The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember (i.e., only one person on board the vessel). The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and among cruisers.
Terminology In sailing, a hand is a member of a ship's crew.The Sailor's Word-Book, Admiral W.H. Smyth, p. 364; Conway Maritime Press, UK, 1991. Nautical Glossary, from Marine Waypoints. "Single-handed" therefore means with a crew of one, i.e., only one person on the vessel. The term "single-handed" is also used more generally in English to mean "done without help from others" or, literally, "with one hand".Compact Oxford English Dictionary, from Ask Oxford.
In the sailing community, the term "crewed" (or sometimes "fully-crewed") is used to mean sailing with a crew of more than one, in order to distinguish events permitting larger crews from their single-handed equivalents (even though a solo sailor is also correctly referred to as a vessel's crew). Hence, for example, "Bruno Peyron ... has taken part in almost all the large crewed and single-handed sailing events since the 80's."Stena Sovcomflot Sailing Team, from Nokia Oops Cup. In contrast, the term "double-handed" is used to refer to sailing with two persons on board.
Many significant voyages, such as ocean passages, have been made single-handed, and many single-handed circumnavigations have been accomplished.List Of Solo Circumnavigators, from the Joshua Slocum Society International. "Single-handed" does not imply "non-stop", so a single-handed circumnavigation counts as such even with stops, as in Joshua Slocum's voyage.
Sailing alone
The racing scene Single-handed sailing has become a major competitive sport, and there are a number of prominent single-handed offshore races. The Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Route du Rhum are trans-Atlantic single-handed races. The single handed transpac (SHTP) starts off Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay, and ends in Hanalei Bay, Kauai. Round-the-world yacht racing began with the single-handed Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Two modern round-the-world races descended from this event are the Velux 5 Oceans Race (Around Alone), which is run in several stages with stops in between, and the Vendée Globe, a non-stop race around the world and perhaps the ultimate event in single-handed sailing. Many single-handed races make use of Open 50 and Open 60 boats.
Stringent rules apply to single-handed races and speed records. As with any sailing race, the voyage must be completed under sail, and the boat must be operated and powered by wind and muscle-power alone (no electric or hydraulic winches). Some races are carried out in stages, where repairs and resupply may be carried out at the intermediate ports of call; in non-stop races and record attempts, no outside assistance is permitted, whether in the form of a tow, repairs, or supplies. However, anchoring to make repairs under one's own resources is generally permitted.What Constitutes a Singlehanded Voyage?, from Karen Thorndike.
In terms of safety, very stringent entry requirements apply to major races. The crew must meet requirements for both past experience and training, and the vessel and equipment must meet specified standards.Main rules for the Vendee Globe 2004 , Vendee Globe official website.
One issue that arises with single-handed round-the-world racing is that of verifying that the competitor has actually sailed around the world. In practice, faking such a voyage, along with all of the detailed logs, workings of celestial navigation sights, radio check-ins at various places, and so on, would be virtually impossible; however, in the Golden Globe Race, one competitor did actually attempt this.A Voyage for Madmen, by Peter Nichols. Harper Collins, 2001. The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., 2003. 2006 DocuFilm 'Deep Water' by Jerry Rothwell & Louise Osmond Today, racers in major offshore races are required to carry location beacons, such as Inmarsat-C with GPS, or the Argos System; these beacons report each boat's position continuously to race headquarters.IMOCA Year Book 2004: G.4: Marine radio / navigational position-fixing device , from IMOCA.Argos Applications: Tracking Sailboats , from CLS. This is primarily for safety, and to permit daily race reports; however, it also means there is a verifiable record of the competitor's route.
Requirements Complete competence with sailing and seamanship are required for single-handing, as is a high degree of self-sufficiency.One Hand for Yourself — One for the Ship, Tristan Jones; Sheridan House, UK, 1990. Physical fitness is of particular importance for single-handing, as all of the tasks which would ordinarily be handled by two or more persons must be accomplished by the single sailor. This includes often arduous sail adjustments and sail changes in all weathers, including heavy weather (very windy or stormy weather).
This is true many times over for competitive sailors; for example, Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher monohull, in which she completed the 2000 Vendée Globe, has an upwind sail area of , as compared to a conservative recreational round-the-world yacht such as a Westsail 32, which has a sail area of only , despite these two boats having virtually the same displacement (weight), at around .Westsail 32 , a review by Jack Hornor. With all sail handling being by the muscle power of one person, this huge sail area directly translates to physical effort, and the much greater power-to-weight ratio makes handling the boat a greater physical challenge. In addition, while a recreational sailor might wait for a while before reacting to a change in conditions, a racer will respond to every wind shift with a sail adjustment or change, resulting in much more frequent exertions.
