Single Handed Cats

[salticrak]

The Wharram tiki 26 I am building... to be sure.

[ausaviator]

I checked out your snug Gemini on the weekend Mr. B, looks like she's nearly ready to go!

[rabbi]

the single most important thing to me is a reliable (!!) autopilot. And a backup.

Everything else is a plus:
Chartplotter at the helm with AIS and radar with alarm zones
Radio at the helm
A MOB system that sends the boat to drive in circles after you fell off
Lines in the cockpit are a plus, but a perfect weather window of course is better as you never walk to the mast anyway

This depends of course where you are single handling. Crossing the atlantic is one thing, crossing the Med a differrent matter because you have to watch the traffic while on the atlantic you can play russian roulette and get out well.


Does a forward looking sonar really help much for collision avoidance with a conainer or something? Does it really see a half immersed container, which is a mere 2 meters deep? Of course at a distance where you can still react, otherwise its more a "too late" warning.
At least I know of one cat that ran into a container despite having a forward facing sonar, but maybe that was an older model and technology has proceeded, I don't know.

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=rabbi;1265395]the single most important thing to me is a reliable (!!) autopilot. And a backup.QUOTE]


+A1..

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Hey Mr B, how are the repairs to your boat coming?

(Sorry for the thread drift)

Latest news from the Repairer is end of June mid July, It was Nov 2012. then January, ????????????????????????????

I am not holding my breathe,

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

I checked out your snug Gemini on the weekend Mr. B, looks like she's nearly ready to go!

I was down there a couple of weeks back, It hasnt moved much, He had the stiffeners in last time, The outside hasnt moved in months,

[tamicatana]

I've got a NACRA 18 Square catamaran for sale...

[Strikhedonia]

Originally Posted by rabbi

the single most important thing to me is a reliable (!!) autopilot. And a backup.

Everything else is a plus:
Chartplotter at the helm with AIS and radar with alarm zones
Radio at the helm
A MOB system that sends the boat to drive in circles after you fell off
Lines in the cockpit are a plus, but a perfect weather window of course is better as you never walk to the mast anyway

This depends of course where you are single handling. Crossing the atlantic is one thing, crossing the Med a differrent matter because you have to watch the traffic while on the atlantic you can play russian roulette and get out well.


Does a forward looking sonar really help much for collision avoidance with a conainer or something? Does it really see a half immersed container, which is a mere 2 meters deep? Of course at a distance where you can still react, otherwise its more a "too late" warning.
At least I know of one cat that ran into a container despite having a forward facing sonar, but maybe that was an older model and technology has proceeded, I don't know.

Good stuff, thank you! Question when you mention backup to the Autopilot. You are speaking of spare parts, correct?

[multihullsailor6]

Originally Posted by rabbi

A MOB system that sends the boat to drive in circles after you fell off

Hi rabbi,

Can you please point me to one of these units, haven't come across them yet!?

[Sea Frog]

Originally Posted by multihullsailor6

Hi rabbi,
Can you please point me to one of these units, haven't come across them yet!?

This one does not run in circles, it merely stops the boat (in "solo mode")

[smj]

Originally Posted by monte

most modern cats are probably as easy as each other. my L380 is easier than my hobie 18 to single hand. Having sailed the seawind 100 and the L380 I would say the lagoon offers much better protection from the elements. The sliding hatch over the helm is nice too if it rains just pull it over. The things that make it easiest are
-all lines leading to the helm, including furling, reefing, halyards, both jib sheets
-auto pilot with self tack (self tack not necessary, but autopilot definitely)
-AIS, radar but not necessarily only for singlehanders
-ability to make food and drinks and still maintain watch (galley up)
-radio at the helm

What about the ability on the Seawind to be able to sit at the table, eat lunch and have a 360 degree view? The Seawind 1000 to me is by far the best laid out catamaran for sailing that I've ever been on. Twin wheels, a huge cockpit to wonder around while tweaking sails and no need to jump of the high perch seat as on the Lagoon. The visibility from the helm is great and you always feel a part of the action as the cockpit and salon are as one. Just my opinion as I have owned both types of cats as well!

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by mnfish

Good stuff, thank you! Question when you mention backup to the Autopilot. You are speaking of spare parts, correct?

The autopilot can be a quite complex thing to fix, even if you have spare parts. Beside you typically won't have the part that is broken. Murphy's law...

I had to resolder a broken connection on the electronics of my B&G pilot in the middle of the atlantic. Boy, I was really nervous. One mistake and I'd have to steer for the last 10 days...

Next time I will take a self-contained tiller pilot with me. Using some cords and stuff I have onboard anyway I should be able to rig it to the wheel or the emergency tiller if I have to. Costs a few hundret bucks and gives me peace of mind.
That may not steer well and may not be able to handle severe wheather but it will work well enough to allow me to rest from time to time.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by multihullsailor6

Hi rabbi,

Can you please point me to one of these units, haven't come across them yet!?

I built that myself: The board computer was controlling the course via a waypoint and if it lost bluetooth connection to my phone it would start to run in circles (by moving the direction to the waypoint).
That was only active during solo night passages, to limit the risk of false alarms which happened from time to time.
I wasn't aware of the device SeaFrog found, and my solution was better than nothing.

[Redreuben]

A Trimaran.

[Mike Sibley]

I single hand a Lagoon 37 TPI without much trouble most of the time. I admit I could use some help entering or leaving a slip when there is wind, but otherwise it is pretty easy. The boat has in boom furling with an electric winch, so raising, lowering and reefing the main is easy from the helm station. Also, the lines can be rigged so that tacking the jib can be done from the helm station. Admittedly, deploying and retrieving the anchor can be a problem if there is too much wind. This is an area where crew is definitely helpful in small or crowded anchorages. However, it is clearly more fun to sail with other people, even if they don't help with the work.