# Single handed sailing-no autopilots/windvanes/tiller



## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

I've been trying to find tips on what small lake sailors do when going out by themselves. All of the single handed info I've come across uses autopilots and windvanes which, due to frequent gusts and windshifts where I am, aren't usable. 

I just wonder what people do to get the mainsheet up. The wind will blow my little boat off course in a jiffy even if I were able to lock the wheel.


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## Grendler (Mar 27, 2011)

My way (wind >10kts):
- motor on, half ahead,
- lock the wheel heading on to the wind,
- ease the main sheet, set the main,
- fall off 30deg, lock the wheel, motor stop
- set the jib, set heading
- off we go.

When the wind is light (<10 kts) i just ease the main sheet heading 0-30 deg off the wind and set it up.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

Hoist fast. Keep sheet loose, so as it falls off, the sail is not powering up, and getting stuck in the track. I found most things easy single handing my Catalina 22... in light air. In heavy air there where a few things that were almost impossible.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

Make sure the sheet is off, the vang, and cunni also. Blow the backstay as well. It'll help with the hoist. 

If you have a tiller, tie a bungie to the tiller and then to the boom. Blow the mainsheet, and as you're raising the sail, the main filling and luffing to either side will keep the boat into the wind by pulling on the tiller.


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## JaredC (Dec 4, 2010)

If gusts and shifts make it impossible to use a tiller pilot... Wouldn't they also make it pretty much impossible to sail...? You, sir, must have some of the craziest wind conditions on the planet.


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## TheWhiteRabbit (Jul 31, 2010)

there is tonnes of good information in this free downloadable book: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/general-discussion-sailing-related/72486-singlehanded-sailing-interesting-read.html although it is all tiller specific (I think) it does walk one step by step through his system of hoisting


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## US27inKS (Feb 6, 2005)

JaredC said:


> If gusts and shifts make it impossible to use a tiller pilot... Wouldn't they also make it pretty much impossible to sail...? You, sir, must have some of the craziest wind conditions on the planet.


The reason it's impossible (actually not impossible, but very impractical) to use a tiller pilot or autopilot is that the wind shifts and twists around so much on a lake that you would be constantly adjusting the heading on the autopilot. There's really no point in using an autopilot if you've got to adjust it every 2-3 minutes, it's just as easy to hand steer.

On my boat it seems to help if I throttle up. The boat falls off much faster if I'm going slow. Like others have said, just get her head to wind, release the main sheet and hoist like mad.


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

Could you run the mainsheet back to the cockpit? I am thinking of doing that. I experience the same problems you are talking about.


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## US27inKS (Feb 6, 2005)

sealover said:


> Could you run the mainsheet back to the cockpit? I am thinking of doing that. I experience the same problems you are talking about.


You can. The boat I race on has the halyards run to the back of the cabintop. You still have to let go of the wheel long enough to hoist the sail. If you have a tiller, you can put the tiller between your knees while you hoist from the cockpit.


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

As a newbie to sailing I didn't like leaving the mainsheet loose while hoisting the main. I'd sit backwards on the cabin top and hoist (one part hoist, two parts feeding sail, five parts unjamming) and the boat would wander off course and the boom would head my way (not a big deal on a tiny boat in light air) but the sail would practically smother me. So I installed a topping lift (best $6 I ever spent on the boat) and would pull the main in tight before raising sail. That was actually easier for me. It jammed just as much but it didn't knock me off the cabin top. After that ordeal was over I'd plop back into the cockpit and figure out where I was. Not something I'd even joke about doing in a shipping lane or crowded harbor, but on an empty lake it works. This weekend I plan to install a prefeeder and a block at the base of the mast so I can reach the tiller while hoisting. I ditched my cheap tiller tamer and installed a Wavefront TillerClutch which I'm very impressed with so far. (haven't tested it in the water yet)


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

JaredC said:


> If gusts and shifts make it impossible to use a tiller pilot... Wouldn't they also make it pretty much impossible to sail...? You, sir, must have some of the craziest wind conditions on the planet.


Hardly, but it does sharpen your skills. It is a rare day here when you can count on a steady wind direction for more than a couple of minutes.

That is why leaving the mainsheet loose and tying off the tiller works well. I like the bungee chord connecting boom and tiller idea. I never tried that but it sounds great.


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## Grendler (Mar 27, 2011)

sealover said:


> Could you run the mainsheet back to the cockpit? I am thinking of doing that. I experience the same problems you are talking about.


That's exactly what I did on my 27ft. All lines (sheets, halyard, and even anchor line) end in cockpit so there's no need to go anywhere.

