Singlehand...how big is too big?

Paul_S123

Paul_S123

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Apr 2015
Messages
252
Visit site
I'd posted before (sorry for the noob questions) about single handing my Pegagsus 700 boat versus a wayfarer type dinghy.

General consensus was to stick with the Pegasus.

I have been sailing it quite a bit on my own, and can say the advise was sound.

Crazy really....but I was offered a part ex on my boat for a Beneteau 35s5, I am really considering it, but compared to the Pegasus it is huge.

What problems does this extra size bring?

Do many of you single hand boats of this size?

Thanks.
 
Paul_S123 said:
I'd posted before (sorry for the noob questions) about single handing my Pegagsus 700 boat versus a wayfarer type dinghy.

General consensus was to stick with the Pegasus.

I have been sailing it quite a bit on my own, and can say the advise was sound.

Crazy really....but I was offered a part ex on my boat for a Beneteau 35s5, I am really considering it, but compared to the Pegasus it is huge.

What problems does this extra size bring?

Do many of you single hand boats of this size?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Size is not so important when sailing, it's the effort required versus your strength. If all the halyards, sheets and reefing are arranged for max efficiency/ minimal effort then you will have no problem. Your bigger problem may be getting into or out of marinas and whether you need an anchor winch or not. Many others sail boats of that size singlehanded. Certainly sounds tempting!

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
People sail singlehanded in much bigger boats than a Pegasus 700.

FWIW I sometime take our 39' boat by myself. It's the ease of working the gear by yourself that's critical. That and a reliable and efficient autopilot! But I freely admit I wouldn't fancy sailing anywhere without an autopilot.
 
I used to sail my old Moody 44 singlehandedly more times than when crewed. I find bigger boats more predictable to handle in marinas.
 
Paul_S123 said:
What problems does this extra size bring?
Click to expand...

Depending on the cockpit layout, controls might be further apart so that you can't operate them at the same time, or swap quite so quickly from one to the next.

Heavier loads might mean that you need to slowly winch something that you could previously whip in by hand and move onto the next thing.

If the bigger boat comes with a wheel instead of a tiller, you may find yourself trapped behind it out of reach of some controls, you'll be at the aft end of the cockpit instead of in the middle of it, and you can't operate a wheel with your bum to leave your hands free.

If a mooring manoeuvre doesn't go quite right, your ability to heave on a line and manhandle the boat into position will be reduced.

None of these are necessarily a problem, and most depend as much on the specific boat design as pure size, it's just that larger size makes them more likely (for example, it's probably physically impossible to be out of reach of a cockpit control in a 22-footer :) ).

Paul_S123 said:
Do many of you single hand boats of this size?
Click to expand...

I sail our 34-footer on my own from time to time. It's not quite as convenient as our previous 24-footer, for the reasons outlined above, but it's still fairly easy. Berthing in marinas is the only time an extra body or two would be preferable.

EDIT: Second the advice for a reliable and effective autopilot. This is really a necessity for single-handing a lightish fin-keeler. My assessment of "fairly easy" is based on having one.

Pete
 
Last edited:
Paul_S123 said:
I'd posted before (sorry for the noob questions) about single handing my Pegagsus 700 boat versus a wayfarer type dinghy.

General consensus was to stick with the Pegasus.

I have been sailing it quite a bit on my own, and can say the advise was sound.

Crazy really....but I was offered a part ex on my boat for a Beneteau 35s5, I am really considering it, but compared to the Pegasus it is huge.

What problems does this extra size bring?

Do many of you single hand boats of this size?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I single hand my Beneteau 361 perfectly fine. For "parking" as it is an aft cockpit boat with a single wheel I find it very easy to jump out of the cockpit for the lines and then back to cockpit etc (Med mooring). For sailing alone it's very easy. The main sheet is out of reach but the genoa sheet is very close. In a sudden gust I can either release the genoa sheet very fast or turn upwinds. It's easy to overcome these situations. Two additions that made things easy were a below-deck autopilot and a windlass remote control.
 
Last edited:
Plenty of people successfully single-hand boats up to 40 feet and bigger is possible provided you get things set up appropriately.

There are two separate sets of issues with single handing - managing the boat under sail in open water and parking it at a pontoon either to berth in a marina or stop off on a fuel berth. The solution in both cases is a combination of careful planning and practice.

