Best Size Sailboat For Singlehander

[Zach]

One of my friends owns a boat yard, railway, and fish house.

One Sunday I pulled down in the yard, and saw him walk out to the end of the T-head and start untying lines.

He climbed across the first 90 some foot shrimp boat, to the middle boat of equal size... Started the engine.

Climbed back across to the dock, untied the last of the lines and move the raft of 3 90 footers from one T-head to his other dock.

It sounded like a the murder of a detroit diesel was going on at the time with rolling boils of black soot, and the high howl of a turbo spooling up and waiting to reverse direction.

He laid the raft up against the T-head, climbed back across to the dock side boat, dropped a big loop over the dolphin and backed down... and did the stern.

You can single hand as big a boat as you've the balls to untie from the dock, or 3 of them at once...

I made it over to the far dock about the same time he dropped the stern line on... Another day at the office for him, but probably the most impressive feat I've seen to this day.

Second only to him tying a boat off with "not quite a round turn around the piling and the bitter end draped up across the top of the pole and laid down the other side... and walking off. Still tied the next morning, no idea on that one and he's not much for teaching...

Zach

[Adventurebound]

As said, get the smallest boat for your type of sailing. I was going to get a 30 footer on an ocean mooring as the moorings on the ocean here are cheap compared to the river. Wanting to do shallow water coastal cruising had me get a 21 foot trailer sailer. Can maintain the boat in my yard, my Commodore will trailer it, never have to antifoul it, no osmosis, but takes about 3 hours to get it into the water [after I get to the water] including setting up the bimini. However, there is an enclosure near the boat ramp at $2000 a year........

[racinejf]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and, hopefully, will be a new owner of a sailboat soon. I'm looking very seriously at an Albin Vega. It looks to me like a good beginner and single handler boat. Does this make sense ?
P.S. It's my first post, but I've been reading the threads for awhile now. Very interesting and, hum, enlightening.

[captainbri]

Think of it as a vehicle a smart car is going to respond faster and be more forgiving than a suburban.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[K_V_B]

What's interesting in boat size discussion is that size is always asumed to be length, whereas what really counts is displacement.
Displacement dictates how much stuff you can take on board, but also how much sail you'll need, and how large all the forces will be.
Since as a solo sailor you won't need a lot of space I'd guess I would go for a relatively low displacement, but a long waterline...
Something like this:
DICK ZAAL 41 sailing yacht for sale | De Valk Yacht broker - Jachtmakelaar
(I'm having a serious case of boat crush on that one...)

[racinejf]

K_V_B, I understand your crush on that boat! Looks like a serious offshore sailer.

[SaltyMonkey]

KVB - The flat decks don't give me much confidences she will right herself quickly on a turtle.

[ericv]

Can't comment on singlehanding, but I own an Ericson 35-3 like you're looking at and enjoy it on Lake Michigan.

[oceannavigator]

It doesn't matter what size boat you get for singlehanding. What matters if if you have the budget for the boat and have it set up so you can 100% do everything yourself.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by ericv

Can't comment on singlehanding, but I own an Ericson 35-3 like you're looking at and enjoy it on Lake Michigan.

Eric,

Thanks! I sent a pm.

Tom

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by oceannavigator

It doesn't matter what size boat you get for singlehanding. What matters if if you have the budget for the boat and have it set up so you can 100% do everything yourself.

Actually it does matter what size you singlehand. It's so obvious I'm surprised you'd say that.

Would it be easier to sail a Sunfish in to the marina singlehanded or a 45' boat?

Think about it.

[MarkSF]

Most of the work underway is tacking the jib, so get a boat with a self-tacking one. If you don't, avoid masthead rigged boats with large jib / smaller main combinations (like my Bristol

[Polux]

I will not enter that discussion regarding what is the best size since it will depend a lot on the boat, type and age of systems as well as on the experience of the sailor but I will say that a major factor is the weight of the boat.

If not using computerized docking systems, using the hands and the body weight to pull slightly the boat out of the dock to sail away what counts is the weight of the boat, not size.

What counts in what regards size of the sails and weight is the dimensions of the sails, not the size of the boat. A modern 40ft with half the weight of an old heavy 40ft will have probably less sail area and definitively will need much less sail area specially in heavy weather where light boats can still sail with enough power with a very small sail area, making the sails more easily manageable.

[thomm225]

This is the beast I'm looking to singlehand. My main worry right now is the spinnaker if the wind gets too high after I already have it up:

1984 Ericson Mk III Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[Terra Nova]

t--That boat could be easily single-handed by a reasonably fit person, as long as you set it up properly.