Single handed checklist

[andyjcox1]

Hi,

I have just sold my motorboat and looking at moving to sailing. As part of the research process I have been trawling the forums for single handed tips and think I have a list of things I should look out for or maybe install in a future yacht purchase. I am a fairly proficient motor boater, but pretty new to sailing hence the question.

I have been looking at boats in the 23 to 27 foot range, with a budget of £5k - 20k and like the hunters (23 and 26/7) The Westerly Pageant and Centaur seem a good fit (I am just put off a bit by their look and slower reputation).

Anyway, I need to be able to single hand it as my wife will be busy with 2 kids (5 and 2).

Is there anything else I should be looking for that would make my life easier to single hand apart from the list below? I have already considered planning etc, more looking at the technical point of view.

* Good steerage under power for coming alongside - what would be the best set up for this, what to avoid?
* Lazy Jacks
* All lines back to the cockpit
* Roller furling jib
* Auto pilot/Tiller
* What mechanism should I look for to be able to raise the main sail from the cockpit?

Thanks, Andy

 

[bitbaltic]

* Good steerage under power for coming alongside - what would be the best set up for this, what to avoid?

Good reliable engine and good reliable autopilot are key. All the rest you'll learn to work within the limitations of.

Perhaps not a long-keeled or twin-ruddered boat for ease of coming alongside if singlehanded. But you'll learn with what you have.

Budget is very wide and encompasses many more fun boats than some of the ones mentioned if you are interested in performance. An idea of likely cruising destinations and where you will keep the boat will help gather recommendations, and will the family be on board with you most of the time?

* What mechanism should I look for to be able to raise the main sail from the cockpit?

Undersized dyneema halyard and a dedicated mainsail track on the mast are likely to make life easier. Doubt you will find either at the lower end of your budget

Edited to add: at the top of your budget how about something like this: http://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/1985/Mg-C27-2925938/United-Kingdom#.V_umvfS2Grw

Excellent performance, accommodation for a young family and ".... a simple cruisng boat which could easily be sailed by one person" (see yachtsnet here).

Could do with a bit of updating and the ask could be optimistic.

 

[Pye_End]

Perhaps not a long-keeled or twin-ruddered boat for ease of coming alongside if singlehanded.

I am less convinced. An easy to steer yacht has big benefits, but tends to catch the breeze and go sideways quicker than a long keeled yacht. Both have their pros and cons, but personally I find a fuller keel, heavier displacement, on balance, easier.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I am less convinced. An easy to steer yacht has big benefits, but tends to catch the breeze and go sideways quicker than a long keeled yacht. Both have their pros and cons, but personally I find a fuller keel, heavier displacement, on balance, easier.

Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch with the associated hand movements is a good start

 

[TangaraToo]

Midship cleat on both sides. Some boats in the size you are looking only have fore and aft.
Likely to be tiller at that size so ability to reach main sheet and genoa winches with tiller between legs an advantage.
Predictable close quarters handling. This is not just down to fin type.

 

[bitbaltic]

An easy to steer yacht has big benefits, but tends to catch the breeze and go sideways quicker than a long keeled yacht.

Have to admit, my light, shallow draft boat did that beautifully coming onto a windy berth last weekend! :encouragement:

 

[[163233]]

* Lazy Jacks
* All lines back to the cockpit
* What mechanism should I look for to be able to raise the main sail from the cockpit?

If you're going down this route then you really need full single or double line reefing, many boats set up with the halyard and reefs led aft still require someone to go forward and put the cringle over the horns. If the setup is like that, then it might be easier to just have everything that's required at the mast in the first place.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Life jackets and harnesses for the 5 & 2 year old. When mine were that age we tethered them into the cockpit while docking and they loved to watch mum and dad getting on with it.

 

[prv]

Midship cleat on both sides. Some boats in the size you are looking only have fore and aft.

Yes, but it shouldn't be a major job to add one. I wouldn't let it influence my choice of boat.

If you're going down this route then you really need full single or double line reefing, many boats set up with the halyard and reefs led aft still require someone to go forward and put the cringle over the horns. If the setup is like that, then it might be easier to just have everything that's required at the mast in the first place.

Agree the halyard and all reefing arrangements need to be in the same place, whether that's mast or cockpit (and cockpit preferable for a smaller boat and single-handing). Again, though, it shouldn't take much to add tack pendants and their associated blocks unless the deck layout is particularly awkward (for example boats with a windscreen and a fixed number of tubes for lines to pass under it).

