DaySailer.org Forum

Brief backround - I have enough expeirence that I'd sail a sunfish in just about any wind. I got my first "real" sailboat last fall - my DS II. I participated in a few learn to sail days my local sailing club offers on one of their Flying Scots - they were helpful to get experience with knowledgable assistance. Most sailing I did on those days was close reach or beam reach - no running. I have had my DS II out twice, first with no wind and again this weekend finally in good wind to learn (less than 10 MPH) with my wife as crew since my mother in law was available to watch our 5 year old and 1 year old. I will take the kids out in the DS II when I'm much more confident in my abilities and most likely not until the 1 year old gets a few years older (I'd probably take the 5 year old now, but not as my crew). My sailing is therefore limited to when someone can watch the kids. This past weekend I felt quite good and confident in being able to handle the boat and wondered if I'd be able to sail it single handed in reasonable wind. The lake is a smallish western PA lake with shifty wind at times and occasional puffs, but nothing unmanagable. Shore is closeby and I have auxilary power if I needed to drop the sail.

My question is whether it's foolish to even try to sail single handed yet? I see 3 or 4 opportunities to get out myself in the near future if it's feasible, but probably once at most if I decide I need a crew.

For those more experienced in single handing the DS II, when did you start?

Hi klb67

I had never been on a sailboat before my DSII. I am in my 2nd summer of sailing and have only "not" sailed my boat single handed twice. Once was with my wife (high winds, white caps, bad idea) who won't go out again (ever! she says), and once with my brother who immediately fell in love with sailing although he'll never get around to buying a boat. I have a cabin on a lake about 1/2 hr from my home, so my boat is tied to the dock ready to go and I go out as often as I can. I have worked my way backwards through all of the postings on this board, particularly everything under sailing and seamanship and I've asked a lot of dumb questions, and some not so dumb questions.

A good many smart people on this board suggested it is always best to go out with some experienced sailors for the first couple outings but I didn't have any on my lake, and I was too spontaneous to wait for those further away who were offering to come out. I did have the opportunity to sail twice early on with two great guys in town and they showed me the basics which I still practice every time I go out.

I've not put the sail in the water yet, but I have had a couple episodes where I took a few gallons into the cockpit rails. In each case, I came back to this board, posted a note explaining what I did and what happened, and got very good solutions and things to do different next time. I took their suggestions to heart, and next time I went out purposely reproduced the situation again, this time with the correct preparation to insure I understood.

If you are a little concerned being out on your own, just reef your main so you have less power to deal with, and do everything slower. It's easier to control and recover when things are moving slower. When your confidence increased, you can add sail and move to the next tier. Ask plenty of questions here and read the old posts. The people here are remarkably patient, understanding, kind and knowledgeable. You'll find nearly everything you might want (and need) to know either already on the board, or in the heads of the amazing people here.

The Daysailer is a great boat, very stable and forgiving, I can attest to that.

Good Luck! - Scott

+1 for what Scott said!

If you feel that confident in sailing a Sunfish I would say definitely it's time to get out there by yourself in the DaySailer. Obviously, pick your weather. I think if you get out four times rather than one time your feeling of experience and confidence in handling the boat will be substantially better than one time with crew.

Unless you've already added a lot of upgrades to your boat, it's not that much harder to sail than a Sunfish. The same things that you look for to keep the Sunfish moving and upright are the same things that you need to look for sailing any boat.

When you get a little more used to your boat you may find it easier to sail solo than to sail with inexperienced crew. Practicing solo helps to concentrate on refining your sailing rather than socializing or instructing crew.

You might want to browse a thread from the end of April viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4328 .

Thanks for the encouragement. I see a solo sail in my near future.

My confidence with the sunfish comes from my mindset that in a deep enough lake, other than breaking something, there isn't much that can go wrong that I can't recover from. I've capsized a sunfish quite a few times, some on purpose, some not. Get it right side up and get back on it. I realize that isn't the case with the DS II, but I also realize it will take much more to get a DS II to go over.

I hoped that so long as I follow basic rules (don't cleat the main, pick my day, tie the jib sheets together, always be prepared to dump wind in a gust, wear a pfd and don't show off) I would be just fine.

I recall that April thread and will definitely spend some time with it again.

Sailing single handed will help you learn the boat as well as make you comfortable with sailing it. If you don't have one yet, you might want to get a tiller extension so you can move forward if need be. As others have said, if you comfortable with the Sunfish, you know all the basics already. You just need to get used to handing two sails and more room.

John

i like to sail singlehanded. when the wind is up and i'm singlehanding, the main is plenty of sail. i the boat handles fine, and i have just the main sheet and tiller to manage.

klb67 wrote:I hoped that so long as I follow basic rules (don't cleat the main, pick my day, tie the jib sheets together, always be prepared to dump wind in a gust, wear a pfd and don't show off) I would be just fine.

Sounds like you have the basics down already. Go for it solo and +1 on the tiller extension if you don't have one already. Also, if there is solo sailing in your future on a regular basis, some sort of tiller tamer/tiller clutch device (homemade as has been described on the forum or store bought) will go a long way toward allowing you to let go of the helm for short periods of time to tend to some task that needs two hands.