from the pedestal and how or what the set up is on top of the cabin coach. Former Hunter dealer as American Marine & Sail Supply. Retired.