Choice for single handed?

[Sdwcheney]

I Sailed my Nonsuch 30 from the Virgin Islands to Florida 1500 miles singlehanded. I am now planning a trip to the Bahamas, Cuba, and back to Key West.

[TanzerTom]

Originally Posted by Sdwcheney

I Sailed my Nonsuch 30 from the Virgin Islands to Florida 1500 miles singlehanded. I am now planning a trip to the Bahamas, Cuba, and back to Key West.

Nonsuch, Freedom on my search list but are a little over budget. Contessa 32 is my dream but are not available this side of pond. Will likely end up with Caralina 30 as best all round coastal cruise for the money and considering availability. There is a Nonsuch in Wrightville Beach NC I plan to check out soon.

[Sdwcheney]

if you need a crew to sail the Nonsuch from NC to the UK, please let me know. I also may consider sale of my 1988 Nonsuch U-30.

[TacomaSailor]

"I am 60 yrs old but fairly fit. Please could anyone suggest a sailing vessel genuinely suitable for single handed but larger than the Lugger and with some accommodation. Any other advice appreciated."

I am 67 and fairly fit. I single hand a 40' cutter with no difficulty and have done so for 20-years. I also single hand a smaller daysailer and find the bigger boat easier to deal with everywhere except near the dock.

As others have said - boat setup is everything. I spent the first four-years of boat ownership sailing alone on short day trips and then longer overnight trips and then returning home to make more modifications to improve the ease and safety for single handing.

I still believe that a bigger boat is easier to handle and makes a more stable platform for a single hander. Other older sailor/bigger boat single handers I know:

- my brother was a relative novice to sailing and single handed his Tartan 42 for a year in Mexico at the age of 55

- a 54 year-old friend with not a lot of sailing experience single handed a Beneteau 42 from San Francisco to Florida over a period of four years.

- a 52-year old women friend single handed her CSY 44 all over Western Mexico

- a 48-year old women friend single handed her Islander 36 from San Diego to Acapulco and back

It is the boat setup that is important!

[TanzerTom]

Originally Posted by Sdwcheney

if you need a crew to sail the Nonsuch from NC to the UK, please let me know. I also may consider sale of my 1988 Nonsuch U-30.

No passages for me, at least not on my own boat. Planning, proper gear, all too expensive and too much hassle. Just gunk holing the east coast and exploring the coastal villages on no time table will entertain me until I can't. Thanks for offer... One never knows how the wind will blow

[mstrebe]

Forgive my lack of knowledge about your local area, but how are the winds and how often are you reefer? If you can get away with some loss of efficiency, a roller furling main and self-tacking jib are just night-and-day easier to sail singlehanded. Figure that jib will be 90% and the main will be 20% smaller than a traditional main.

Otherwise, I'm looking for things like gunnel winches within reach of the helm and all lines led aft.

I do like dual helms so I can just switch sides on a tack and keep the winches close. Typically right before the tack I will unclutch but leave wrapped the working jibsheet and take the bitter end across the cockpit with me, then tack and bring the jib across as the boat steadies up on the new course.

I've tried to use the "auto tack" feature on my AP, but that thing does mysterious moves often enough to not trust.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[John34]

I single hand my Pearson 34, Main to cockpit, roller furling, lazy jacks and a good autopilot, even with my wife on board, keeps me in shape and I am 70 years old, by the way mostly bay sailing for 4 to 6 hours.
So always go for it.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Mike1956

UK

Mike

OK, so the way I read this is that you regularly daysail a LOT. That tells me you want something easy to get going at the start and put away at the end. I assume you want something with a cabin to do a little cooking and maybe use the head. Wanting to stay "cheaper" seems like a reasonable guess.
Given the tides in the UK the boat probably needs to be able to dry out.
It's not apparent whether the goal is to sail more comfortably or to fish more comfortably. It seems that fishing is a big part of this and sailing ability not as important.

So:
A little bigger (20-27')
a small cabin
centerboard or bilgekeel

The ideas that come to mind:

CORRIBEE MKI
CORRIBEE MKII
CORRIBEE MKIII
CENTAUR 26 (WESTERLY)
VEGA 27 (ALBIN)
MICROSAIL (MULL)
FLIRT (JEANNEAU)
CAPTAIN (JEANNEAU)
SUN FAST 20 (JEANNEAU)
WESTERLY 21
WARWICK 21 (WESTERLY)
PAGEANT 24 (WESTERLY)


Also look at the shorter vessels from Hunter-UK:
Sailboats built by Hunter Boats Ltd. on Sailboatdata.com - (sort by LOA)

[Don Lelo]

There is a Liberty 28 in Pensacola that you may like. I seen it up an down the west coast of Florida a lot. Had spoken to the owner an according to him is very easy to sail an it seems it has what you seem to look for.

[DefinitelyMe]

I'll weigh in with my 2-cents: Pearson Commander 26.

Small enough that all the sails are easily man-handled by one person. Heavy and strong with a long keel but still sails well (much better than the lugger). Large cockpit for it's size but still has a small cabin that is enough for two people, with a head, small galley etc. Designed to carry a small outboard engine if desired, mounted in a well aft of the cockpit. There are maybe 4 or 5 of them here in Bermuda. Not sure about the UK. I'll try to attach a picture......

Alternatively, if you're looking for something a little more modern there are a number of 'pocket cruisers' made by companies such as C&C that are very very easy to handle single-handed and are a lot of fun.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by TanzerTom

Freedom or Nonsuch are likely easiest for single handing and both are well built and excellent for coastal cruising.

If you can find a Freedom 32, you'll love the simplicity and it has superb room for short-term cruising. I don't know much about the Nonsuch except that they're similar to the Freedoms. You might also see if there are any Wylies around, though they are at least 2X more expensive than the Freedom, which was still a solidly built boat.

Check out the boats on the San Francisco single-handed sailing site (sfbaysss.org) that have done the trip to Hawaii (and often, back). You'll be surprised at the diversity...

[rbyham]

Agreed most any boat within reason can be set up to single hand with beam being a definitive factor. I love to single hand but having recently jumped up to 11.5' beam realize that creates a lot of tacking ground to cover. Guess I will have to experiment with the self tacking jib setup...

I was intrigued by the other mentioned aspect of the OP. Fishing. Do some boats work better than others for fishing? Where I sail/fish that windlass would come in very handy.

[Scaramanga F25]

As you like to fish I, would suggest a boat free of rigging.
You will find Freedom 21's and 25's for less that 5K$ in the us, somewhat more in the UK but they are available.

[thomm225]

Definitely something between 25'-30'.

You can easily sail a larger boat single handed on long trips, but you will be coming and going from the dock a lot, lowering sails to fish, etc so smaller is definitely better

Here's a good list plus you can include the Catalina 25, and Catalina 27 for what you are wanting to do:

Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List

[Vancouver Pete]

Of all the replies, a Cornish Crabber or if your pockets are deep enough a Yawl. They are nice small seaworthy boats.