Sherwin, I think in the end there is a dicotomy. Bigger boats are more
liveaboard friendly, and smaller boats are more eaily sailed by singlehanded
(or even double handed) crew. Large sailboats are soooooooooo much effort to
sail that owners regularly report that even on long passages they find they are
motoring over 50% of the time. As I got into my 50s, I noticed a lot of men
getting out of their 50's were unloading their 36 foot to 40 foots to get
something else, and unloading their 40+ foot boats to get out of sailing
altogether. Sailboat brokers are right now complaining that they are losing
the sales of larger sailboats to trawlers.

Hi Jax,
I'm not sure size is the only factor in this case. How well balanced
is the boat becomes a big factor. If it has a strong inherent weather
helm,
you will have to be at the tiller constantly, or have a good
self-steering
system to handle it. Hull shape is important for a boat keeping on
course. The longer full length keels will tend to keep a boat on a
straighter course without much steerage correction. Having a sail plan
which is broken up into distributed masts translates into smaller
individual sails, easier for one person to handle. Having motorized
winches helps in certain cases. Self tending jibs can keep you off the
foredeck when you are needed elsewhere. A reliable engine could be
valuable, if rough weather is encountered. I could go on and on, but
I'm
sure you get the idea about looking into other factors.

Sherwin Dubren

JAXAshby wrote:

One boatshow when I was standing inside a very nice 45 foot boat, just me
and
the salesman who didn't have a clew whether I wanted to spend $12 or $12
million, I made casual mention to the fact that I wanted to singlehand a
boat,
and had some serious thoughts of doing so offshore. The salesman (who gets
paid more commission for selling me more boat) immediately told me that I
didn't want a boat that size, and I should be looking for something under
38
feet, maaaaaaaaybe 40 feet at the outside. He said I just wouldn't like a
larger boat sailing offshore, as a larger boat is one hell of a lot more
physical effort. I made quick note of this, for I am stronger than most
guys
(at the time I was lifting heavy weights for exercise).

For some period of time afterwards, I took care to ask brokers one after
another to recommend a size boat for me, knowing only what I wanted to do,
even
as I mentioned my athletic background. Virtually to the man, to the woman,
every broker told me 38 feet was my upper limit, maaaaaaaybe 40 feet if I
watched the weather, but if they personally were going to go offshore
singlehanded 34 feet was probably better, for 34 feet was not too big to
handle
without eccessive effort and still had some room to live in once you got to
an
anchorage. Strictly for passagemaking, something even smaller might be
better,
assuming the boat was up to the effort as a passagemaker.

As I started doing crewing on boats (some clown -- who it turns out was
terrified of bluewater herself, though she had done a fair amount --
convinced
me I needed more offshore experience. She was wrong.), I noticed in short
order
that sailors needing crew had boats over 40 feet long, and boats in
anchorages
having come from distant places without extra crew were the smaller boats.
Indeed, one guy I know personally circled the Atlantic (starting north to
Ireland in late fall one year) in a 27 foot boat with a Honda outboard and
12
gallons of fuel (later 19 once he got to Europe). Note that the boat had a
wind vane, weather cloths, a wood fired heater, excellent sails and an
Origo
stove. Prior, he had taken that same boat out the St Lawrence, down the
coast
to the Caribbean and then returned north, saying it was too goddem hot in
the
Caribbean.

Not long ago an American grandmother in her 50's finished a solo
circumnavigation in a 31 foot Southern Cross. About 10 years ago a 79
great-grandmother crossed solo from Newfoundland to Ireland in a 30 foot
boat.
(The USCG wouldn't let her depart from a US port, so she sailed first to
Nwfl
and then on to Europe) When she got to Ireland, a young reporter asked her
if
she realized that not only was she the oldest woman to solo cross the North
Atlantic, but she was also the oldest person. The sailor said, no she
didn't
know that and she didn't care. One of her sons and two of her
grandchildren
sailed the boat back.