20 tonnes is 44 000 pounds, light ship. D/L of 188 -- reasonably light for a cruising
boat. You don't snub boats of this size onto piers by hand -- beyond a certain size manhandling ceases to be part of any harbour maneuver process. And it's not an issue at all; you just do it differently. I
single hand a LOT including tricky berthing maneuvers; it's no big deal. I generally don't jump onto the
dock, although I'm plenty fit enough -- I've developed reasonable skills for lassoing
cleats. Berthing is no problem at all -- I would say berthing is easier than with a
small boat because the larger
boat is much less subject to being blown around by gusts and flukes in the
wind. Downside is the distance I need to get from the
helm, to the side
deck (with 16' of beam), when berthing
single handed. But again -- you learn, by necessity, to bring the boat to a complete stop using
helm and throttle, in just the right place, so that you can stroll over to the side
deck and lasso that cleat. Eventually you can do it even when it's windy.
Sail handling is easy with all
sails on furlers.
Electric winches are nice but not essential -- with
roller furling main you don't need to haul the sail all the way up the
mast by the
halyard -- the most labor intensive bit (at least one
electric winch WOULD be essential with a conventional main). It is much easier to move around on deck on a boat of this size in a lively seaway, than on a smaller boat. The motion is better too.
I've put in sea time on boats of all sizes from 16' to 90' and I can say from pretty extensive experience that the bigger ones are easier, safer and less stressful to sail, especially over long distances and in bad
weather. My next boat will be a bit bigger than this one.
I've never observed anything like that. On the contrary, where I sail, bigger boats go out more often and are kept longer -- perhaps because a bigger boat is a bigger commitment and hardly anyone buys one and lets it
rot in the slip?
Yes, what you THINK you can handle. And I'm 100% sure you underestimate yourself. You would not have the slightest trouble whatsoever handling my boat. My father recently
sold his 37 footer, which we had cruised for decades in
Florida and the
Caribbean. He and I both agreed that it was more
work and harder, to sail that boat, than mine.
I'm sure there are different conditions where you could walk all over me -- light
wind and upwind for sure, and I have no doubt that with all your
racing experience, your skill is vastly better than mine. But I would bet you pink slips that you couldn't get within a day of me sailing the couple thousand miles from Cowes around the top of
Iceland and back, nonstop and double handed, or better yet, single handed. Horses for courses. Over long windy distance with inevitable gales -- you want waterline length, strength, low windage, and a not oversized rig.
I think you're talking about a
RACING Code 0, not a cruising one -- they are different
sails.
You may be right in any case about "mom and pop", however. In any case, I don't have one of those and probably won't have one. Since I don't
race, I don't mind sailing slowly in light wind, and if I need more speed, I don't mind motorsailing. So I'm reasonably satisfied with what I have, for my purposes.
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