In terms of self steering I adjust sails to balance forces and achieve self steering. In upwind courses does the job even on 3ft waves.

Grendler


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## centaursailor (Nov 7, 2010)

zz4gta said:


> Make sure the sheet is off, the vang, and cunni also. Blow the backstay as well. It'll help with the hoist.
> 
> If you have a tiller, tie a bungie to the tiller and then to the boom. Blow the mainsheet, and as you're raising the sail, the main filling and luffing to either side will keep the boat into the wind by pulling on the tiller.


Never done any lake sailing but the Irish Sea ain,t all that big. 
We get many days of unpredictable wind shifts, so I like this idea.
I often lock the tiller and steer by the sails when the course settles, usually by easing or hauling the main, but never tried it for hoisting. 
How much bungee on a 10 ft boom? 
Safe sailing


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## kpgraci (May 13, 2010)

I run the motor slow, point windward and lock the tiller, let her run a bit on her own to see how quickly she falls off. This gives me a time interval I have to hoist. reset and go.

I would like to free the main sheet to keep the sail from powering up, but on my boat the topping lift is part of the backstay, so the boom is locked in place until the main is up anyway ( I plan on changing this).

The only time I have trouble is not with wind conditions, but when the waves are over 2 ft, then it's nearly impossible to keep a heading hands free.


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## Dirtboy (Jul 13, 2009)

I single hand my 28' most of the time. No special rigging; main halyard winch on mast and jib is roller furling. I usually motor out of the canal but if the wind is right I'll raise the main at the dock and just sail away. If I do this I'll warm the diesel up first, just in case something unexpeted happens. Most of the time i motor away from the dock and out into the intercoastal, about a 5 min motor. It's a very narrow section of the ICW so I head up into the wind and put the motor in neutral, release the main sheet, run up to the mast and pull like hell. LOL I often need to stop mid way, run back to the cockpit, put her in gear and get away from the sand bar. Once the main is up, drama over.

I like the bungie to boom idea, that may cut my work in half.

I have sailed on lakes and understand the shifty wind conditions. It gets shifty around here but never as bad as some lakes I've sailed.

I've started to venture out into the Gulf alone. I wear a self inflating life vest at all times and have fixed a Spot locator to the cover. I'm looking at ways to put an emergency ladder on the stern that can be deployed from the water. She has a wine glass stern, not easy to board. Sometimes I trail several hunderd feet of line behind the boat. I also "tune" her to round up rather soon if the tiller is left un attented.

DB


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I've been single-handing a 27 Catalina for 5 years in a location where the winds are wacky to say the least--the Upper Chesapeake Bay in the Havre de Grace basin. The wind often blows from the west, whips between a shoreside condos, suddenly dies, then slams you from another direction--all in a distance of a couple hundred yards. In my case, I have the engine running just above idle speed, point the bow into the wind, lock the tiller-tamer, remove the sail-ties, then scamper to the cabin-top and haul up the main. All of this takes about 30 seconds at most. I keep the boom tight at all times and use it to stabilize myself as I climb around the cabin top and back into the cockpit. The jib is on an Alado Roller Furling System and in 5 years of heavy sailing it has never failed, jammed, etc...

In order to be comfortable while single-hand sailing, I sincerely believe that dockside preparation was my key to success. Before leaving the dock the sail cover(s) were always removed. Jib sheet, jib control line and main sheet were flemished in place and ready to go. The main sail track was sprayed with silicon track lubricant, the halyard was removed from the mast-cleat and a single figure-eight was left to make its removal fast and easy. All of these things make getting out of the cockpit and to the base of the mast a fluid motion that takes just a few seconds at most.

If you don't have roller furling, save up that loose change and buy it--it could save your life. Wrestling a hank-on jib in marginal weather conditions is not easy when you're NOT single-handling. The last place a single-handed sailor should be is on the bow of a relatively small boat in marginal weather conditions. Been there--done that!

Good Luck,

Gary


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## WDS123 (Apr 2, 2011)

Hoist and sail off dock - any boat up to, say, 3,000 lbs displacement should be able to be sailed off a dock by even a moderately skilled skipper. In experienced hands, 7,500 lbs displacement should be able to be sailed off most any dock. 


Single handing in gusty shifty conditions ?

Strongly recommend using jack lines and/or a harness, especially if crawling around the fore deck.


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

WDSchock said:


> Hoist and sail off dock - *any boat up to, say, 3,000 lbs displacement should be able to be sailed off a dock by even a moderately skilled skipper*. In experienced hands, 7,500 lbs displacement should be able to be sailed off most any dock.


