Single-handed sailing

Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,239
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
I like people and love relaxed sailing with Sue or any of my friends on board, but I have to admit ... I really like sailing our boat single-handed. There is something I love about mastering the techniques that are required, taking the risks, and the ultimate challenge of getting the most out of the boat when there are no restrictions. (When Sue is on board, I'd drive her crazy by constantly trimming and tweaking sail trim, changing directions and making complicated sail changes - she could not tolerate my natural behavior when we are on the boat together, so I have to alter mine :confused:) So I may as acknowledge that I love the challenge of sailing our boat single-handed. In fact, I can see a time when I am seeking races to sail single-handed.

I read the book "Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics for Single-handed Sailing" by Andrew Evans. I thought it was fascinating. He goes into the psychology of single-handed sailing on long passages and it is racing oriented. For some reason, I can relate. A lot. Any thoughts?
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,553
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
T-Bird

Thanks for the book reference. I just ordered a copy. Sounds interesting.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Evans knows his stuff.

Solo day-sailing is a ton of fun, and setting your boat up to do this well is half the fun. As much as I love Kestrel (our First 36.7), the smaller tiller driven, non-overlapping First 260 (which looks like a mini-transat) is a MUCH better and more fun boat to solo.

But if you are out for more than a few hours solo, the name of the game is managing yourself, and your ability to sail. Our club (and the Great Lakes Solo Sailing Society, or GLSSS) have a strict protocol in the training steps you must take to do overnight solo races. Its not easy. The trick is to pace yourself the first day, and get into your watch routine that you can maintain the whole race (or sail).
 
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Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

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Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
While I'm quite capable of single handing- brought my boat from the Chesapeake to Texas, including a partial gulf crossing, and then a three month trip to Florida and return, I MUCH prefer having someone aboard with me. , It's just more fun to me.
 
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B

Benny17441

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May 24, 2004
7,164
CC 30 South Florida
It is a human thing, sailing solo frees a little your instincts an desires while relaxing your controlling conscience. Sailing solo is an activity that allows you to perform the sailing tasks in the way that you want, when you want and how you want. without having to consider others. In this day and age it also gives you that scarce time to talk to ourselves on how to better organize our lives. There is the added benefit of allowing uninterrupted time to better hone your sailing skills and it all leaves you with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Highly recommend it. I never fell the urge to cross oceans and if I did I doubt would like to do it alone but give me a sunny and warm day with a fresh breeze in calm waters and I will yearn to be out there by myself. Do not discount those days where a little unsettled weather will get your adrenalin running to get that feeling of being alive. In my view sailing solo is not about exposing myself to danger, it requires better planning and execution and less weather complications than if I had another pair of hands. I do day sails and have done overnighters but really prefer the short (I'm robbing time from the world) outings. To take a couple of hours, on the spur of the moment, when I was supposed to be doing something else and take the boat out by myself is heaven.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
rgranger said:
Thanks JackDaw....

Too late but it was only $15 for a hard copy. Normally I'm all about frugal but I've written three books in my time and feel an author deserves some royalties so long as the price is reasonable.
Click to expand
All good. I've talked to Andy about this... hes a very cool guy. REALLY wants to spread the SS word, never wanted to get paid for it. For a long time the only way to get it was to download the PDF. Then some jerkweed printed some copies and started selling on Amazon! The only way he could get them to stop was to print it itself. The price covers his costs. He never wanted to sell it.
 
Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,239
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
So when you buy it on Kindle, he gets no proceeds? I don't get this system. I've now bought several books to read on Kindle. Usually they range from $4 to $15.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Scott T-Bird said:
So when you buy it on Kindle, he gets no proceeds? I don't get this system. I've now bought several books to read on Kindle. Usually they range from $4 to $15.
Click to expand
He gets paid when you buy Kindle versions.
 
BudGates

BudGates

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Apr 19, 2012
1,043
O'Day Daysailor 17 Nevis MN
I downloaded his book a few years ago and end up reading it about once a year. So far I've only sailed solo in our Sunfish, Hobie-18, and Montgomery-10 (our dinghy). I've set up our Mac-26 classic for single-handed sailing and occasionally ask my wife to sit back and let me sail it, from dock to dock, as if I actually am alone; so I know I can single-hand her but have so far never had the opportunity.
 
J

jwing

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Jun 5, 2014
503
ODay Mariner Guntersville
I prefer sailing with companions, but I don't learn much with guests aboard. Oh I amaze some people by sailing into the wind, or making the boat move in hardly a breeze, or making it stop right about where my friend is swimming, but I learned all that by practicing by myself. I love going out by myself and practicing skills and learning new skills. I still have lots to learn. This year my main goal is to gain a deep understanding of genoa lead positioning. (By 'deep understanding,' I mean being able to instantly do the right thing without having to think about it.) So, I'm installing lead cars that are controllable from the tiller position. Like Jackdaw wrote, half the fun is setting the boat up. It's expensive, but I don't know how people learn to position the genoa leads with the typical pinstop leads. It would be like learning how to work a traveler with pinstop travel car.

My ultimate goal is to be able to optimally sail while the people aboard are unaware that I am tweaking the controls.
 
Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,239
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
ah.... good. It's an excellent book, imo, and I have kindred thoughts. I do have conflicting thoughts about what to do with my Starwind. I have been purchasing equipment to set it up as a cruiser for Sue and I. I installed a larger engine (added weight) for power and reliability. Pumps and water heater for hot & cold running water, etc. I have a large expense looming this spring for bottom restoration.

However, I think it ultimately won't be that comfortable as a cruiser for us. I can see it better suited to my single-handed ambitions (even though it does have wheel steering). We'll need just a bit more length and comfort for cruising, I think.
 
F

Foolish

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Aug 27, 2014
6
Olson 30 Victoria
Hi guys. Thank you for your nice comments about my book. Its nice to know that it is appreciated. I'll tell you the full story: I originally put the free edition, then V2 and V3 up on the San Fran Singlehanded site. I really wrote it as a way to guide my own learning. After it was downloaded more than 25,000 times I was contacted out of the blue by International Marine, a division of McGraw Hill. They wanted to publish my book. So I wrote an additional 40,000 words in several chapters and it was published. So that is the difference between the free and published versions, an extra 40k words and of course it was properly edited and printed.
The free version is still up: http://sfbaysss.org/resource/doc/SinglehandedTipsThirdEdition2.pdf
The published version is available everywhere. I do get a couple of bucks for each copy sold.
 
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Jalepeno

Jalepeno

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Mar 2, 2008
406
Cal 25 mk II T-Bird Marina, West Vancouver
Andrew, I downloaded and printed your excellent online book many years ago and put it into a 3 ring binder. It is still my go to reference. Thank you for the good work and making available.
 
J

jwing

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Jun 5, 2014
503
ODay Mariner Guntersville
Scott; I learned a lot about what's important to me regarding accommodations from the boats I've chartered; but they were lumbering beasts in the hands of novices. OTH - My small boat gives the immediate feedback that is helping me learn the art of sailing. I look forward to the day when I can artfully sail a 40' cruising boat; that day will be sooner if I can resist upsizing for a few more years. And when that day comes, I'll have a better idea about what I want in terms of performance instead of just accommodations. I know that everybody I've sailed with are happier on a good boat with a competent skipper. (Good weather and good beer helps, too.)
 
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