Just finished reading
“Singlehanded sailing: The experiences and techniques of the lone voyagers” by Richard Henderson
I got this book via PaperbackSwap. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it, there wasn’t a description provided. I’m super happy with it though!
Due to the fact that I tend to sail on weekday mornings, I nearly always am sailing by myself. I was hoping to just get some tips on single-handing, but got a lot more in the bargain.
The book starts with a really detailed discussion of the history of long-distance single-handed sailing. Reading the stories of the men and women who set off on their own to cross endless oceans was really inspiring. I was surprised though to see that single-handed passage-making didn’t really come into its own until the 1960s. There were people who had done incredible things before then, but in the 1960s you started seeing tons of people entering transoceanic races, lots of circumnavigations, etc.
This book is from 1988 so it is pretty out of date in the technology department. It certainly never considered the possibility of GPS, computerized chart plotters, instant weather reports from satellite internet, or handheld satellite phones.
Still, it was a great read, and the discussions of boat design, rigging, etc. for single-handing are all still relevant. You can pick up used copies for $2.50 all over the place so it’s worth checking out.