Provided... you aren't in a slip, don't have wind, tide, and/or current forcing you against the dock, don't have other vessel traffic that you have to maneuver around, etc... other than that, no problem.


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## WDS123 (Apr 2, 2011)

Sorry about being ambiguous - depending on one's confidence level, first motor to an appropriate dock, taking into account conditions of tide etc.....then hoist off the dock. 

However, most confident skippers should be able to back out of most finger slips under sail alone in most typical conditions.


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

I just wasted $500 buying an outboard! The day I'm sailing on and off a trailer is the day I buy every sailnetter a beer. Seriously though, can a boat be sailed backwards, or are you implying shoving/poling/pulling out of a slip then sailing? 

My head spins when I think about the Schooners and windjammers of yesterday getting through crowded harbors and up to docks without engines. Must have made the wide open ocean look like cake!


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## WDS123 (Apr 2, 2011)

Sailing 'backwards' - go head to wind, push boom out against the wind, the boat will move backward, trick is now tiller operates opposite of when moving forward. It is very odd the first few times, but becomes intuitive after a while. This is a typical method of cleaning seaweed from a the forward edge of a keel. 

Try it in modest wind in open water first, and then develop one's skills. 

Next step ( after developing some confidence in skill away from anything ) is to back off a clear, easy dock with no obstructions or boats close by. Try when modest wind is pushing boat 90 degrees 'away' from dock. Boat will go head to wind with bow pointing towards dock. 1) back main 2) back 2-4 lengths away from dock 3) turn tiller to rotate boat to a beam reach 4) trim main sail at same time to beam reach. If done smoothly, you will be sailing parallel to dock with plenty of forward motion and control. Of course, one must first learn this when current is nil and winds are modest. There will be a few moments when the Boat intertia is still moving backwards, but the main sail is pushing the boat forward. 

One can also use the back-the-main-technique to stop/slow the boat when approaching a dock/mooring/trailer head to wind.


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## centaursailor (Nov 7, 2010)

WIBD, sailing backwards,  I can barely keep her steady with the engine in reverse.  
Lots to learn yet. 
Safe reversing.


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## TSchwarck (Jan 7, 2011)

*raising the mainsail*

On any of my boats(O'Day22,O'Day Mariner,Challenger 15) I raise the jib first and come up on a close reach. Then I lash the tiller with a cord and the boat will hold it's course while I raise the mainsail.


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## Sailormon6 (May 9, 2002)

First, hank on the jib, attach the sheets and halyard, and stretch the jib on deck along the gunwale that will be to leeward when you raise the jib. Then remove the sail cover and all but one sail-tie. Attach the main halyard, uncleat the downhaul, boom vang and mainsheet. Adjust the outhaul for the strength of the wind. Adjust the engine throttle so that it is running just above idle speed. Too much speed is bad, because, the faster the boat is moving, the faster it can wander off it's bow-to-wind course, and that means you'll have less time to work. Then, point the bow into the wind and lock the tiller-tamer. Remove the sail-tie as you move to the mast, and haul up the mainsail. If the boat wanders off the wind before you can get the sail up all the way, just cleat it and walk back to the cockpit, bring the boat back head-to-wind, and then return to the mast and finish raising the mainsail. Adjust the downhaul and cleat it. Set the boom vang. Return to the cockpit, and bring the boat to a close reach (but not a beat.) Trim the mainsail for that course and cleat the mainsheet. Set the tiller tamer for that course. The boat will sail slowly under the mainsail alone. Then raise or unfurl the jib. When reducing sails, do everything in reverse order.

The key is, get as much done in advance as possible, reduce speed to the minimum necessary to hold a course, and walk, don’t run. If you do it right, you’ll have enough time to do everything, and if you rush, you’ll risk tripping and falling.

Also, you should have a topping lift that will allow the boom to swing freely, and not just a pigtail that attaches the boom to the backstay.


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## bljones (Oct 13, 2008)

Sailing backwards is a skill taught in CYA White Sail courses... or at least it was 35 years ago. Useful skill to know.


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## bljones (Oct 13, 2008)

travlineasy said:


> In order to be comfortable while single-hand sailing, I sincerely believe that dockside preparation was my key to success. Before leaving the dock the sail cover(s) were always removed. Jib sheet, jib control line and main sheet were flemished in place and ready to go. The main sail track was sprayed with silicon track lubricant, the halyard was removed from the mast-cleat and a single figure-eight was left to make its removal fast and easy. All of these things make getting out of the cockpit and to the base of the mast a fluid motion that takes just a few seconds at most.
> 
> If you don't have roller furling, save up that loose change and buy it--it could save your life. Wrestling a hank-on jib in marginal weather conditions is not easy when you're NOT single-handling. The last place a single-handed sailor should be is on the bow of a relatively small boat in marginal weather conditions. Been there--done that!
> 
> ...


