Talk:Single-handed sailing

What's still to do
This article is marked as a stub because I feel it's a long way from done. Please feel free to pitch in! What's to do:


 * other (non-around-the-world) notable voyages
 * information on the Vendee, Around Alone, and other non-around-the-world races (OSTAR, New Man STAR, Route du Rhum, etc.)
 * some summary of rules (no assistance, no powered winches, no engines, etc. — it's amazing how many people think modern sailors have it easy because it's all pushing buttons)
 * references
 * In hazards, perhaps someone could discuss the psychological impacts of sailing single-handed e.g. hallucinations —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.144.12.76 (talk) 23:19, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

— Johantheghost 16:21, 3 January 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, it's looking a bit more meaty now. Comments / contributions welcome.  — Johantheghost 01:26, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Another type of record for the West to East Transatlantic is about the oldest signle handers. The eldest seems to be Mary Harper who in 1984, at the age of 79, crossed from St John, Newfoundland to Ireeland in 26 days on a 30 foot Swedish-built sloop. The second oldest was Mpulton "Monk" Farhnam who crossed in a 28 ft Bristol Channel Cutter and the third was John Somerhausen who crossed in 1998 on a 29 ft Columbia 8.7 fron New York to Brest. He then continued up Channel to Belgium, ditch crawled to the Mediterranean and came back to New York via the Canaries and the Caribbean in 1999

Adrian Flanagan
Adrian Flanagan of Ludgershall Buckinghamshire has just completed the first leg of his attempt to sail the first ever vertical single-handed circumnavigation of the globe via the Russian Arctic. He set off from Hamble Point Marina on the 28th October 2005 on board yacht Barrabas. He has travelled over 26,000 miles, become one of very few yachtsmen to conquer Cape Horn westabout and sailed the first recorded UK to Hawaii non-stop and unsupported. His boat is now wintering in Nome Alaska where he returns in June 2007 to resume the Arctic phase of his epic voyage. Full details of the Alpha Global Expedition can be found at www.alphaglobalex.com


 * This was because of a phone call from Louise Flanagan this morning. I said the best thing to do would be for her to put a note here for someone to chase up. Am initial news report is here. Someone familiar with the article should update it accordingly - David Gerard 10:30, 27 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Let's hope he gets permission from the Russian authorities! David Scott Cowper got that far in a motor boat in 2003 and couldn't get permission. He's still trying and plans to go this year in the other direction. Chris55 (talk) 23:33, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Sailing re-organization effort
Take a minute to read the comments at Talk:Sailing#Re-write effort -- non how-to et seq. Some of us are working on re-organizing the sailing-related articles. See if you agree with our approach and give us some help. Mrees1997 20:57, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Thomas Coville -- new transatlantic record, July 2008
See Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 August 17 Perhaps someone with knowledge could start the article on Thomas Coville.--Cinematical (talk) 02:02, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Florence Arthaud, sailor and singer
You learn something new every day! Florence Arthaud redirects here, thanks to her being the first woman to win a single-handed ocean race. However, I was looking for information on her relating to her singing the beautiful French duet "Flo", about her sailing, with Pierre Bachelet in 1989. Eauhomme (talk) 04:19, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Where to start (editing, not sailing)
See also my post on the Talk page Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Sailing, also headed "Where to Start".

"The term is not applied to situations where it would be typical for a single crew to operate a vessel such as a short sail in a dinghy ..." Yes, it is. Even here in WP. See Dinghy_racing, under the heading: "Single-handed or more than one crew".

There's also quite a lot of passive/weasel wording going on here. For example, The Terminolgy section, discussing the history of calling sailors "Hands", says it "may derive from". May? Does it or doesn't it? If the 'may' is part of a quote it should be written as such. In the same section we are told "In the sailing community ... " Who? Is this a quote? And so on.

Some of the referencing isn't quite up to scratch, but I may not have access to better ref's, so I might be limited to just 'tagging', but I'll try to make improvements where I can.

But my biggest issue is with the two (overlapping and should be merged) sections titled: "Legality / Non-compliance" and "Questionable legality". This will almost certainly need some discussion, so I'll get to that in a seperate post. To get you thinking about it though ... a) WP should not be giving legal opinions; b) are we really saying that all of the 'official' single handed racing events are illegal, and are the major corporate sponsors aware (and liable) of this illegal behaviour?); and c) it is a common situation in maritime practice that there isn't a person staring out the window at the horizon (with the possible exception of military vessels, but that's a'special' case.)

