Poignard
Well-Known Member
I have two tiller lines, like tent guy ropes with tenioners, as used by Eric Hiscock. Cheap, simple and capable of fine adjustment.
How to start single handing
- Thread starter scottie
- Start date
dolabriform
Well-Known Member
I get what you are saying, and it's possible that a lot of people are using the term autopilot to mean any form of self steering. Any single handed sailor needs some way of being able leave the helm and perform other tasks. As you rightly say, if one relies solely on a piece of equipment to be able to accomplish a task, if that piece of equipment fails then there is a problem, a potentially serious one.
When I manage to balance the sails on my boat and introduce resistance to the wheel with the wheel lock, she will hold course. So far the longest I've left her like this is about 10 minutes ( embarrassingly it wasn't intentional, I thought I had switched the auto pilot on and went below... when I came to switch it off I realised it was still in standby. )
10 minutes should be enough to accomplish most of the tasks on your list, most could be done in a couple of minutes, so having multiple ways to keep the boat under control for a few minutes is essential. I sometimes think about what I would do if all the electrical systems failed and how I would do things.
As you allude to, it also depends on what one is doing. For a quick day sail it's not so much of a worry, offshore across an ocean then it's essential. I have seen videos where wind pilots have failed, autopilots have failed, rudders have failed, etc. All of these situations need backup plans.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Well there is no way I could sail my boat without one. I cannot let the helm go for more than 2 seconds before it will veere off course by 90 degrees or more in an instant. & that is for ANY point of sail. I also have an aeries. In some conditions I cannot rely on the autopilot for more than a few minutes ( I am on my 6Th)
My boat will not heave too either. My last 2 boats would sail up wind for miles with no one at the helm & i have hove too for 4.5 hours in F9 & gone to sleep for 3.5 hours with confidence. But no chance in this one.
If I anchored the tiller in one spot the boat would not stay on course for more than a few seconds. Especially reaching or running.
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Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
Whoopie slings are perfect for this. I made a couple from some thin (3mm I think) Dyneema.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
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That's clever. I'd never heard of them before so I looked it up on the internet.
Ammonite
Well-Known Member
The same applies to the engine but forgive me if I don't throw that overboard ;-)
To the OP get yourself a good autopilot, fit centre cleats, read up on the theory and practice, ideally where there's space for things to go wrong without hitting my boat.
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srm
Well-Known Member
I can and have done all of the above on four boats I have owned while single handed with the aid of a windvane auxiliary rudder or water servo steering device. So far they have proved 100% reliable. They look as if I should be able to repair them, but have never had to try, other than the time I dropped the auxilliary rudder two metres on to concrete while ashore.
When it comes to tiller or wheel pilots I have had them fail without warning.
For me the former is essential and the latter nice to have while it keeps working, but treated with caution.
Wing Mark
Well-Known Member
So what's your plan if your autopilot fails?
Do you have a theory why you boat won't heave to?
What happens if you try?
I don't think I've ever tried to heave to and failed, for sure I've not tried it in every boat I've sailed, and of course I've sailed a lot of dinghies without jibs.
But it's worked on every sailing school yacht I've been on, any on racing boats ranging from long keeled dayboats through to RS400s and Merlin Rockets.
Even works on an RS800 if the crew jams the self-tacking jib with their foot!
We commonly heave to between races.
I'd kind of assumed the boat I'm about to pay for will heave to. I'd seriously like to know how it can 'not work'!
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Well, neither would I throw my engine overboard, or my Navico autopilot, or my Monitor windvane; and the loss of any or all of them would be, at best, inconvenient , and at worse, bloody inconvenient!
But I could manage without them so they are not esssential.
pandos
Well-Known Member
Dare one ask what make of boat?
I always found an autopilot essential until mine gave up and I found I could manage without it (I singlehand all the time) but if I was in your position I would definitely regard it as essential.
To a sailor new to singlehanding I would say it is essential because the one thing that singlehanding requires is a routine so things get done in advance which includes tidying up lines once they are used, ready for the next manouvre, that takes some consideration and practice which needs the breathing space an autopilot provides...
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I am not talking about dinghies. I also have a squib & that heaves too OK. I have just sold my Phantom after 12 years of ownership of 3 & I could just let the main right out & sit there
However, my Hanse, Like most Hanse of the similar era will not heave too. Even the 60 ft version would not, according to one very experienced owner.
I think I know how to handle the boat after 18 years. I tend not to do many trips over 100 miles each year but lots of 60-90 miles so I have to leave the helm most of the time. I get through a few autopilots.
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awol
Well-Known Member
Have you tried handing it back as not fit for purpose?
RobF
Well-Known Member
You're right (of course), but by this definition lots of things are not essential. For example, it's not essential that my boat doesn't leak, so long as I can bail the water out more quickly than it's coming in. Like many on here, I probably wouldn't choose to sail single handed without a number of things (the autopilot being one of them), but yes I could make do if it fails.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
You must be joking !!. Absolutely love it.
Brilliant for single handing.
Would not change it-.
Yes I have had the autopilot fail completely at sea probably 10 times (Once it failed, put me aground & I lost my rudder).+ & fail to perform suitably on a regular basis.
