Boat Size For Single Handle Sailing

[BrownBear]

I am as new as they come to sailing with my ASA classes starting at 101 - 108 in November. I have a budget of 80K for a boat. I want something comfortable as I plan on living on it, but manageable for single handle sailing. Is there a certain manufacturer or features that I should look for in a boat? How big is too big, and how small is too small to be comfortable on passages? I am searching now, as I figured this gives me about a year to do my homework and settle on what I want.

[thomm225]

It really depends on what you want to do with the boat.

If you are sailing long distance and not docking a lot, you can go a little larger, but if you are sailing locally like maybe 3-8 days out and back and day sailing a lot, something around 26'-28' is easily handled especially with a roller furling jib, tiller, and tiller autopilot

Here's a list of some good boats for single handing and offshore sailing

https://atomvoyages.com/planning/goo...oats-list.html

[roverhi]

Something shy of 40'-45' and ideally 34'-38'. Much larger boats have been single handed but would they/you have been able to handle an equipment issue like bending on a new sail in a gale if things didn't go perfectly. On whatever boat you decide suggest you take the bagged working sail that you will use on the roller furling from wherever it will be stowed, haul it to the bow and hoist it all by your lonesome. Try to imagine doing that on a boat healed 20 degrees, pitching deck, breaking waves across the deck and a 30k wind. I mean actually do a sail change not just tell yourself that that bags not so heavy I can handle it but actually get dirty and sweaty. Then ask yourself if the boat is too big.

I've made long solo passages on 13.5 and 20 ton displacement boats and was able to handle equipment issues like a bent whisker pole, chafed through halyard, torn headsail, lost cap shroud, self steering ripped out of the transom etc. even at 70 years of age. But one thing that has become very obvious as I've aged is I'm not 30 anymore. I just don't have the physical strength and stamina to deal with the things that are no problem on a moderate sized boat but would be a major issue on a larger boat.

There are three long term live aboard/cruisers on 26'-27' boats on my dock, one a live aboard for decades, and they are doing fine. Personally would want a bit more space that a mid 30' boat would give to store stuff like a folding bicycle but have lived for weeks on my 28' boat without much of a problem. Lived aboard and cruised for 4 years on a Westsail 32 with my wife and was very comfortable though a W32 is a BIG 32' boat.

[Allied39]

Depends on the boat. I have a 39ft and would not go below that in length, but remember all boats are not equal.Captains too.
Handling an out island 41 was like driving a bus with flat tires compared to my boat which handles akin to a sports car.
But in a lot of situations the bus with flat tires is preferable. Not for me, but a great many folks.
So as stated already you need to do some learning and gaining of experience before you can reasonably expect to pick the right boat.
I would advise against going small though. Speed is a direct ratio to waterline, a few variables of course.
Best of luck!

This is for the OP, I do not care to argue or deal with the trolls.

[hpeer]

35’ cutter.

This book has a whole chapter dedicated to your topic.

Great book.

https://www.amazon.com/Singlehanded-.../dp/0070281645

[Don C L]

I think it has more to do with the rig and the way it is laid out and what mechanical advantages are employed, more than length. But I'd personally probably draw the line under 40' somewhere.

edit: Oh I should add, for singlehanding you might also consider a rig like an unstayed mast (Freedom yachts) and with a wishbone, (as in Nonsuch yachts,) or a junk rig (never tried it but some folks swear by them for ease of handling.
https://sailboatdata.com/builder/freedom-yachts
https://nonsuch.org/
https://www.pbo.co.uk/seamanship/ber...junk-rig-17481

[mvweebles]

It really depends. I have a good friend who comfortably singlehands a Brewer 46 Pilot house sloop. He spent a lot of time and money getting it rigged for singlehanding, including an electric winch on the cabin top for all control lines, and a very slick stack-pack mainsail. He day sails the boat on San Francisco Bay in 20-25 kts of wind all the time.

But..... If something were to break or jam offshore in a strong breeze, he'd be in trouble. He's a strong guy, but the rig is big and would be very difficult to get under control as a single hander.

If there are no problems, a decent sailor can single hand a pretty large boat as long as it's rigged appropriately. If a problem comes up, well, 36 feet could be too big even if rigged well. Just depends on how much risk of failure of gear and weather you're willing to assume

Peter

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Allied39

Depends on the boat. I have a 39ft and would not go below that in length, but remember all boats are not equal.Captains too.
Handling an out island 41 was like driving a bus with flat tires compared to my boat which handles akin to a sports car.
But in a lot of situations the bus with flat tires is preferable. Not for me, but a great many folks.
So as stated already you need to do some learning and gaining of experience before you can reasonably expect to pick the right boat.
I would advise against going small though. Speed is a direct ratio to waterline, a few variables of course.
Best of luck!

This is for the OP, I do not care to argue or deal with the trolls.

Ditto this advice. Mine is 38'. I can easily get it in and out of dockings by myself and also get underway in about 20 minutes. Not all boats handle the close quarter maneuvering well, but it's critical if you actually want to use the boat on a regular basis. Mine is also comfortable enough for three people over 3 weeks on a passage. I recommend you find a fin keel sloop that hits these criteria and then worry about setting it up for singlehanding.

