single-handed sailing

Moderator: GreenLake

Re: single-handed sailing

Postby K.C. Walker » Sun Aug 03, 2014 2:47 pm

Green Lake,

It definitely has some springiness which can lead to other problems. If I leave it on the rudder, which I usually do, and held back under the bungee the connection develops memory, so wants to go back and park itself. Fortunately, the quick connect is reversible, so then it wants to park itself right next to the main sheet swivel. It's not enough springiness to keep it up under its own weight when extended. Actually, it may have enough springiness if I were to leave it unattached so that the connection would be straight rather than having memory bend. I do have to be careful not to lean on it when it's extended over the side deck because I have bent it and had to carefully straighten it. It still extends fine but it's not as smooth as it was when new.

I find it interesting that when I teach people to drive the boat I really have to encourage them to use the hiking stick. They really want to just sit down in the middle of the boat and hold the rudder. To get new sailors to be active ballast takes a LOT of encouragement.
KC Walker, DS 1 #7002
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby GreenLake » Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:10 am

I have bent mine as well, but I think it happened when I fell backwards into the cockpit once and landed on the stick. :(
It's bent right at the end, so there's no impairment of the telescoping function (except, perhaps for the last fraction of an inch).

I hear you on training new sailors. For doing daysails I don't always need "active" ballast, because with several people in moderate winds the "static" ballast can be very effective on its own :)

I normally position myself in the middle, so one guest can handle the jib sheets and another the tiller, but I can reach both and switch to "single-handed" sailing as needed. With more people on board, I'll hand off the main and after that invent "necessary" tasks. Sometimes we need to divide a bit unevenly by weight to get the right trim; with more people in the boat that can get interesting during a tack... one time the smallest one had to duck into the cuddy so we had enough room to move...

If it's necessary to sit out, I'll usually start, next thing is to get the youngsters at the jib to do the same, and some people will just never be comfortable.

But even for those that get the tiller, it's really hard to handle the extension. The difference is that the tiller gives you direct feedback when it is in neutral position. With the stick, you lose that - it's similar to using a wheel where you may not know whether centering the little mark means that the rudder is centered or whether it's still a revolution or two off center. Most people new to sailing (or boating in general) do assume that a boat tracks like a car - they want to hold the tiller at center for making the boat track straight. They need to acquire the feel for the need for constant small correction, the fact that the boat is actively balanced by the rudder.

Sailing with people trained on keelboats is really interesting. They may get sail handling, maneuvers and even the tiller, right away, depending on their previous experience, but they have literally no concept of what follows on a 30 degree heel on a dinghy if nobody takes quick action :shock: :roll:

They are also totally unconcerned about cleating sheets or falling off with the sails tight....

OK, back to "single-handing".
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby Interim » Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:47 pm

This is interesting, and would also have been valuable had I read it before yesterday when I took my first non-family member newbie sailing (I recall seeing some admonition in Sail magazine to take at least one non-sailor on your boat each year).

He is a surfer, so understands a bit about balance (more than a powerboater might), but was wild with the tiller. I'd say "fall off a little" when we were luffing, and we would soon be on a broad reach. Fortunately, winds were under 7mph, so the stakes weren't too high.

Back to the point of the thread, I kept one hand on the main sheet and sat opposite my friend, so I could grab the tiller if needed.

The previous day I was single-handing (which I really have come to enjoy, thanks to the tips in this forum about tiller tamers). I've been getting a way with light winds, but one of these days I'll have more of a challenge on my hands.

I know this doesn't really advance the discussion; more of a journal entry for my own sake.

--john
1979 DSII
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby tommy4132 » Mon Aug 18, 2014 6:37 pm

I was out yesterday to race at my local club. No crew that day and just before the race started the wind began to pick up. I do not have any reef points on my sail and since I was racing I really did not want to take down the jib. On a number of occasions I was as far forward as I could go, hiked out all the way, jib sheet in one hand the main in the other while holding on to the tiller extension. I never really had to release the jib, held on more to make adjustments, kept the main un-cleated to let out during big puffs and pull right back in right after. Since I have a ratchet block, I was able to hold the line against the tiller extension and just loosen my grip a little to let it out. I would just lay the jib sheet on my leg when I wanted to pull the main back in quickly with both hands.The setup on these boats really makes it easy to handle alone. Everything is right there.
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby GreenLake » Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:20 pm

Interim wrote:.... yesterday when I took my first non-family member newbie sailing (I recall seeing some admonition in Sail magazine to take at least one non-sailor on your boat each year).


