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