Hi Jax,
I'm not sure about the age factor. In my years of cruising, I would
pass by large boats with young looking crews motoring in beautiful sail
conditions (even with following winds!). These people probably should
have never gotten into sailing in the first place. The day I can't get
off my keester to put up sails (I'm a senior), I'm giving up going to
sea.
Motor sailors have their place, but the tendency there is to be lazy and
fall back on the engine, maybe using the sails to stabilize the boat.
Boating can be a very sedentary sport, so why encourage it? My boat is
a
22 foot marconi rig, which for the reasons given earlier, is not the
easiest boat to control, but the sailplan is still small enough to give
me
the option to singlehandle, is I so chose. I have a nice quiet 4 stroke
outboard, which I only turn on when I have to.

Sherwin D.

JAXAshby wrote:

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.

Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
..
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
..
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

sherwin, a friend of mine was 86 years old when he switched from powerboats to
sailboats. But he bought a 25 foot sailboat and as a young man he player in
the NFL for 15 years, and even into his late 80's he he was lifting heavy
weights for exercise.

sherwin, a friend of mine was 86 years old when he switched from powerboats to
sailboats. But he bought a 25 foot sailboat and as a young man he player in
the NFL for 15 years, and even into his late 80's he he was lifting heavy
weights for exercise.

yes, of course. That's because it takes absolutely no physical effort
whatsoever to sail a boat, no matter what size it is, no matter what the winds
are.

Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
.
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

yes, of course. That's because it takes absolutely no physical effort
whatsoever to sail a boat, no matter what size it is, no matter what the winds
are.

Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
.
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

no bb, a larger boat takes more effort unless every last thing is electric, and
then only until the electric stuff breaks. Put all that electric stuff on a
boat and you no longer have a sailboat, you have a motorboat with sticks, and
typically a LARGE motorboat with sticks, what with all the 200 amp alternators,
800 amps of batteries, a large wind generator, a large genset, 300 watts of
solar power, a fifty pound windlass, 500 pounds of anchor chain on two 50 pound
anchors, 150# of dinghy davits, 50# of jib/staysail furling, 40# of mainsail
furling, 50# of electric winches on each side of the cockpit, and 1,500# of
extra diesel fuel to run all that that stuff plus motor more often because the
boat is way down on its lines.

Pile all the electric stuff on a boat under 50 feet, let alone under 40 feet,
and you might as well buy a trawler and get a full size refridgerator to go
with it.

Bigger boats, properly equipped, often require less physical ability to
manage.
You won't find a 30 foot boat with hydraulic winches, roller main, and other
assistive equipment very often.

BB


Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
.
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help
and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect
any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

no bb, a larger boat takes more effort unless every last thing is electric, and
then only until the electric stuff breaks. Put all that electric stuff on a
boat and you no longer have a sailboat, you have a motorboat with sticks, and
typically a LARGE motorboat with sticks, what with all the 200 amp alternators,
800 amps of batteries, a large wind generator, a large genset, 300 watts of
solar power, a fifty pound windlass, 500 pounds of anchor chain on two 50 pound
anchors, 150# of dinghy davits, 50# of jib/staysail furling, 40# of mainsail
furling, 50# of electric winches on each side of the cockpit, and 1,500# of
extra diesel fuel to run all that that stuff plus motor more often because the
boat is way down on its lines.

Pile all the electric stuff on a boat under 50 feet, let alone under 40 feet,
and you might as well buy a trawler and get a full size refridgerator to go
with it.

Bigger boats, properly equipped, often require less physical ability to
manage.
You won't find a 30 foot boat with hydraulic winches, roller main, and other
assistive equipment very often.

BB


Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short without
crew.
.
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help
and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect
any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike

now, billie bob, that wasn't a nice thing to say. Did I insult the size of
your pee-pee? That was not my intention. I was merely saying that a total
electric boat only works as long as he total electrics work.

billie bob, very nearly ALL the crewing positions I have been on or have been
offered were for boats over 40 feet in length. Why? Well on one a boat nearly
50 feet, it took two of us (both strong, and both in good physical condition)
ten minutes or more to crank up the mainsail (even then it was a two-part
halyard to make the effort doable), with me cranking until I got tired, then
the other guy cranking until he got tired, then me cranking until Igot tired,
then he cranking and maybe me cranking again. That was the main sail.

As usual, you are an idiot.

BB

(JAXAshby) wrote:

no bb, a larger boat takes more effort unless every last thing is electric,
and
then only until the electric stuff breaks. Put all that electric stuff on a
boat and you no longer have a sailboat, you have a motorboat with sticks,
and
typically a LARGE motorboat with sticks, what with all the 200 amp
alternators,
800 amps of batteries, a large wind generator, a large genset, 300 watts of
solar power, a fifty pound windlass, 500 pounds of anchor chain on two 50
pound
anchors, 150# of dinghy davits, 50# of jib/staysail furling, 40# of mainsail
furling, 50# of electric winches on each side of the cockpit, and 1,500# of
extra diesel fuel to run all that that stuff plus motor more often because
the
boat is way down on its lines.

Pile all the electric stuff on a boat under 50 feet, let alone under 40
feet,
and you might as well buy a trawler and get a full size refridgerator to go
with it.


As usual, you are an idiot.

BB

Bigger boats, properly equipped, often require less physical ability to
manage.
You won't find a 30 foot boat with hydraulic winches, roller main, and
other
assistive equipment very often.

BB


Hi all,

A friend singlehands his boat, a 64 footer, ex-rescue boat, and he is 62
years old. He just brought it down from Seattle to San Diego and moves it
around the bay by himself. He has had it for about 7 years. It has
almost
no equipment upgrades to help.
Another friend brought his boat down from Vancouver and sail Mexico for
the
season. It is a newer schooner, has every gadget to help but it still 67
feet on deck and 74 feet overall.
And another person (not really a friend but a good sailor) sails his 62
footer all over the place by himself including multiple trips to the
South
Pacific and does it well when he is sober. I have watched him bring his
boat into the slip with 10 knots of wind on his beam blowing him toward
his
slipmate and never appear to be out of control.
Each of the three above can singlehandly take their boat off a mooring or
out of a dock, spend the day sailing the bay, and return to the mooring
or
dock without help. Each of them have made passages long and short
without
crew.
.
I singlehand my boat, a 46 footer. I have upgraded my equipment to help
and
have everything ran to the cockpit. I have roller furling on jib and
main.
Electric primary winches. And I am looking into the Hoyt jib boom with a
staysail/sayer rig to ease the work a bit more. With this boat the
longest
I have been a sea is about 24 hours, a nasty jaunt against wind and
waves.
The ride was easier than my smaller boat, and I have no reason to expect
any
more trouble with singlehanding this boat than a 30 footer.

Mike