40th Birthday Fun - Flying a Dutchman single handed!!

WARNING: DON’T TRY THIS ONE AT HOME, KIDS!

Last season, with the impending approach of my 40th birthday, desperate measures were needed to overcome the mid-life crisis. These had to involve neither the financial embarrassment of buying a Harley Davidson, or anything else even more embarrassing which might eventually involve separate lawyers specialising in such cases. With a friend cancelling a joyride at short notice one evening, I found myself down at Felinheli with a sunny evening, a steady force two, slack water high, no crew, but no excuses. So lets go sailing!

Singlehanding the FD required very little preparation other than remembering how to put the harness on me, silver taping the sprit from one of the club Optimists to the tiller extension and taking my brain out and leaving it in a safe place. I decided that in the conditions, Cath and I would just be overpowered, and so I should start about halfway down clew two. After launching I did reaching about a bit, in the boat, until I was sure it was all working. There were very few other boats out, and plenty of space. With the genoa sheeted about 200mm out from real beating and the boat pinching slightly I climbed out and sheeted the main in as I bore away to full and by.

There I was hanging beside an empty boat. It was flat, sailing well and fast, and empty. With the traveller cleated amidships and working the main on the sheet and kicker I could comfortably control the power, with extension extension in the aft hand and sheet in the forward one. The genoa sheets were laid out over the gunwhale in front of my front foot. With the rig back at clew two it was comfortable to stand with front foot by the traveller, with clear access to the mainsheet. With the shore approaching, I feathered up, dumped the main, came in, unhooked the trapeze and shook the running gear down onto the new side, dumped the genoa, tacked the boat, sheeted the genoa in, hooked on and went out taking the mainsheet with me, in no more time than tacking with Cath when she has a bad hangover. After beating for about half an hour it was time to run back down the straits.

I furled the genoa and had a rest while thinking about the spinnaker. With the sprit on the extension I was easily able to get forward to clip the guy on and launch the pole, before returning aft and hoisting. Balancing the boat and trimming the spinnaker was not that comfortable, sitting on the floor in the centre, but all very controllable. With the club and rows of moorings approaching to leeward there was really only one thing to do. I unfurled the genoa, dropped the pole forward, sheeted the main in a bit and went out. It was a bit chaotic at first, but with the genoa sheets by my front foot and the main sheet cleated and easily accessible between my legs, my front hand was free to trim the spinnaker.

It was glorious, a six metre boat with 36 square metres of sail, under the control, well loosely, of one small exhilarated person. Eat yer hearts out Contender sailors! Climbing in the lulls and bearing off in the puffs I covered a remarkable amount of distance, did not hit anything, and found enough space to take it all to bits without running out of sea. Then it was time to two sail back to the club, and show off for a while, until the call of the pub was too great to resist.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, if you want to have a go then its just like sailing any unfamiliar boat, just leave yourself plenty of time and space, and think each bit through before doing it. Obviously our lifting rudder and simple layout made life easier, and you have to ignore the finer points of fiddling with the rig that all FD sailors really enjoy. Just make sure there is someone ashore to help you up the slipway at the end of it, and, my biggest mistake, make sure someone has a camera.