I personally think most people going single hand are seasoned sailors, but we could have an influx of newbies on sinlge hand boats that may not know the dangers of sailing alone.
One factor that contributes to the rise of single-handers is that the cat sailing community is aging and as we age, we are less likely to have willing crews.
The older we get, the more curmudgeonious we become. That in itself limits our crew possibilities substantially. Family members that can or want to sail with us have long since gone on to more comfortable persuasions. Friends that we used to be able to drag along are now often in retirement homes or have bowel problems.
Yes there are many great young cat people coming in and they generally go straight to the next hot boat when they get serious. That helps bring in enough new blood to keep things interesting, but as a whole, the fleet is shrinking rather than growing.
Single-handing is becoming a necessity for a lot of us and for many diverse reasons.
I love the A-cats but have a Hobie 16 and would rather keep it than switch. I think the 16 is a perfect single-handed boat…easy to transport, rig and sail.
It looks like we will have 5 or more at Hatteras next weekend.
I would never consider this as dangerous…just another challenge.
