This is a subject upon which volumes of rot have been written by men
who ought to have known better. We can forgive a man of no experience
for writing absurdly upon a subject, but when those who have had
experience in handling craft alone come out in print in advocacy of an
utterly unsuitable type of vessel it is about time for somebody to call
them down. It is the books of such men that have made common the idea
that the single-hander's vessel must be a sort of enlarged toy boat; in
consequence, whenever a single-hander is pictured, it is of that type.
The principal cause of this error is that the men who have taken charge
of the task of disseminating information regarding the single-hander
are of a class that, as a class, look upon small things as making big
things and not as big things being made of small things. Consequently
they give more importance to any part than they do to the whole. Then
they are the servants of an idea; this once firmly fixed they distort
all out-doors to fit it. All evidence to confirm is at once admitted,
while just as quickly the door is shut in the face of whatever does not
go to prove their first and final conception to be correct.
[Illustration: SINGLE-HANDER]
Almost every man I know of who has contributed to the literature of the
single-hander has first sat by the fireside and designed a craft and
then built and sailed it to prove that it is the only perfect thing.
Go over a fleet of this kind; what are they? Either big toy boats or
small copies of large vessels. While they may perfectly fit the theory
and be theoretically perfect, they are practically of no use, or else
inferior in many ways to a boat of the same dimensions designed by
experience. The earliest types of these boats were closely moulded
upon the lines of fishing craft, being models built to withstand the
rough usage of that trade, and suited to oar and sail alike. That a
craft like this matured in a rough locality is the best for its purpose
is frequently true, but that it is best for another purpose is as
frequently false.
This is an error common to many who have advocated some local type
of boat for universal use. Having employed it successfully in certain
waters, they imperatively assert that it will suit all waters, and
having found it to answer one purpose, they are equally certain
that it will answer all. It is the old story of the blind men and
the elephant--that of forming a compound conclusion from a single
observation.
If a man cruise, and cruise without assistance, the first important
thing is that his craft be one that he can handle without excessive
muscular strain. Therefore she must not be heavy for her size, and her
gear must be of such weight as will readily permit of his working it.
The gear must be simple and of strength; the rig one that needs the
least attention. This is exactly what the typical single-hander is not.
The typical single-hander is a coarse-lined, heavily built craft, with
complicated gear and divided canvas. She is generally very full-bodied
and badly overloaded with ballast. Her initial stability is great, and
her helm action slow. This is the type of craft advocated by nearly all
who have written on this subject. One of the prime virtues of this type
in the eyes of single-hander writers, is, that such craft are good sea
boats. A few years ago boats of this description were more common than
they are to-day, but many are still afloat. The favorite rig is that of
cutter or yawl.
These boats are safe--that is, they seldom capsize--and are good sea
boats, if simple ability to float in rough water constitutes a good
sea; but they are slow, awkward to handle, and utterly unable to make
way in rough water and heavy winds.
Off the wind in all weather they move slowly and steer badly and in
light breezes are logs. One of these boats that I handled would yaw
four points either way when running off in a following sea, and when
close-hauled in a blow would lie down and sag off bodily to leeward. It
was utterly impossible to get her to windward except under conditions
of a smooth sea and steady breeze, weather in which any vessel will do
her best.
I remember once seeing a small cutter-rigged, single-hander trying for
several hours to beat round Matinicock Point against a head sea and
wind. This vessel, which was built after the plans of a celebrated
single-hander's boat, was a failure on every point of sailing. Another
time we passed a small cutter off Saybrook; she was jumping up and down
and chopping waves at a great rate. Our consort, who had passed the
same point two hours before, reported speaking the yacht in almost the
same position, and no doubt she would be there yet if the wind and tide
had not shifted and lifted her in.
The essential element of safety in all vessels is the power to move
forward under all conditions of weather. This is especially so of a
sailing craft. There must also be a perfect and rapid obedience to the
helm. A slow-moving or sluggish craft is a dangerous one. The smaller
the vessel the more true this is.