For sailing in open water, you really need a reliable autopilot. This will allow you to leave the helm and concentrate on tasks like raising, lowering and trimming the sails. It also lets you leave the helm to go to the loo or make a cup of tea - both important if you are going to be sailing for more than an hour or two! As well as the autopilot, you'll need to look carefully at the layout of the cockpit and winches and work out how you are going to do things. You may have to make some changes - nothing too complex. Don't rely on a single winch handle to serve multiple winches - Sod's law says that it will never be close to the winch that needs trimming! Have a handle for each winch and a pocket mounted close to the winch to store it. Make sure the ropes are the right length - you may need to be able to hold both genoa sheets at the same time while tacking or a genoa sheet and the furling line at the same time while furling or unfurling the sail. They need to be long enough, but not ridiculously long - otherwise you'll end up with a terrible mess in the cockpit.

Close quarters maneuvering and mooring also needs careful planning and plenty of practice. In some respects, a larger boat makes it easier - the boat has more inertia and will tend to stop still longer after the drive to the propeller has been cut. On the other hand, in a larger boat, you have further to move to get between the cleats and tie up lines. With modern boat designs that usually include a walk-through transom, the trick is often to reverse into a berth - you'll have good visibility from the helm and can easily step off through the transom to tie up the lines. I was very nervous about parking the boat backwards for years and, from talking to others round the marina, it seems that many other owners are too. But once I had taken the time to practice, it became easy. I hang a couple of fat fenders over the stern, reverse slowly up to the pontoon till I'm touching it, then leave it in slow astern which effectively keeps the boat glued to the pontoon while I step off through the transom, hook the lines off the guard rails with a boat hook and tie off.

So, yes, you can single hand thirty foot boats - and larger - just think carefully about it, get everything set up and practice with a friend aboard until you are confident. You will need to be a bit more conservative about weather conditions - reef earlier than you might with a crew on board and consider wind and tide conditions before berthing - if either is tending to blow you off your berth, then you may need to look for an alternative location or try to call for help. Plan ahead and don't set out if you know that conditions are likely to be too difficult for your level of experience and competence at your time and place of arrival.
 
I sail a 26 foot Centaur. There is stacks of room down below and can handle as much rough stuff as any other larger yacht. I like the quick tacking and coming into strange marinas is no problem at all. I often watch blokes with larger boats coming in single handed. It looks stressful.

I agree about the tiller pilot - steering the Centair feels like stirring jam so the tiller pilot does all the steering while I work as the sail trimmer. The sails, winches and anchor are about as big as my 60 year old hands want to deal with. The bills on a 26 footer are eye watering for me..... goodness know how they rack up for a 30 footer.

D

davids-snap.jpg
 
I have often sailed my 50 footer single handed. All powered winches help a lot, but are not necessary. Rolling furling for all sails (in mast for the main) are much more of a necessity. For any longer passengers a reliable autopilot is approaching a necessity. Some help sometimes when coming into port from others on the shore or in the lock on occasions in more than gratefully received. Otherwise you will do fine, until something really major fails - which hopefully it doesnt. You then realise that the one thing that changes in a major way as the boat gets bigger is how much heavier everything gets to the point at which manhandling sails (should the need arise) becomes a major epic.

It does make you even more careful about all the systems as so many failures are avoidable. A shackle coming undone is a non event with two, with one it can be more of an event, so you tend to make sure all the shackles dont (come undone) etc and will save yourself and lot of stress as a consequence.
 
Main problem is the distance between helm and main sheet - which depends on the boat. But that's perfectly manageable in practice, particularly with an auto pilot.

I single-hand our 39' Beneteau quite a lot. I took her over to Alderney and Guernsey and back a few weeks ago. Clearly I wouldn't single-hand in tough conditions, but so long as you know your boat and she's not too powerful, size isn't really an issue up to 40 feet (or more, for some designs).
 
It also helps if you have an autopilot that is networked with the other instruments so that is can be set to follow the wind. When you are raising or lowering sails, reefing etc. you are really more interested in maintaining a course that is at a specified angle to the wind rather than a compass bearing - good to be able to tell the AP to keep you head to wind, or on a fixed tack while you are working.
 
