I have sailed a Sabre 34 on several occasions very short handed,
although not solo. It's a relatively quick boat that is easy to
balance, tacks well and is well built. It's probably my favorite boat
I've ever sailed.

If I were in your boat shoes, however, I'd be thinking of something
with a self-tacking, or no, jib. The Sabre could be made self-tacking
but would suffer in light winds. A J32 is more like it but out of your
price range.

Had you considered a Nonsuch? No jib, easy rig to handle, decent
performance, very roomy for the length, nice workmanship.

David

wrote:

Had you considered a Nonsuch? No jib, easy rig to handle, decent
performance, very roomy for the length, nice workmanship.

Nonsuch are awesome boats, but I wouldn't trust the cat rig on the open ocean in
changeable weather. I'd worry about the ease of reefing that huge single sail,
and balance under reduced sail. There's more to sail handling than tacking!
The 26 might be a great singlehander, but the bigger ones might be a handful.

Matt O.

(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

wrote:
(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

I had a Nonsuch 30 for 8 years and never figured out how to "heave
to." This is one point against them as a ocean passage maker.
Another is the huge cockpit, a third is the poor stability number
which comes from the large beam.

However, you were quite specific that you were looking for a
Chesapeake Bay cruiser, that could also be used for more extended
coastal cruising. In these situations it is very unlikely that you
would need to heave to. In fact its usually not desirable if you're
closer than 50 miles to land.

I sailed my Nonsuch three times in 40+ winds, each with only a single
reef. With hindsight, I should have gone to a double reef, but as a
ex-dinghy sailor, I'm used to handling a boat that's overpowered. I'm
confident the boat could be handled at 50+ knots with a triple reef.

Although I almost always had a crew, I effectively singlehanded except
for docking and raising sail. Were I to get another for
singlehanding, I would install an electric winch, as raising the 500
foot sail is rather tedious. Although I'm content with my current
boat (a PDQ 36), my next sailboat will likely be smaller, and I've
though of a Nonsuch 26 or a Marshall 22, depending on where I'm located.

Here's the polar for a Nonsuch 30. Although not known as a speed
demon, it will outperform most traditional 30 foot designs except for
pointing ability. However, you can easily win a tacking duel since
there is no jib to worry about. Light air is a bit of a weak point,
but even there, it will do 5 knots in 6 knots of wind - not that shabby.
http://www.sv-loki.com/True.jpg

Check out www.nonsuch.org

a cape dory 28'?

wrote:
(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

Guessing here, but I'd be hard pressed to think of how you could heave
to with a Nonsuch.

Also difficult to do with a Freedom rig 'cause it'd require some
special effort to back the jib. (It tacks on its own.) Maybe you could
attach a line from the clew to the toe-rail or something to prevent it
from tacking before you go into the tack-and-lock-the-helm-over
procedure.

But so what?

[Opinion alert] Heaving to belongs to the era of wooden boats, hemp
lines, and canvas sails. It's been lovingly preserved and practiced by
"blue-water cruisers", i.e. folks with full keels, low aspect ratio
sailplans, roachless and battenless mains, etc. It's not a technique I
have ever used or ever intend to use.

Frank