Had my faithful Aeries. That has saved me when the AP could not cope with the conditions quite a few times
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bitbaltic
Well-Known Member
Agreed. My slightly older Hanse will not heave to either. It will do so for say 20 minutes (which is about the length of time you might try it on, say, a sailing school yacht delivering a course) but it will not stay hove to longer than that. I once spent an entire afternoon in Cardiff bay with a sailing school instructor trying to get it stably hove to, no success.
bitbaltic
Well-Known Member
Agreed. My slightly older Hanse will not heave to either. It will do so for say 20 minutes (which is about the length of time you might try it on, say, a sailing school yacht delivering a course) but it will not stay hove to longer than that. I once spent an entire afternoon in Cardiff bay with a sailing school instructor trying to get it stably hove to, no success.
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
STOL71
Well-Known Member
I used to single hand without an auto pilot, I now have one and don’t want to miss it.
Wing Mark
Well-Known Member
Just curious about a wide variety of sloop rig boats will heave to, then Hanse create a sub-genre of them that won't?
what's different?
How does it work/not work?
What determines whether a sloop will heave to or not?
It's a bit like I don't totally understand exactly what's going on when some singlehander dinghies can park themselves in irons, very stable, going nowhere very much, just when you don't want this to happen!
Ian_Edwards
Well-Known Member
The first thing I'd say about learning to sail single handed is don't set yourself up to fail, first time out.
Plan, think it through and if you are not happy, replan, if you are still not happy don’t go.
Preferable start from a mooring or on an anchor, preferably with plenty of room to manoeuvre. The boat should just drift back and give you time to get back to the cockpit.
If starting from a pontoon, plan your exit route, workout how you are going to cast off, I usually take the springs off, and set the bow and stern lines so they are just lopped over the cleats, so you can flick them off. Normally one will be under more load than the other, take the lower loaded one off first.
Engine running and ready to go, then go for it.
Choose a reasonable day, not flat calm and not too windy. Choose a course which is a reach each way, not too long, a small trip to give you confidence and experience.
Returning to a mooring, don’t try and stop on the buoy, go past it a little way, then when the boat drifts back as you go forward, you’ll be able to get it with the boat hook.
If going back onto a pontoon have all the mooring lines and fenders set-up before you enter the marina. I set up the bow and stern lines, with one end fixed to the boat and the rope laid down the side deck with loops over each stanchion, so it is easy to grab hold of from the pontoon. I have at least on midship line ready to go, and I usually try to get that on first. If you have friendly neighbours on the pontoon, tell then what you are doing and ask them to keep a look out for you when you return. Someone on the pontoon to take your lines is usually helpful.
I’d also say that if you are going to sail single handed regularly, buy, or set your boat up to make life easy. Self-tacking jib, good reliable autopilot, remote control for the windlass, preferably with a chain counter. Have the foresail and mainsail sheets close to the helm, a flask of tea or coffee on hand, snacks if more than few hours. Just common-sense things.
I’m 75, sail a 46ft, 16-ton boat, with 1,200 sq ft of upwind sail, sailing single handed for the last 10years. Approximately 2,400nm logged this year between early June and end of September, including sailing the 800nm Chichester to Oban. All “day” sailing, although some before dawn starts and after midnight finishes. But the boat is set up for single handed sailing, and I can do most thing without leaving the cockpit.
I had the “what have I done” feeling when I first went sailing single handed, but you soon learn the trick of the trade, just don’t be too ambitious to start with.
Plan, think it through and if you are not happy, replan, if you are still not happy don’t go.
Preferable start from a mooring or on an anchor, preferably with plenty of room to manoeuvre. The boat should just drift back and give you time to get back to the cockpit.
If starting from a pontoon, plan your exit route, workout how you are going to cast off, I usually take the springs off, and set the bow and stern lines so they are just lopped over the cleats, so you can flick them off. Normally one will be under more load than the other, take the lower loaded one off first.
Engine running and ready to go, then go for it.
Choose a reasonable day, not flat calm and not too windy. Choose a course which is a reach each way, not too long, a small trip to give you confidence and experience.
Returning to a mooring, don’t try and stop on the buoy, go past it a little way, then when the boat drifts back as you go forward, you’ll be able to get it with the boat hook.
If going back onto a pontoon have all the mooring lines and fenders set-up before you enter the marina. I set up the bow and stern lines, with one end fixed to the boat and the rope laid down the side deck with loops over each stanchion, so it is easy to grab hold of from the pontoon. I have at least on midship line ready to go, and I usually try to get that on first. If you have friendly neighbours on the pontoon, tell then what you are doing and ask them to keep a look out for you when you return. Someone on the pontoon to take your lines is usually helpful.
I’d also say that if you are going to sail single handed regularly, buy, or set your boat up to make life easy. Self-tacking jib, good reliable autopilot, remote control for the windlass, preferably with a chain counter. Have the foresail and mainsail sheets close to the helm, a flask of tea or coffee on hand, snacks if more than few hours. Just common-sense things.
I’m 75, sail a 46ft, 16-ton boat, with 1,200 sq ft of upwind sail, sailing single handed for the last 10years. Approximately 2,400nm logged this year between early June and end of September, including sailing the 800nm Chichester to Oban. All “day” sailing, although some before dawn starts and after midnight finishes. But the boat is set up for single handed sailing, and I can do most thing without leaving the cockpit.
I had the “what have I done” feeling when I first went sailing single handed, but you soon learn the trick of the trade, just don’t be too ambitious to start with.