The other element of safety is the mobility of the rig. The ability
to make, reduce and shift sail rapidly is essential to safety. This
is only possible when the sails and spars are proportioned to the
strength of those manipulating them, and the gear of the simplest and
most direct description. The over subdividing of canvas is bound to
complicate the gear; the keeping of the canvas in large sails to make
the spars heavy and unwieldy.
The most perfect type of boat and rig for one man to handle is the
cat--in theory; but in practice it fails in many ways. If the weather
was a constant it would be the ideal rig. But winds are changeable
things in all localities. So long as a cat can carry her whole
sail comfortably she is the safest and most easily handled rig in
existence; but once reef her and she forfeits much of her ability. Then
again, in strong winds, she is a bad runner, and her sail being large
and well outboard she is difficult to reef. For windward work under
favorable conditions the cat is unrivaled, and as a one-man boat she is
for some purposes without a peer. But I do not recommend the rig for
single-handed cruising.
Let us next consider the sloop. This is, except for very small craft,
an inferior rig for the purpose to the cat, it having all the latter's
faults without any other advantages to compensate. In single-handers
under 20 feet top measure the sloop rig will work very decently. But
it is decidedly inferior to the knockabout, for the reason that in
order to expand its canvas both the boom and bowsprit must be carried
outboard. This latter rig, if kept down to reasonable proportions, is
better than either cat, sloop or cutter for single-handers under 30
feet top measure. But all these three rigs have the one objectionable
feature, that in order to reef the boat must either leave her course
or be hove-to while the operation is performed, a serious disadvantage
under rough conditions.
In a full-manned vessel, reefing, when the proper method is employed,
is a simple affair, but reefing by one hand is always a long and
troublesome job. If the vessel cannot be kept on her course and is
brought to the wind the work is made much more difficult owing to
the rolling and pitching. Not only is this the case, but it is very
often dangerous to venture on a bowsprit at such a time or to hang out
over the stern in order to secure the cringle-lashing. Any one who
has reefed a jib when the boat is head to the wind and pitching into
a steep sea will not deny this. Last summer in reefing down, owing
to the weight of the wind, I was obliged to take the sail completely
off my boat, as it was impossible to knot the points with the canvas
straining; losing her way, she fell off into the trough of the sea,
which was running very large, and rolled so heavily that she threw all
hands off their feet. We could do nothing but hold on until at last we
were obliged to run her off under the peak and reef her running. This
manoeuvre cost us a good two miles of hard-won weather gauge.
The three best rigs for single-man handling are the ketch, yawl or
sharpie, or double cat, as it is sometimes called. The advantages of
the yawl and ketch rig I have explained in another chapter. The double
cat is also fairly good, but its chief objection is that the stepping
of the foremast in the eyes of the boat makes it close work forward and
the lack of a bowsprit increases the work of handling the anchor.
As to the size of a single-hander. I have handled boats of 35 feet, top
measure alone, but it was labor; the ground tackle for such a craft
being a big lift for one man. The only advantage of a long boat is the
increased speed and accommodation, but the latter is generally not
wanted.
I would recommend for this purpose a boat of not over 30 feet--25 is
better--and of either yawl or ketch rig. A moderate sail plan, light
spars and strong rigging, the iron work especially being extra heavy.
The hull, while strongly built, should be clean-lined, and, above all,
stiff and weatherly. The last is the prime necessity. She must be
capable of going to windward under any set of sail. At least half her
ballast should be inside, firmly secured. She should steer with a wheel.
We can summon all this up in one sentence, that will concisely describe
the ideal single-hander: A fast hull and a small rig.
[Illustration: FULL-RIGGED SCHOONER]
_ON SEAGOING BOATS_
"_The sea and the wind are not our enemies. They seldom destroy our
vessels without our connivance. It is our own folly, neglect or
carelessness, that opens the way for the attack._"