On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:06:35 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:


Agreed. But, you're thinking like a racer and I'm thinking like the
one armed paper hanger singlehanding around in narrow busy waters. I
get help a lot of the time but often end up short tacking home up a
narrow channel while the tired kids read down below. I lose more
speed trying to crank and steer at the same time than I would bearing
off a bit with the jib too tight, but I need the boat to point.

Do you have hanks or furling? I single-hand a 33 footer through some
channels near here and find that I'm glad I've still got the ability
to point high.

I also pre-wrap my winches and transfer the handle prior to tacking. I
basically cruise like I'm racing, because I get more out of the boat
that way. But then I like racing OTHER people's boats, absorbing
tactics, and bringing it all back to a more fruitful cruising
experience.

"Thinking like a racer" and the Chinese fire-drill approach aren't
mutually exclusive. To watch me from a distance I tend to be very
still except for the head on a gimbal action of checking sail trim and
the local traffic. Then there's 15 seconds of prep, 15 seconds of tack
and 15 seconds of prep for the next tack. Then it's back to Captain
Bobblehead (with appropriate breaks for beverage maintenance).

The dodgiest parts of singlehanding for me are raising the main if I
don't feel like putting the tillerpilot out and docking, thanks to
prop walk.

R.