Some additional thoughts on this subjectI have heard and read of many skippers who "complain" about the location of the mainsheet (if they're "slaves
behind the wheel") and that they can't "dump" it in puffs. Having sailed here on San Francisco Bay for a looong time, we get many puffs! My technique is simply to feather up into the wind and then back off, and reef early. And the traveler is a LOT better thing to dump than a mainsheet, and lots easier to readjust.
Our boats are stable platforms. When you're single handing, you're most of the time not in a position to make those kind of fine tuning sail adjustments one would normally and instinctively do with crew.
Reef early, get rid of those horribly over sized 155 genoas (130 to 140 MAX is a very good compromise), double your dock lines back so you don't have to get off the boat
to leave a dock, and learn a fisherman's reef.
I have read
and reread two very good "Single Handed Sailing" books by Frank Mulville and Richard Henderson. Sail trim is important, but sail trim is the least of the things you should even deal with when by yourself, because an early reef or a fisherman's reef takes care of those issues. Planning, preparation, a good reliable autopilot and midships spring lines are what you really need to know.
Midships Spring LinesA co.com thread some time ago had some good info and other good links:
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=107562Included in that link is something I wrote this for Latitude 38 in April 2008, in case you choose not to read that entire link:
HOPPING OFF THE BOAT IS UNNECESSARYIn the April issue, Mark Johnston asked about dealing with aging knees and boat docking in “Senior Sailors and High Freeboard.” He expressed his concern about docking (his Catalina 34!!!) with a potential future bigger boat, noting “…it’s not so easy…for my wife and me to jump down to the dock with lines in our hands.” We’ve had our Catalina 34 for the past 10 years, with a C22 for two and a C25 for twelve before that, sailing all over the Bay, the Delta and up & down the coast. We employ what we believe is the most useful and safe technique for docking that still seems to be a mystery to most sailors. It’s called the midships spring line. Our older Catalina 34s did not come with a midships cleat, so we added one on each side at the forward end of the jib fairlead track. Many newer boats come with them. There really is no reason to ever have to jump off a boat to dock it properly. I recommend that Mark Google “midships springline” – there is a wealth of information available, one of which is: http://www.cruising.sailingcourse.com/docking.htm.
The maneuver is simple: attach the springline to the midships cleat, run it fair outside the lifelines, as you approach the dock loop the springline over the aft dock cleat and bring it back to the winch. Snug it up and keep the boat in low throttle forward and the boat will sidle right up to the dock, no jumping is EVER required. A friend developed an enhanced springline arrangement with a prefixed length of line with a hose holding a lower loop of line open to assure that it catches the cleat on the dock, so that no line needs to be returned to the winch. ***
I do a lot of single-handed sailing and have found this invaluable in docking in all conditions. I’m sure that once this “trick” is learned and mastered it can be used in a wide variety of docking situations with all manner of wind and currents.
It’s not only safer, it’s a sure knee and back saver. The only drawback is when docks don’t have cleats, but have those nutty rings or the wooden raised runners so prevalent in the Pacific Northwest. I think that’s one reason they invented grapnel hooks!*** Nautiduck, Randy Kolb's, "Dock A Matic" is described in the C25 Forum here:
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15645 I am sure it could be applied to our boats as well if you tried; I've thought about it, but am still using our 40 foot long 1/2 inch dockline for that purpose without the nifty "loop in hose" idea. Whatever works for you.