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How big of a sail boat can one person sail comfortable on their own?

I ask because I want to get a live aboard sail boat now that I'm a grad student and I want it to be comfortably sized but still manageable.

Public Comments

1. You can find sailboats that are 40 foot plus that are set up to single hand. They will have roller furling sails, auto pilots, windlass anchors and all the lines will be lead back to the cockpit, near the helm, so one person can run all operations right from the helm. I have transported 35 foot plus sailboats by myself with ease. Once you get good, even docking is a breeze by yourself, even on a boat 40-45 foot sailboat. I would think once you get bigger than that, you will need some extra muscle to dock just because of sheer size of the boat.
2. I agree with john that an experianced sailer can handle boats up to about 50 ft. If.....and it's a big if, the boat is equipped for 'single handing. But where he an I might differ is that only very few sailers would be both physically and mentally able to handle a boat that size. It's much more likely if the boat is in the thirties, I like the Beneteau 39. The newer boats say l989 and newer are well designed for both speed and livibility. These boats are about $145K in the current market. It sounds like you are relatively young so I'd learn as much as i could on a little smaller boat before I'd go big. Good Luck!
3. If this is your first boat I would suggest that you get a boat around 30 feet long. This will be comfortable for you to stay on for an extended period and still not too big to handle on your own. Equipped with a roller furling and an auto helm and rigged with control lines coming back to the cockpit, a boat this size should be easy for a novice sailor with some good coaching to master on their own. Good luck!