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. 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.

2 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. 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.

3 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 .. 1-1 Chapter 2: The Mental Challenge .. 2-1 Emotions & Crying .. 2-1 Stress and Coping .. 2-2 Hallucinations & Voices.

4 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 .. 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.

5 6-6 Spinnaker Socks and Nets .. 6-7 Chapter 7: sailing Techniques .. 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 ..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.

6 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 .. 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.

7 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. But I have never had a day that didn t live up to its full potential, when I wished I had been somewhere else. I am certain that very few sailors in the world can make the same claim. sailing gives me a sense of joy that is quite rare. I imagine it is the same sense that the monks in Tibet achieve.

8 It is certainly the sense that the Dalai Lama seems to show every time he laughs. But not all sailing gives me this feeling, only single-handing. I have raced many times with a full crew, but found myself frustrated more often than not. Why is this? I ve had some great crewmates; friendly people who were fantastic to spend time with. Perhaps I found it too exhausting, as skipper, to be responsible for not only my own actions, but the actions of every other person on the boat. When I m alone, I rarely need to consider what I m doing. The boat just reacts to my desires - automatically. One day I was sailing alongside another yacht and the skipper told me that I wear my boat like a glove. So I guess it could be said that for me, sailing alone is like putting on a comfortable body suit that reacts to my every whim; but sailing with a crew is like wearing a suit of armor, where every move must be considered, communicated, then performed.

9 It s just too much work. I do know that if singlehanded sailing was not possible, I wouldn t sail at all; I d take up some other hobby perhaps jigsaw puzzles. With this number of trips under my keel, it is reasonable to guess that I am one of the more experienced singlehanded sailors in the world. Not in miles, but certainly in number of times I ve left the dock, number of tacks, number of gybes, spinnaker launches and douses, and number of learning experiences. By nature, I have a real interest in efficiency. I have always tried to find the best, most efficient way to perform any task. Over the past decade I have looked at every aspect of singlehanded sailing and tried to find the best way to do it on my boat. This compulsion gets right down to the how long should I pause during a tack to do the least work hauling in the sheets, and it even includes a detailed plan on how to urinate.

10 I ve taken every action down to a precise science. I am also not at all shy about asking questions of other sailors. I get some funny looks at the bar and some nasty comments on the forums, but I would rather look stupid and learn, than look smart and remain stupid. When I speak to other skippers, I don t just ask do you use a spinnaker? I ask, Tell me the exact steps you take to pull the halyard, guy and sheet to raise the spinnaker without fouling it? My Olson 30 is named Foolish Muse, and my forum name is Foolish. Some have pointed out that this seems appropriate. This book is the result of an almost academic study of the Techniques of singlehanded sailing . It is also the result of trial and an incredible number of errors. For the first eight years of sailing , I can confidently say that something Thoughts, Tips, Techniques and Tactics for singlehanded sailing Andrew Evans on Foolish Muse Chapter 1 - 2 went wrong every time I went out every single time.