Single-handed sailing

The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember (i.e., only one person on board the vessel). The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and among Cruisers.

In sailing, a hand is a member of a ship's crew. "Single-handed" therefore means with a crew of one, i.e., only one person on the vessel. The term "single-handed" has been adopted into more general English, meaning "done without help from others"; however, it has also come to mean literally "with one hand".

In the sailing community, the term "crewed" (or sometimes "fully-crewed") is used to mean sailing with a crew of more than one, in order to distinguish events permitting larger crews from their single-handed equivalents (even though a solo sailor is also correctly referred to as a vessel's crew). Hence, for example, "Bruno Peyron ... has taken part in almost all the large crewed and single-handed sailing events since the 80's." In contrast, the term "double-handed" is used to refer to sailing with two persons on board.

Many significant voyages, such as ocean passages, have been made single-handed, and many single-handed circumnavigations have been accomplished. "Single-handed" does not imply "non-stop", so a single-handed circumnavigation counts as such even with stops, as in Joshua Slocum's voyage.

Single-handed sailing has become a major competitive sport, and there are a number of prominent single-handed offshore races. The Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Route du Rhum are trans-Atlantic single-handed races. The single handed transpac (SHTP) starts off Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay, and ends in Hanalei Bay, Kauai. Round-the-world yacht racing began with the single-handed Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Two modern round-the-world races descended from this event are the VELUX 5 Oceans Race (Around Alone), which is run in several stages with stops in between, and the Vendée Globe, a non-stop race around the world and perhaps the ultimate event in single-handed sailing. Many single-handed races make use of Open 50 and Open 60 boats.

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