I singlehanded this - 37 ft and ten tons displacement for most of my thirty years of ownership:

Mirelleonhermooring2003.jpg


Bigger heavier boats are easier as they are slower to react - with this old girl I never even got round to fitting an autopilot as she would sail herself close hauled and reaching, and I never was brave enough to trust an autopilot or self steering gear running with a boom 22ft long weighing a hundredweight... if on a long run with a fair wind I dropped the main and led a headsail sheet to the tiller in the time honoured way...

I am currently negotiating to buy a more modern boat of the same size which has always been singlehanded by her owner - she does have an autopilot...
 
Last edited:
I have a 35 ft boat. Its a C&C. an 80's IOR style AWB MAB sort of thing light weight cruiser race.

I single hand it routinely.
No auto pilot.
Standard rig. fully batten main, Slab reef, with horn and a single line. roller furling. Main sheet and traveler are forward of hatch.
Sails easy.
I bring it in and out of marinas myself.
For me the limiting factor is how long is my voyage, I don't go more than 24hrs. Any longer and I am just to tired.
An auto pilot would be nice to have but I get by without.
raising sails is no bother, I have a winch.
I have a removable furling gear, although I have sailed it myself with regular sails and changed them. With out the furling headsail sail. I would probably not bother.
Stowing the main is manageable by myself, the full battens help. Much bigger you would want to tame it a bit with a modern system of some kind. at least Lazy jacks or a stack pack.
I think most people find docking a bigger boat is a bit daunting. The fin keel single screw is actually pretty easy to handle. I just set things up early. with longish lines I can step ashore with, and pick my spot. The mid ship spring helps.
I keep boat on a mooring.
The trick is to plan ahead and do things one step at a time.
I did single hand my smaller boat with a spinnaker. (24ft) I haven't tried it with this one yet. I did try the cruising Shute, It was fun for a while. Then I figured out it was not a cunning plan.:)

Go for it. having practiced on the smaller boat you will find it works.
 
Last edited:
I find having a short line on the centre cleat with a loop to drop over the first pontoon cleat is often useful. Once its caught you can use the engine and rudder to hold her tight whilst you sort the lines.
 
I took my 34 ft Catalina across Biscay from La Rochelle to Santander
single handed this summer - then had 5 weeks on my own taking her along the
north Spanish coast to Vigo for the winter.

No trouble at all - worked out a good system for getting in and off pontoons -
there are very few moorings there.
But an auto helm was essential for a comparatively light boat.
Will almost certainly do Vigo down the Portuguese coast to Lagos on my own
next season. really looking forward to it :cool:
 
rwoofer said:
I used to sail my old Moody 44 singlehandedly more times than when crewed. I find bigger boats more predictable to handle in marinas.
Click to expand...

Ditto Moody 44. I only needed crew for overnight passages, (of which there were a few on the way to Malta and back).... but for any trips/legs which could be done in 18 hours or so, I was quite happy to sail single handed.

Ditto autopilot...
 
Last edited:
It's all do-able, but it's really up to your ability and confidence I'm afraid.

Just be aware that the 35s5 is a powerful boat with a big main, not some old plodder.
 
Paul_S123 said:
I'd posted before (sorry for the noob questions) about single handing my Pegagsus 700 boat versus a wayfarer type dinghy.

General consensus was to stick with the Pegasus.

I have been sailing it quite a bit on my own, and can say the advise was sound.

Crazy really....but I was offered a part ex on my boat for a Beneteau 35s5, I am really considering it, but compared to the Pegasus it is huge.

What problems does this extra size bring?

Do many of you single hand boats of this size?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


Here we go, for what it's worth, as they say.
I think there are sometimes 3 lots of singlehanders chipping in:

- The daysailor, taking the boat on and off the home mooring.
- The coastal cruiser, mainly freestyling the boat between anchorages, marinas and moorings. Often as far as the Med and beyond
- The offshore cruiser/racer. Going to America etc.

So you have to weigh up who is speaking to you when they say "I sail singlehanded all the time" and, more importantly, which camp you see yourself in. It might then be easier to see if the Beneteau fits the bill.

I assume you have a need for extensive accommodation or the new boat is an exceptional bargain, otherwise you could choose a more easily managed proposition.

If your sailing is in the coastal cruiser envelope one problem of a bigger boat is the apprehension/aggravation in entering a new, rammed full, perhaps Continental, tidal marina in poor conditions. If you start tailoring you cruising plans because you can't face it, then the bigger boat is not worth the candle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top