Shorthanded setups - can tech help?

[Darren]

Hi people,

The interwebs offered me this video the other day

It's the broadblue Rapier550. Love it or hate it, the idea behind sail management is very interesting. Anyone had experience with these fancy winches? When (if) I ever get building, the ability to sail easily by myself is going to be a critical factor, so just absorbing what's about.

Also, the manufacturer has a interesting video if the resin infusion of the hulls - one giant mold for hull and bridgedeck base, all infused at once, over a 6 hour period. 800kg of epoxy mixed and pumped on one shot. Wouldn't want to cock that up.

[44c]

No experience with anything like that, but all you really need to make single-handing easy is a self tacking headsail and an good autopilot.

Most boats sailed by couples are in reality single handed most of the time anyway.

Thanks for the video BTW! Huge departure from Broadblue's (which used to be Prout) usual boats.

[Smooth Cruiser]

Agree absolutely with 44c - the best thing for short handed sailing is a self tacker. Put the main traveller in the middle and you just turn the boat with no sheet work at all. Gybing becomes the only time when you need a few hands and with practice this is easy to master too.

On a seperate note - how long are those two hatches above the helm station going to last? First time that jib flogs, the self tacker sheet is going to take out those hatches!