It really blows me away what some people do. Had sundowners on a beautiful 50 footer last night at garrys anch. These guys are in their 70s. They have a rascal siamese on board and the boat is immaculate with all mod cons. Domestic washing machine andceven a bath tub!
Solid steel roberts self built over 11 years in warriewood.
Its no easy feat-well not on the tophat anyway but a rolly sea is a rolly sea and im sure for older cruisers its still a big challenge regardless of boat size and what luxuries others have. You still have to be a part contortionist to get on and off boat and stay upright etc.
I must say im impressed by what some people do.
Its all about the people you meet.
Select to expand quotePhoenixStar said..shaggybaxter said..
Phoenix,
I love the fact that your headsail winches are powered up enough to backwind 
, and you've 30 years on me.
Thanks for the pics/posts, most enjoyable, and very humbling!
Echo Datawiz, what boat?
Sam,
No mate, I don't have a self tacker. The only weird thing on the foredeck is the removable inner forestay. It's removable for the reason mentioned by Phoenix, so the genoa on the forestay tacks cleanly.
It's not as well thought out as Phoenix has his boat though! For example, I can have the staysail on the innerforestay all on the deck ready to go, but I still have to go forward to the mast to release the innerforestay (d-clip at the base of the mast). One of those annoying thingy's I haven't cracked yet that means I still need to leave the cockpit to downsize headsail. I have to go to the mast at least once to reef also.
Regards the bowsprit sails and balanced/unbalanced;
For mine, with just the kite up and no main, my speed is good but I've got too too much lee helm and the rudders are dragging. It feels like sailing through molasses on the wheel, it's an uncomfortable feeling.
I can recommend flipping on the autohelm before dropping the mainsail and look for the difference in the autohelm workload, it's an interesting dynamic, especially in any swell. On my last boat, my Raymarine EVO would simply lock the rudder angle at some happy medium to offset the kite pulling to leeward and skulldrag the rudder through the water, not very efficient 
!
The little Star is an old 1978 Ranger 33, they were a Gary Mull design that fell in the cracks between the old rules and so didn't have any of the extreme "designed to a rule" features. About 460 were built in California by the people who built the Cals and the O'Days and as far as I know 2 made it to OZ. It was said that they had a hard time convincing Gary to design a cruiser rather than a racer and the Ranger wound up a little skinny. The accommodation didn't suffer but the side decks did. It makes her a great light weather boat without sacrificing her ability to punch to windward in heavy going with the appropriate sail up. The fairly high bow and sprung sheer make her surprisingly dry in heavy conditions. Never seen green water on the foredeck. (Maybe I don't pay enough attention to stuff in front of the mast). Encapsulated lead keel and ballast ratio of about 47%, displacement a bit under 5 tons and draft of 1.55 m. and a modest fin keel that still lets her self steer some of the time and she does heave to reliably.
Latitude 38 gave the Ranger 33 a boat of the year plug fairly recently and in the 2 1/2 years that I have had her she has grown on me, she still surprises me how quickly she can move when she is treated right. Boat speed about half wind speed to windward and under 30 degrees apparent. I can see why they are still a bit of a cult in the States .
P.S. the trailing edge of the fin is vertical, a real pain sometimes when anchored in strong wind against tide when the rode is wound up on the fin and the boat gets anchored broad side to the current. Then the heart stopping business of unwinding her without getting the rode caught in the prop. I really hate fin keels that won't shed the rode.
Excellent description, thanks Phoenix.
Agree...very good description Phoenix. I can sort of picture you now.
Sorry Shaggy...when I was following the story of your boat build I swear you said that it
had a self tacker, of course in my old age I can listen to one thing and hear another. Frankly
though I think any singlehander would benefit from a self tacker. But that's just me.
Select to expand quotesamsturdy said..
Agree...very good description Phoenix. I can sort of picture you now.
Sorry Shaggy...when I was following the story of your boat build I swear you said that it
had a self tacker, of course in my old age I can listen to one thing and hear another. Frankly
though I think any singlehander would benefit from a self tacker. But that's just me.
No probs Sam. I agree that a self tracker would be a great assett for shorthanded work. I'm the same as Phoenix, get prepped then hit the wireless fob, wait for headsail to start backwinding then let go and sheet on.
Looks great until you forget to start from a close hauled course using the autopilot default. If you start your tack at 60twa, you'll end up at 30twa and almost in irons, then you look like a complete numpty!
Select to expand quoteshaggybaxter said..samsturdy said..
Agree...very good description Phoenix. I can sort of picture you now.
Sorry Shaggy...when I was following the story of your boat build I swear you said that it
had a self tacker, of course in my old age I can listen to one thing and hear another. Frankly
though I think any singlehander would benefit from a self tacker. But that's just me.
No probs Sam. I agree that a self tracker would be a great assett for shorthanded work. I'm the same as Phoenix, get prepped then hit the wireless fob, wait for headsail to start backwinding then let go and sheet on.
Looks great until you forget to start from a close hauled course using the autopilot default. If you start your tack at 60twa, you'll end up at 30twa and almost in irons, then you look like a complete numpty!
HAHA
as far as single-handing and ease of use goes, having your headsail tack on a bowsprit also means that your furler will be hanging off the front of the bow. not so handy for maintenance, changing sails, or dealing with a drum jam...
