wrote:
what are you sailing (or did I miss it in your text )? Nice boat!!

If directed at me, I am owned by a Cape Dory 28.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...
wrote:
what are you sailing (or did I miss it in your text )? Nice boat!!

If directed at me, I am owned by a Cape Dory 28.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

Probably takes good care of you though. g

Lots of good comments here, BUT...

I'll return to shilling for Freedom by opining that absolute length
alone is not a decisive factor. For instance, under power in tight
quarters, I'd rather dock any 35 ft. fin keeler than a sub-30 ft. full
keeler.

Under sail, general handling while raising and lowering sails,
switching to engine, anchoring, mooring, etc. my experience has been
that a Freedom 36 (or 38) is infinitely easier to singlehand than any
"standard" Marconi-rig sub-30 footer. And yes that includes
singlehanding a tri-radial 'chute, which I wouldn't even try on most
keelboats.

And going to 40 ft., I'll remind y'all that Garry Hoyt singlehanded his
*engineless* prototype Freedom 40 all around the Caribbean, winning
races against full crews, and anchoring and docking in notoriously
crowded harbors.

And the Freedom 44 is essentially the same setup as the 40. So, AFAIC,
we're up to 44 feet and still comfortably singlehanding. With the right
boat.

Frank

Frank wrote:

Under sail, general handling while raising and lowering sails,
switching to engine, anchoring, mooring, etc. my experience has been
that a Freedom 36 (or 38) is infinitely easier to singlehand than
any "standard" Marconi-rig sub-30 footer. And yes that includes
singlehanding a tri-radial 'chute, which I wouldn't even try on most
keelboats.

I think that, once again, "it depends." I single hand a 28 foot sloop and
routinely set a conventional tri-radial spinnaker without mishap. I'm no
athlete or "diehard" racer, but I like to keep the boat moving, and that's
what's required. However once you get up near 40 feet, a tri-radial can get
to be a lot of cloth very quickly. In addition the average bloke will
usually decide it's just too much trouble in many cases, and resort to
fossil fuels. Among the cruising people I've known, laziness is often
considered a virtue.

And going to 40 ft., I'll remind y'all that Garry Hoyt singlehanded
his *engineless* prototype Freedom 40 all around the Caribbean,
winning races against full crews, and anchoring and docking in
notoriously crowded harbors ... And the Freedom 44 is essentially the
same setup as the 40. So, AFAIC, we're up to 44 feet and still comfortably
singlehanding. With the right boat.

There are individual cases on both ends that support whatever argument is in
need of support. Michael Ritchie sailed "Jester" all over the place, and
someone or other sailed "Mediteranee" (sp?) to those same places. "Jester"
was about 26 feet, and the other multi-masted monster was ten times her
length. Length alone is not a limiting factor, but for average folks it's a
reasonable indicator.

I think the main factor for practical people is that while length increases
linearly, related items do not. Volume, weight, equipment size, and cost
definitely do not stay within the bounds as length increases. And in my
experience it's usually the smaller boats that leave the mooring regularly,
while the larger boats are waiting either for crew, or for refrigeration
spares and parts.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

wrote:
A number of months ago I began my search for a sailboat. I am an upper
Chesapeake sailor who, a few years down the road, will do some coastal

Hi,

Last year I bought a 33', '79 Hunter Cherubini. It's had a number of the
sort of "minor" problems you'd expect in a 25 year old boat, Bad shaft
and prop, 3 rusted out motor mounts, Deck leaks, all broken port lights
(which still hold out the rain though), etc etc, but then I only paid
$7500 for it.

The Yanmar 2QM15 seems to provide more than enough power, though I
haven't tried it yet in a heavy blow, and still seems to be running fine
after some tuning and so forth. Don't know how many hours it has on it,
all the gauges were out. Purrs like a kitten at higher RPMs. Still
starts rough, but getting better the more I use it.

I haven't officially single handed it yet, but I have practiced doing so
with others on board. I can maneuver around the marina very well, turn
on a dime, and after hopping off onto the dock, pull her into the slip
by hand with relative ease.

You can find these in much better shape than mine was if you're not into
all the repairs. I recommmend them.

Stephen

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'?