Hazards
Falling overboard while single-handed ocean sailing is almost certainly fatal, as there is no one to attempt to recover the crewmember who has fallen overboard. However, the nightmare scenario of floating in mid-ocean while watching one's boat sail away under auto-pilot makes many single-handers very cautious. Staying on the boat (by careful and thorough use of handholds, lifelines, and tethers) is widely regarded as the best approach for any sailor, but some single-handers tow a rope astern, as a last desperate chance if they should fall overboard.Singlehanded Sailing, Richard Henderson; page 196. A&C Black, 1988. Modern technology has given us EPIRB, PLB, SART Radar SART and AIS SART devices which can help recover victims of a man overboard (MOB) incident. Additionally the most modern autopilot systems eg NKE Gyropilot have – or can have added as a retro-fit option – remote control handsets which not only allows the autopilot to be remotely controlled from anywhere on the boat but also detects when an individual carrying/wearing one goes over board, sounding the alarm and, depending on type of installation and mode selected, either turning the boat into the wind or locking the rudder hard over on the opposite tack causing the yacht to stall/fore reach, in both cases preventing the boat from continuing on its route and allowing a conscious MOB the possibility of getting back aboard. Falling overboard while single-handed sailing also creates a hazard to navigation for all other vessels as the now-uncontrolled vessel can remain afloat for an extended period.
One of the factors that influence single handed sailing operations is the management of sleep deprivation due to the constant need for monitoring the situation. Numerous single sailors make use of the polyphasic sleeping pattern where they sleep for about 15 to 20 minutes at a stretch, giving time for scanning the horizon. While in the case of cruising sail boats there would be enough time to spot the possible navigational issues due to their relatively slow speed, it would be different in the case of racing. Therefore, in order to reduce possible dangers, race participants choose the route away from shallow coastal areas and congested navigation lanes. Recreational sailors tend to go for coastal or tropical voyages that call for extra caution when looking for commercial vessels. Moreover, non-commercial ships can also rely on the AIS Automatic Identification System which provides automatic collision warnings.
Notable milestones
The pioneers
The recorded history of modern single-handed voyages begins with an American sailor, Josiah Shackford, who is reported to have sailed from France to Surinam, in South America, although this has not been reliably authenticated. Another unauthenticated voyage is that of Captain Cleveland of Salem, who was said to have sailed nearly around the world single-handed in a boat around 1800. A more likely account is that of J.M. Crenston, who is reported to have sailed a boat from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to San Francisco (whether by Cape Horn or the Strait of Magellan is unknown).Singlehanded Sailing; pages 3-4.
Single-handed sailing received a great impetus in the middle of the 19th century, when it was popularised by three British sailors, R.T. McMullen, John MacGregor and Frank Cowper. Although neither man made a major single-handed offshore passage, MacGregor achieved some fame for sailing a yawl from London to Paris and back in 1867. His book, The Voyage Alone in the Yawl Rob Roy;The Voyage Alone in the Yawl Rob Roy, John MacGregor. Dover Publications, 2001. McMullen's book, Down Channel, published in 1869,Down Channel, R. T. McMullen. Grafton Books, 1986. and Frank Cowper's classic Sailing Tours series (1892–96) inspired many people to cruise.Singlehanded Sailing; page 5.
The first authenticated single-handed ocean crossing was made in 1876 by a 30-year-old fisherman named Alfred "Centennial" Johnson. Johnson sailed out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open dory named Centennial. His voyage was timed to celebrate the United States centennial. He set off on the crossing on June 15, 1876; he averaged about a day, and contacted many vessels along the way, getting positions from their navigators. After surviving a major gale that capsized the boat, he finally made landfall at Abercastle, Wales, on August 12, 1876.Johnson wanted to prove he could do it alone, by Greg Cook.Alfred "Centennial" Johnson , Rob Morris; Y Crofft, 2003. Singlehanded Sailing; pages 4-5. Another Gloucesterman, Howard Blackburn, made single-handed Atlantic crossings in 1899 and 1901.The Epic Voyage of Howard Blackburn, from the Gloucestershire (UK) Portal.Singlehanded Sailing; pages 10-13. In 1882, Bernard Gilboy sailed a schooner that he built himself from San Francisco across the Pacific in 162 days until he was picked up exhausted and starving off Queensland, Australia, after a swordfish pierced his hull and he lost the rudder.
William Albert Andrews, of Beverley, Massachusetts, made several significant single-handed voyages, and instigated the first single-handed trans-Atlantic race. Andrews first crossed the Atlantic with his brother in a dory in 1878. He made an aborted attempt at a single-handed crossing in 1888, and then in 1891 he issued a challenge to any single-hander to race him across the ocean for a prize of $5,000. Josiah W. Lawlor, the son of a famous boatbuilder, took up the challenge, and the two men built boats for the race. They set off from Crescent Beach near Boston on June 21, 1891. Andrews, capsized several times and was finally picked up by a steamer; but Lawlor arrived at Coverack, Cornwall, on August 5, 1891.Singlehanded Sailing; pages 5-8.