Oh, I see a Freedom was another recommendation above! I wholeheartedly approve Wylies and Alerions are great too but you'll need more dineros for those.

[daletournier]

I had a freedom 32, very easy to single hand on passage or docking, I did plenty of both on it.

I now have a Catalina 470. I haven't soloed a long passage on her yet but I've done over nights etc.

All going well out at sea it's great, comfy and fast. The problem is if things go wrong, get caught out by a squall etc., alot more power in these sails than my Freedom, it's something you really need to respect. You just dont want to get caught out.

Docking, there is just no comparison, the smaller boat was a breeze, I could pull her up jump off and secure the boat with ease. The 47 is big, no bow thruster, it maneuvers easily enough but it's quite high to jump off, to high for the less athletic among us, it has greater windage and also it's much heavier, your not manhandling her easily. You need to watch that you have actually stopped her, she has alot more momentum and may surprise.

Little things, if the windless fails I could still pull my freedoms anchor up by hand, it would be a more complex task on my 470.

You just have to take the bigger boat more seriously.

[Fbfisher]

I think single handed sailing has much more to do with how the boat is set up vs size. Arguably, though I’m not looking for an argument, among the more challenging issues for those handling a boat is docking. If you have good spacial awareness docking a 50’ boat is not much different than docking a 30’ boat. Get comfortable with it, learn the influence of wind and current (freeboard will play a role here with bigger boats) and most of your major size issues are solved. Auto pilot, furling headsail and mainsail, with all lines leading into the cockpit and you don’t need two people to sail the boat. Anchor using an electric windlass that can be controlled reliably from the helm is another way to manage single handed. Granted, if you need to go to the bow to pick up a mooring, it’s a longer dash on a bigger boat. Usually I single hand our 43’ Beneteau, even when my wife is aboard since she considers herself a passenger. I’ve never experienced our boat as too big to handle alone.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by BrownBear

I want something comfortable as I plan on living on it, but manageable for single handle sailing.

Just for clarity's sake, BrownBear, it's
"single-handing".

In other words, one hand on the tiller/ one hand aboard....

LittleWing77

[BrownBear]

Thank you everyone for your quick and thoughtful replies. I have bookmarked your links and added the books to my amazon cart.



I should have mentioned that I plan on utilizing it for blue water cruising, as I would like to travel internationally and avoid the tourist traps. My plan is to cruise to various locations, moor the boat and then explore / hike and then set off somewhere else.


I will definitely make sure that whatever I purchased has autopilot. I was unaware that one can have an electric winch and cabin top / cockpit based control lines. This seems like a must have. I will also take Roverhi advice and make sure that I can change the sail. As far as docking goes, that seems like it could be a challenge for sure but a requirement is a diesel engine and prop should help right? This is what they are there for I would imagine.



I am very new to all of this. Thank you LittleWing77 for pointing out that it is "single-handing"



This seems like a good way to go. I appreciate the advice, I think I am going to stick to looking for 32-38 footers, with the cabin / cockpit based control lines.

[Zzmeyer]

Good luck on your dream BrownBear. Good advice here. To me, size means safety and comfort. The motion of my 50 foot at sea is much more comfortable than most 30 footers. You can live on a 27 footer but you might not want to. The trade off, as others have pointed out, is the difficulty of managing a large boat when things break. I'd focus, then on how to make a bigger boat easier to handle. Autopilot is a must. Roller furling headsails, ditto. Going on the foredeck in a rough sea is dangerous. I would want roller furling main on a boat over forty feet. An electric cabin top winch for control lines. Put me in the camp of those who believe long distance solo sailing is inherently dangerous as you are unable to maintain a proper watch. Prove me wrong by having AIS and radar with proximity alarms. Seems like you will be anchoring alot so an electric windlass should be added to your list. To minimize the need to handle emergencies make sure your boat is in great shape before you leave. As a newbie, you don't know what you don't know so I'd get (hire) an expert to go over every aspect of your boat.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Allied39

....
I would advise against going small though. Speed is a direct ratio to waterline, a few variables of course.
Best of luck!

This is for the OP, I do not care to argue or deal with the trolls.

The Pardey's in one of their books talk about the Xmas 1982 debacle in Cabo San Lucas where an unseasonable gale drove 29 of 45 cruising boats ashore. The observation they made and that several people there agreed with is that boats over about 37' didn't do nearly as well during the storm when crewed by a couple. Larger boats with large crews did OK, but larger boats with only 1 or 2 people didn't. Smaller boats with only 1 or 2 people did OK.

Regarding speed, the best predictors of long term average speed are waterline length AND SA/D ratio. (SA/D is not just SailArea divided by LWL but a more complex formula.)

[Cheechako]

For offshore, long distance cruising, I'm in the ~ 34-38 ft camp. Probably 36 feet being an ideal size. I have done to 47 feet just local/coastal.