Pete

 

[Sandy]

Might a Mirage 28 interest you? I will have one for sail in the spring.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have been looking at boats in the 23 to 27 foot range ...

* Lazy Jacks

I'd avoid them. They are - I am told - great for bigger boats, but on smaller ones they are an unnecessary pain in the neck. Crossover seems to be about 26', which is coincidentally the length of my own boat, which came with lazyjacks. They speed up stowing the sail, but they jam every sodding time the sail goes up or down. Tomorrow I am phoning Murray at Nicolson-Hughes to finalise my order for a new mainsail and sail cover; the lazyjacks are going.

That little rant over, any boat in the size you are suggesting will be easy to singlehand, perhaps with a few minor tweaks here and there.

 

[LadyInBed]

Life jackets and harnesses for the 5 & 2 year old. When mine were that age we tethered them into the cockpit while docking and they loved to watch mum and dad getting on with it.

and net round the guard wires.

 

[greggron]

A decent heads

 

[pyrojames]

Yes, but it shouldn't be a major job to add one. I wouldn't let it influence my choice of boat.



Agree the halyard and all reefing arrangements need to be in the same place, whether that's mast or cockpit (and cockpit preferable for a smaller boat and single-handing). Again, though, it shouldn't take much to add tack pendants and their associated blocks unless the deck layout is particularly awkward (for example boats with a windscreen and a fixed number of tubes for lines to pass under it).

Pete

Conversely I think that all halyards, reeling lines and topping lift are better at the mast on a bigger boat. The platform is more stable, so going to the mast is simple and there is less friction in everything so the loads are lower. I can get my main 90% of the way up without winches.

 

[[3889]]

Self tailing winches are a good idea. I had a Friend adjustable / lockable tiller extension on my Hunter 27 and found it as useful as the tiller pilot, and more reliable.
http://osculati.com/en/cat/Scheda.aspx?id=23886

 

[TQA]

A bow thruster makes close quarters marina berth manouvres MUCH easier. Alternatively keep it on a mooring where errors are not catastrophic.

A cutter or other 2 headsail rig makes dealing with wind speed changes simpler providing the genoa is on a roller furler.

I have a 44 ft slab reefing cutter with all halyards and reefing lines at the mast. I find this is OK.

I LOVE my lazyjacks and stackpack.

As others have noted a reliable autopilot is essential. A VHF that can be used fro the cockpit is also essential.

Snacks, drinks and a P bottle need to be in the cockpit before departure.

 

[Vega1447]

A bow thruster makes close quarters marina berth manouvres MUCH easier. Alternatively keep it on a mooring where errors are not catastrophic.

A cutter or other 2 headsail rig makes dealing with wind speed changes simpler providing the genoa is on a roller furler.

I have a 44 ft slab reefing cutter with all halyards and reefing lines at the mast. I find this is OK.

I LOVE my lazyjacks and stackpack.

As others have noted a reliable autopilot is essential. A VHF that can be used fro the cockpit is also essential.

Snacks, drinks and a P bottle need to be in the cockpit before departure.

With autopilot you can leave the tiller/wheel whenever you want once in open water so why
P bottle etc?

 

[doug748]

With your budget you might look at Westerly Konsorts, having a bit more room for the family without being that much bigger to park. It has a prop close to the rudder which is good for low speed nudging.

I would agree about halyards and reefing at the mast with this size of boat. With a modestly sized main you will not be overburdened with reefing the main at sea and it can be hoisted, toute suite, almost with one finger. It keeps miles of line out of the cockpit and frees up that area for spinnaker gear when the time comes. I also like to have gybe preventers controlled from the companionway, ready for immediate use.

Get yourself one of these for picking up moorings:

http://www.exebuoyhook.co.uk/

 

[bitbaltic]

A bow thruster makes close quarters marina berth manouvres MUCH easier.

The OP is looking at budget 20-something footers. He neither needs nor should spend money fitting a bow thruster. Needless to say the boats he is considering will not, unless a PO had more money than sense, come with one.

 

[LittleSister]

I suspect you may be over-thinking it all.

I have done much of my sailing single handed*, over many years and several different boats, and have never had most of the features you (or others) have mentioned or felt I was much (if at all) disadvantaged for not having them.

An auto helm is the one thing I'd say was, while not essential, makes such a huge positive difference to single-handing it'd be perverse not to have one.

A boat that is not too flighty is also a boon.

(*thousands of miles, and long passages and foreign ports as well as 'local' sailing)