Setting Your Boat Up For Single Handed Sailing
Anyone can single hand their sailboat… just as it is rigged now. However, many of us who single hand often have an aversion to “tap dancing” around on the cabin top while hoisting, dousing, and/or reefing the sails. We prefer to do all this sail work from the relatively safer confines of the cockpit. Even when I have a crew to help with sail handling, I still like everyone to do these jobs from the cockpit. To handle the sails from the cockpit requires that the lines be within easy reach from the cockpit by skipper or crew.
If your boat doesn’t have the lines lead aft for easy single handing… maybe this would be a good winter project.
All of Snickerdoodle’s sail control lines are easily handled from the cockpit. A list of those lines are:
Main Halyard
Main Sheet
Main Topping Lift
Cunningham
Boom Vang
Clew Outhaul Adjustment Line
Flattening Reef Line
First and Second Reefing Lines (I use a single-line reefing setup to simplify reefing)
Jib Halyard
Jib Sheets
Spinnaker Halyard
Spinnaker Sheets
All three halyards and the main topping lift are rove through blocks at the base of the mast; then through deck organizer blocks; then to appropriate cleats. There is a small winch on both port and starboard side of the cabin top to assist with increasing line tensions if needed. The sheets for the sails are in “normal” placements. The rest of the lines (all for the mainsail) are rove through swivel blocks with cam cleats that are secured near the base of the mast. These lines are then tied to the handle on the main hatch and are easily reached.
The setup on Snickerdoodle is only one of many that could be used. Walk around your marina and take a look at the various methods for rigging these lines aft to the cockpit. And, remember that having the halyard running back to the cockpit doesn’t make a lot of sense if the reefing has to be done at the mast.
This photo shows the base of Snickerdoodle's mast. You can see the mast base plate with holes for easily securing blocks (the base plate only works if you have a deck stepped mast). The boom vang is secured to a boom bale so that the vang can move more easily port and starboard with the boom's movements. You can also see the swivel blocks that are used for reefing lines, outhaul adjustment line, etc. Since this photo was taken, I've added two more swivel blocks.
An additional benefit from rigging the lines aft for single handing is that it is much easier to make adjustments to sail shape for the mainsail. The clew outhaul adjustment line is easy to ease to tension. The same is true for the Cunningham.
