Andrew Evans - Singlehanded sailing: thoughts, tips, techniques & tactics

Another aspect of singlehanded sailingthe afternoon nap. (Courtesy Andrew Madding)

Copyright 2015 by International Marine/McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The name International Marine and all associated logos are trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education. The publisher takes no responsibility for the use of any of the materials or methods described in this book, nor for the products thereof.

ISBN: 978-0-07-183654-8
MHID: 0-07-183654-3

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-183653-1, MHID: 0-07-183653-5.

eBook conversion by codeMantra
Version 1.0

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.

McGraw-Hill Education eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com.

TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and McGraw-Hill Education and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill Educations prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED AS IS. McGRAW-HILL EDUCATION AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill Education and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill Education nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill Education has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill Education and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

This book is dedicated to my wife Sharon, who tells me to go sailing every time I get underfoot. This is why I can sail so often. (Courtesy Victoria Times Colonist)

I met Andy when he came to help out my preparations on OceanPlanet for the 20042005 Vende Globe. A nice guy and good sense of humorafter all, hes 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.

Its 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 sailingas many as the actual sailors who do it. 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 Im especially glad that he did it, because now I dont have to.

Cheers,

BRUCE SCHWAB

Bruce Schwab is a lifelong marine services professional and two-time solo circumnavigator. Schwab has won many crewed, doublehanded, and solo sailing races, including the 1996 Singlehanded Transpac aboard Rumbleseat. After completing his first circumnavigation in the 20022003 Around Alone Race, Schwab came to Portland, Maine, to refit OceanPlanet for the 20042005 Vende Globe Race. On February 25, 2005, Schwab became the first American in history to officially finish the Vende Globe, and currently holds the American solo circumnavigation record of 109 days and 20 hours.

If I were the richest man in the world, Id have a bigger boat and newer sails. But on a Saturday afternoon with only God and the wind, I wouldnt be any happier than I am right now.

Another great day on the water. (Courtesy Victoria Times Colonist)

Over the past ten years Ive gone singlehanded sailing close to a thousand times. I started just four days after getting my first boat and have rarely looked back. Included are more than 250 individual races. In total, it adds up to perhaps 4,000 hours of singlehanded sailinga reasonable start.

With all of the times that I have left the dock, I have nevernot even oncehad a bad day on the water. Ive had days when things went wrong: difficult things, expensive things. Ive shredded several spinnakers. Ive hit rocks and cracked the hull. Ive broken my mast. Ive had days when the wind blew more than most could handle, and Ive had days when it didnt blow at all. But I have never had a day when I wished I were somewhere else. I have never had a bad day sailing.

Sailing gives me a sense of joy that seems rare in life. I imagine it is something like what the monks in Tibet achieve. It is certainly the sense that the Dalai Lama seems to show every time he laughs.