Beneteau 393 single handed

[Gatch30]

First post......for many years I have sailed Hobie Cats, Lasers, and Lightings on inland lakes of Ohio and Lake Erie. The last half dozen years my family became avid wake boarders so I sold the sail boats and purchased a Master Craft X2. Now the family is grown and I'm near an empty nester. I am going to return to sailing predominantly Lake Erie and the rest of the Great Lakes, with an East coast cruise possibly in my future. I want to purchase something i can single hand and also comfortably handle six people for at least a few days. My wife loves to be on the water, but i don't want to always rely on a crew member. Out of all the boats under 40ft. I like what I see in the B393 two berth model. My budget is around 150K to get her on the water and ready to go. I'm searching for confirmation the B393 is a good choice. If to single hand I need specific equipment. Suggestions of other boats to consider. Or any other wisdom you wish to give pertaining to my journey.

 

[dugsmith98]

Yes, you can single hand a 393. I have the 2 cabin, with in mast furling and routinely sail with my wife and three kids. But when they aren't in the mood, I go out alone. Sailing with them is much like single handing, the only difference is that they could come back and get me if I fell off. But they don't do much sailing work.
If the autopilot is working and you have a good chartplotter installed, sailing single handed is a piece of cake.

 

[Stu Jackson]

dug's right. Single handing is what many people actually do, and maybe don't realize it. It's the docking that is usually the issue. So learn abotu midships spring lines if you have cleats on docks where you live.

 

[MSN-Travelers]

Solo in a 35+ foot boat . . .

Another +1 to what Dug posted.

I have no problem sailing solo, the real hurdle is getting out of and back in the slip by myself.

 

[Benjamin Disralei]

Gatch30

Sail my 361 90%t of the time by myself and do not rely on others unless they are keen to help. Auto pilot is a great help.

The 393 would be just fine and am considering upgrading to the model mainly because of the pullman birth, and another 3 feet of boat would not be a problem.

The secret to single handed sailing is practice everything you can in calm weather so when the time arises such as in high wind situations you know how to reef, park into your pen or go to anchor until the wind drops.

Parking by myself is no different than having crew however getting out can be hard with a side wind, I back up to a dock and the front is secured to poles so the front is not a problem when coming in as the poles will hold the front till I get around to putting to cleat the forward lines, the toe rail is a godsend.

As for specific equipment, work it out as you go, to date the only extra gear I needed to sail alone was to pieces of rope, I tied both the port and starboard spring and stern lines together for ease when reversing in to my pen.

Good luck and a great choice.

 

[mmdesmith]

Agree with all the comments above. I grew up on the finger lakes with a 16 ft Hobie and sunfish. We bought a bene 361 with roller furling main, headsail, and auto pilot 3 years ago and sail on lake texoma. I have now soloed the boat more than sailed with crew. Hardest part is getting back into the slip but have found carefully laying out the dock lines makes the job easier. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Gatch30]

Thank you for all your thoughts. You are very helpful. If I could choose any auto pilot and chart plotter what would you recommend?

 

[AndyR]

single handed 393

We own A B393 "AMALIE" which we use for day charter, my wife does the catering and guest services on board, so i pretty much sail it single handed with no real problems. The only must is a good autohelm (raymarine 6000)
Our boat sails really well with a small headsail only if the wind pipes up and has single line reefing. The only 'mod' I have is an extra block to lead the headsail furler to the port winch so i can winch it in if conditions get a bit hectic.

Its a great boat buy one
Andy n Barb on AMALIE

 

[Benjamin Disralei]

Gatch30

I do not have the luxury of a furling main sail but is not really a problem, just remember if your in the ocean, alone, make when you go forward to either raise or pack away the main sail you wear a inflatable vest at all times and make sure its automatic, its bloody hard to pull the cord when your unconscious.

As for the autohelm I love my Raymarine 6000, that is not to say that others are any way inferior, (protection from litigation) Lol

 

[dugsmith98]

I think most of he factory boats have the raymarine autopilots, ST6000. I put in a classic E80, and like it a lot. It appears that most raymarine shops can repair the devices even when they are out of service or warranty.

 

[Cest La Vie]

I would advise that you subscribe (free) and look through the loooooong history of posts in the Yahoo Groups 393 sitel. There are several hundred users on the site, many from ports around the world who have extensive history and experience with the 393. I have owned my 393 since 2004 and have logged more hours that I would like to admit on this boat, much of it single handed (if not by myself, clearly with passengers who were just passengers).

 

[Gatch30]

Thanks for the input