So I'm about to do quite a lot of copy editing. In the early stages I wont be deleting, adding or making any signicant changes to the info already there, just trying to do some 'clean up'. I'll usually keep each change to a single edit, so if anyone thinks I've gone to far each one can be reverted individually. Happy to discuss my changes.

On preveiwing this post, it looks quite negative, and that is not my intention. It's a good and worthwhile article, I just think it can be better.

Wayne 22:52, 11 September 2015 (UTC)


 * Regarding the legality topics, I believe this can be improved and better sourced. Single-handed sailing has tradition behind it, and e.g. Farwell's discusses the interaction between navigational traditions and the law (spoiler: "everyone may do it", but you'll still lose in court).  This doesn't make it legal; a crude analogy might be to delivery companies that must double-park in cities and often have agreements to simply pay the parking citations in bulk.  Case law is also fairly consistent regarding responsibilities under Rule 5 and I can dig up some supporting citations there.  A good one to start with might be Granholm v. TFL Express which involved a solo sailor.  There is extensive case law on the importance of maintaining a proper watch.
 * As for the comments about displaying "not under command" lights or improved sensor technology, I think the first is very much a stretch and contrary to case law and published guidance (IMO Circular, South African Maritime Safety Authority guidance) which clearly establishes that only exceptional circumstances justify this, such as significant engine or steering failure.  The latter, sensor technologies, may eventually reach a point which allows this, but that that is still far in the future.  Any such statements should be well supported by evidence.
 * If time permits I may take a stab at clean-up this weekend. Requiem Aristos (talk) 05:52, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

I've deleted the last paragraph under Terminology, which read as:
 * This use of "hand" to mean a member of a ship's crew may derive from the days of sailing ships, where the crew had to work high in the rigging without the benefit of modern safety harnesses; it was an essential precaution that each sailor should hold on with one hand at all times, while working with the other. This meant that each crew member represented one hand for the ship's work, and gave rise to the saying "one hand for yourself, one for the ship".[5]

My reasoning for this is that the conjectured etymology is said to be sourced from Covey Crump, whereas the entry in that source actually reads as:
 * Sailors on board are usually referred to as "The Hands" - in the singular as "One Hand". This is said to come from the expression "One hand for yourself and one for the King" used to men working aloft in the days of sail. (My underlining)

The source itself indicates that this is quite speculative, and is neither reliable nor all that relevant to the article. http://etymonline.com suggests that 'hand' as a person has origins from: Meaning "manual worker, person who does something with his hands" is from 1580s, ... and "sailor in a ship's crew" (1660s )." (My underlining) So it would seem that the origin is just as likely to be from the sense of a "hired hand" as "using a hand"

Wayne 07:44, 12 September 2015 (UTC) Really ... that was a year ago? err ... didn't feel like it. Anyhoo ... just did a spate of edits. There is so much wrong with this article that I've given up on trying to discuss them all here. I'll just do the WP:Bold thing. If anyone is unhappy with my changes just revert it. Or discuss it with me. Whatever. :P Wayne 15:00, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

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How they do it
There is already a section on sleeping. Can you say more about how single-handers manage food, repairs, psychology and other challenges? --Error (talk) 21:26, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

Numeral 1 pennant
I have just deleted the following text from the Section titled "Other": ---
 * Flying Pennant Numeral 1 from the back stay


 * While there is no clear guideline regarding signage to indicate a boat is sailing under command of a single handed sailor flying the ICS Pennant Numeral 1 from the backstay has been practiced and advocated by some sailors. As the use of Pennant Numeral 1, a white pennant with a big red dot in the middle much resembling the flag of Japan, for this purpose is not (yet) widely spread and even often confined more to certain geographical areas (Baltic,...) the use of it has been questioned although the general consensus is that any signage that can increase safety at sea is to be supported. (Ref was: "Pennant No 1 and Single Handers" - http://www.ybw.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-419706.html)

--- My edit note says: ''deleted edit on No1 pennant, which said that an unknown number of people are doing a thing, somewhere, while another unknown group are talking about it; and the sole Ref was a discussion by half a dozen people on a community chat board. Copied to Talk if further discussion desired.''

I don't know that I can add much to that. If it is in fact a common practice, even if only in geographically limited area, AND there are WP:RS to support that, then by all means re-instate it with those Refs. But "some people" and an internet discussion board as a sole Ref just doesn't ... float my boat, so to speak. Wayne 11:28, 21 March 2021 (UTC)