Gary nails it. Get ready to go before you go.


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## heinzir (Jul 25, 2000)

sealover said:


> As a newbie to sailing I didn't like leaving the mainsheet loose while hoisting the main. I'd sit backwards on the cabin top and hoist (one part hoist, two parts feeding sail, five parts unjamming) and the boat would wander off course and the boom would head my way (not a big deal on a tiny boat in light air) but the sail would practically smother me. So I installed a topping lift (best $6 I ever spent on the boat) and would pull the main in tight before raising sail. That was actually easier for me. It jammed just as much but it didn't knock me off the cabin top. After that ordeal was over I'd plop back into the cockpit and figure out where I was. Not something I'd even joke about doing in a shipping lane or crowded harbor, but on an empty lake it works. This weekend I plan to install a prefeeder and a block at the base of the mast so I can reach the tiller while hoisting. I ditched my cheap tiller tamer and installed a Wavefront TillerClutch which I'm very impressed with so far. (haven't tested it in the water yet)


Don't bother with a prefeeder. Instead, add slugs to the luff of the main so that it is always attached to the mast, even when lowered. You'll need a sail stop to keep the slugs from dropping out of the sail slot opening. Then, if you choose, you can run your halyard aft and raise the sail from the cockpit.
Sailrite.com has the slugs and attachments you need and even has free videos on how to install them.


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

Was thinking of going with a furler but will try a downhaul first. Went out today to try my new modifications - mainsail feeder, block to run main halyard to cockpit, improved mast crutch and new (used) air-cooled outboard. Everythng worked properly. It was a weird gusty day with lots of wind shifts. Just like we've been talking about.  First time out this season.


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

Sorry Heinzir, I was writing that while you replied. The prefeeder worked great. Some british made thing. New old stock. It was cheap enough off eBay. I trailer the boat so I'd have to take the sail off regardless.


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## SoulVoyage (May 9, 2010)

Sealover: You mentioned replacing your Tiller Tamer with a Wavefront TillerClutch. I never heard of that item. Does it work in the same fashion as the Tiller Tamer....but just more sturdier built?

I'm on my third tiller tamer on my Allied Seawind. I think because at 12,000 - 13,000 pounds empty, she is a little heavier than Tiller Tamer is designed for.

Is the TillerClutch made out of alloy, by any chance? 

Anybody else have or heard of this Wavefront TillerClutch?


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## heinzir (Jul 25, 2000)

SoulVoyage said:


> Sealover: You mentioned replacing your Tiller Tamer with a Wavefront TillerClutch. I never heard of that item. Does it work in the same fashion as the Tiller Tamer....but just more sturdier built?
> 
> I'm on my third tiller tamer on my Allied Seawind. I think because at 12,000 - 13,000 pounds empty, she is a little heavier than Tiller Tamer is designed for.
> 
> ...


Try this link:
New Products


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## sealover (Jun 27, 2009)

Wavefront had a little table at the Annapolis sailboat show. Seems like a mom and pop operation. Had it out for the first time today. HIGHLY recommend it. If you can't find a picture of it on the web I'll send you a picture. It is powder coated aluminum and uses a little trigger lever to release it. Very high quality. Very intuitive and easy to instantly adjust the tiller (with one finger) Get one! 

Not sure why I didn't buy it at the show. My wife contacted them and got me one for Christmas.


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## Boasun (Feb 10, 2007)

Single handed sailing is Great when your non-sailing guest is there to hand you Sandwiches and a Brewski or two.


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## tomperanteau (Jun 4, 2009)

Boasun said:


> Single handed sailing is Great when your non-sailing guest is there to hand you Sandwiches and a Brewski or two.


I saw a boat for sale that had a sign above the companionway. It read, "While Your Down There...". That about sums it up for us.


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## SoulVoyage (May 9, 2010)

heinzir said:


> Try this:
> 
> New Products


Heinzir and Sealover:

Thanks for the info! It's actuation looks similar to the new-fangled "sheet-Locks" that some boats are using now for their sheets and halyards led aft....only just for one line instead of four.

I also thought about riviting an aluminum channel on the back of my present tiller tamer where the control line comes in at a 45 degree angle. That is where the rope actually chews through the plastic. It takes about 6 months of use for the line to chew through....plus replacing umpteen abraided control lines!!!


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