Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics For …

1 Techniques & TacticsTechniques & TacticsFor Singlehanded SailingFor Singlehanded SailingAndrew EvansAndrew EvansForeword by Bruce SchwabThoughts, Tips, Thoughts, Tips, Third EditionThird Edition This book is only available as a free download from The Singlehanded Sailing Society at Front and back covers by Andrew Madding, club photographer for the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The front cover represents everything it means to be a singlehanded sailor: High winds (two reefs in the main and a storm jib lashed on the bow) the tiller under my knee with the spin sheet in one hand bracing myself with the other.

2 The back cover represents everything else it means to be a singlehanded sailor: the afternoon nap. Foreword I met Andy when he came to help out my preparations on Ocean Planet for the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe. A nice guy and good sense of humor; after all he's Canadian. In many ways he represents all those who have become successful solo sailors on their own nickel; learning slowly from a mix of hard-earned experience, digging up obscure info, and sharing with each other. It's not like this sort of experience is falling off trees.

3 While a lot of jabber about singlehanded sailing can be found on discussion forums and the odd magazine articles, this is the first collection of the varied aspects of the sport put together in one place. It takes thousands of hours of sailing to get the kind of knowledge contained in this book. It also takes a lot of experimentation and a willingness to be wrong nine times before getting it right on the tenth. There are many recipes for successful solo sailing; as many as the actual sailors who do it.

4 And there are many different levels of personal priorities. However many, many of the same mistakes are made over and over by those new to the sport, and by those who simply think they have it already figured out. Most of those mistakes can be prevented by carefully analyzing what Andy has put together. This is good stuff, and I'm especially glad that he did it, because now I don't have to. Cheers, Bruce Schwab This book is dedicated to my wife Sharon, who tells me to "go sailing" every time I get is why I can sail so , Tips, Techniques and Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing Andrew Evans on Foolish Muse Index Chapter 1: Introduction.

5 1-1 Chapter 2: The Mental Challenge .. 2-1 Emotions & Crying .. 2-1 Stress and Coping .. 2-2 Hallucinations & Voices .. 2-4 Psychological Breakdown .. 2-5 Stress of calms .. 2-7 Emotional Inertia .. 2-8 Sleep .. 2-10 Polyphasic Sleep .. 2-12 Rebuttal .. 2-14 Foolish 50 Miles (poem) .. 2-16 Chapter 3: Boat Design, Selection and Setup .. 3-1 What to look for .. 3-1 Figaro B n teau II .. 3-2 Insurance .. 3-6 Boat Setup .. 3-9 Falling Overboard .. 3-9 Lines .. 3-13 Sails.

6 3-16 Paper Boat .. 3-20 Chapter 4: Power Systems .. 4-1 Power Budget .. 4-2 Batteries .. 4-5 Creating 4-9 Chapter 5: Self Steering Systems .. 5-1 Shock Cord Sailing .. 5-1 Storm Jib System .. 5-2 Poled Out Jib System .. 5-4 Autopilot Wind Vane Comparison .. 5-7 Autopilots .. 5-12 Wind Vanes .. 5-14 Chapter 6: Leaving the Dock and Returning .. 6-1 Anchoring .. 6-3 Climbing the 6-4 Folding the Headsail .. 6-6 Spinnaker Socks and Nets .. 6-7 Chapter 7: Sailing Techniques .

7 7-1 Sail Trim .. 7-1 Changing 7-4 Reefing .. 7-5 Tacking .. 7-6 Spinnaker .. 7-7 7-9 When Things Go Bad .. 7-12 Tweakers Use them properly .. 7-14 Gybing without the Heaving 7-15 Chapter 8: Racing Get Into It .. 8-1 Starting 8-2 Rounding 8-4 Moby Dick and the Foolish Muse .. 8-5 Chapter 8B: Maintaining a Winning Attitude in Long Distance Races ..8B-1 Aggression: Sail Harder than Every Other Boat ..8B-2 How are you feeling right now ..8B-3 Iditarod personality survey.

8 8B-5 Experience ..8B-6 Self-Sponsorship ..8B-7 Autopilots steer, they do not sail ..8B-8 Potential increase in speed ..8B-10 Sailing in the zone ..8B-12 Energy & Lethargy ..8B-14 Autopilots the weakest link ..8B-22 Comfort ..8B-24 Chapter 9: See and Be Seen .. 9-1 Navigation .. 9-1 Singlehanded Controversy .. 9-1 Collision Avoidance Systems .. 9-3 Chapter 10: Managing Bad Weather .. 10-1 Abandon Boat Lesson .. 10-1 Preparation Tips .. 10-7 Drogues .. 10-8 Damage.

9 10-13 Patches .. 10-19 Chapter 11: Looking After the Body .. 11-1 Medical references .. 11-6 Chapter 12: Spiritual Side to Singlehanding .. 12-1 Thoughts, Tips, Techniques and Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing Andrew Evans on Foolish Muse Chapter 1 - 1 If I was the richest man in the world, I d have a bigger boat and newer sails. But on a Saturday afternoon with only God and the wind, I wouldn t be any happier than I am right now. Over the past ten years I ve gone singlehanded sailing more than eight hundred times.

10 I started just four days after getting my first boat and have rarely looked back. Included in this are more than 250 individual races. In total, it adds up to perhaps 3,500 hours of singlehanded sailing a reasonable start. With all of these times that I have left the dock, I have never not even once had a bad day on the water. I ve had days when things went wrong; difficult things, expensive things. I ve had days when the wind blew more than most could handle, and I ve had days when it didn t blow at all.