How to Single-Hand Your Boat in a Pinch

     Or, "Do you really think it's sprained? You can't help me tack this thing???"

One person, two sails – how do you do that, exactly? Remember, this blog isn’t for highly seasoned sailors who are looking for tricks to get every last tenth of a knot out of their boat in a race. This is just basic sailing tips for newer sailors.

It may be that you intend to never sail your boat by yourself. I have heard many newer sailors say that – that they aren’t confident enough to sail by themselves. They “never” single-hand.

At least, that’s their plan, but reality sometimes has a way of messing up our plans. Suppose your sailing companion sprains his ankle? What if he sprains his ankle, you’re five hours from port and you’re low on fuel?

You really should know how to manage the boat by yourself, which really means how one person can control two sails.

Here’s the big tip: the headsail does most of the work when you tack. This means that you can leave the mainsail to its own devices while you handle the headsail. However, you don’t want the boom swinging over whenever physics decides it’s time. So, here’s what to do.

First of all, build up some speed, sailing close to your no-go zone. If you can see the shore, spot something that is at the starting edge of the no-go zone and something that is where you expect the end of the no-go zone to be. In the graphic below, the fat black arrow represents the wind direction, and the pink area is the “no go” zone, where the boat is too close to the direction of the wind to sail. If you stay in that area, the boat will slow dramatically, and eventually, fall off back into the wind, or if it continues toward the direction of the wind, stop.

Bring the mainsail in nearly to center and lock it off. Have your winch handle out and near what will be the new working jib winch.

Have both port and starboard sheets ready, one ready to be loosened and the other ready to be tightened.

Turn the boat through the no-go zone. Watch two things in particular: where the clew of the headsail is, and where your estimated end of the no-go-zone is. Loosen the previously working sheet completely, and be ready to pull the new working sheet in.

As the clew swings across the front of the boat and the sail begins to fill on the new tack, pull in the new working sheet as efficiently as possible so you’re not pulling in a heavily-loaded sheet. 

Don't forget to end your turn! That's why you spotted the other side of the "no-go" zone. Lots of people have ended up going in a circle when trying this for the first time. No matter -- just do it again, and tell the guy with the sprained ankle to stop being a back-seat driver already!

When you have the headsail over on the new tack and not luffing, lock it off. Now release the mainsheet and let it move over.

You will probably have to tweak both sails, but by controlling them one at a time, tacking (or jybing) can be managed by one person. If you’re gybing instead of tacking, the steps are the same except that you can move through a jybe more slowly, because there is no “no-go” zone in a gybe.

If for some reason you can’t manage the tack, just do a gybe for 270º. You'll come out in the right direction. It isn’t hard. You can do this.

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Source for graphic: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Points_of_sail.svg/300px-Points_of_sail.svg.png&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_sail&h=300&w=300&sz=29&tbnid=HRpPHA2QBKhaPM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=91&zoom=1&usg=__0C0bFzDNXCYiMo60T843yNcte04=&docid=B_dastTk9kJ-4M&sa=X&ei=NbeaUZK0NIjo8gT8mYHgCQ&ved=0CEAQ9QEwAg&dur=9913