I have a new person on board every fourth or fifth trip, on average. Some of them have turned into regular crew over time, or for a period of time. Others come back regularly "on occasion". Still, most enjoyed it as a 'one time' experience. Either way, I figure, I'm ahead of that suggestion :)

Interim wrote:He is a surfer, so understands a bit about balance (more than a powerboater might), but was wild with the tiller. I'd say "fall off a little" when we were luffing, and we would soon be on a broad reach. Fortunately, winds were under 7mph, so the stakes weren't too high. Back to the point of the thread, I kept one hand on the main sheet and sat opposite my friend, so I could grab the tiller if needed.


Sounds rather familiar. I usually enjoy the challenge to account for this. The worst, from that perspective, are people with some experience , especially experience in a very different type of boat. They don't know when their out of their depth and will suddenly do something that's totally unexpected.

Who here likes to sail at night (single handed)? I recently ended a solo trip at a restaurant with access from the water, and when I was done, instead of motoring across to the dock, I noticed the moon was up and there was a nice, gentle but warm breeze out. So I added two hours of moonshine cruise on a whim. Even got to fly my spinnaker.
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby TIM WEBB » Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:10 am

GreenLake wrote:Who here likes to sail at night (single handed)? I recently ended a solo trip at a restaurant with access from the water, and when I was done, instead of motoring across to the dock, I noticed the moon was up and there was a nice, gentle but warm breeze out. So I added two hours of moonshine cruise on a whim. Even got to fly my spinnaker.

Oooh oooh oooh, I do, I do, I do! Well, actually, have only sailed at night once, about a month ago. Got back to the docks at dusk, and they were packed with fishermen retrieving their bass boats. I had recently purchased these:

http://www.attwoodmarine.com/store/prod ... -light-kit

and stole seabisquit's idea for a bow bracket (the one supplied in the kit works fine for the stern light):

Bow navlight mount.JPG
Bow navlight mount.JPG (249.53 KiB) Viewed 10165 times

so I put on the lights and headed back out. Normally, especially this time of year, the winds die out completely at dusk, but that evening the seabreeze stayed steady, and I didn't come back in until about 11 PM! ;-P
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby K.C. Walker » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:29 am

Okay, because we've sort of diverged from the path a bit in this thread, I'll do a little compare and contrast on my long weekend of sailing last weekend.

As I was setting up the boat and old friend that I've sailed with for decades (he taught me a lot) showed up and we went out for an excellent sail, with Bruce at the helm. We went 13 miles in less than two hours. One six mile reach we covered in a little over 30 minutes with the UPS up!

Early the next morning single-handed in light air, absolutely gorgeous morning light and the only other boats out were fishermen, with trolling motors. I find ghosting on perfectly flat water really at a treat. With UPS up 4 kn of breeze and 4 kn of boat speed.

Afternoon sailing with my brother-in-law at the helm, a better sailor than I had remembered (it had been too long). He had a good feel for the boat and took suggestions well. Breeze was about 6-7 kn. With the UPS up we had no problem staying ahead of a Hobiecat that was trying to chase us down.

The next morning was solo sailing again. When I set out I thought it was going to be a light air. I felt a little guilty going out single-handed because I had three newbie 20-year-olds on the roster that had requested sailing. It was early enough I wasn't sure if they were up yet and I thought it might be a little boring. It turned out to be so good that I just couldn't come back and get them. I had really dialed in a 4 mile beam reach where I was getting a full out plane. It was so much fun I just jibed and headed back the other direction… And then back again. This was single-handed sailing at its best for me. Again it was with the UPS up and about 8-10 kn of breeze and light chop.

The next outing was with the newbie 20-year-olds, two at a time, in rotation. Now, I've got to say, that was a lot of work! Depending on where I was on the lake the breeze was anywhere from 3 kn to 20 kn with wind shifts of 30° or more. I motored up into the lee of an island to set the sails so we were in the really light air. I'd been running down the instructions about how they could not cleat the sheets and they had to let go IMMEDIATELY if the puff was too strong... As we rounded the point of the island a puff hit and as I was yelling LET GO, LET GO, LET GO, the rail went under and the cockpit filled with water (up to the seats). We turned around and limped back behind the island to bail out. Now that they were a little spooked about how fast they had to let out the sheets they were doing that to a fault, so we were yo-yoing the boat around. They were having the problem with the concept of them having to be active ballast so I was doing a lot of duck walking around boat trying to keep it up right. With them totally hiked out and then letting the sheets completely off we almost went over backwards! Even with the main reefed we were getting some good (though short) planing runs even in the heavy chop. I don't think I've been that tired sailing for a long time.

All in all, a great weekend of sailing!
KC Walker, DS 1 #7002
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby Interim » Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:13 am

KC--

What an excellent weekend! Variety of conditions and crews. Congrats on heeling enough to fill the cockpit but not go over. You must have been walking the line.

What is the UPS you referred to? I don't suppose it is an underwater planing system.

--jf
1979 DSII
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Re: single-handed sailing

Postby GreenLake » Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:54 am

The UPS he refers to is the Doyle Universal Power Sail.
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