my h14turbo blew the jib out so i de-raked the mast and now sail it 'classic' style. fun! i like the simplicity. now i am wondering if i can do the same with my 16- de-rake the mast and sail it singlehanded with mainsail only. has anybody tried it? will it tack is the main question.

The guy I used to crew for on H16`s once sailed the boat solo from one cat club to another on the dam we used to sail on, about a 42km (26 mile)return trip. I do remember that he did battle to tack, but managed. We were following him on my boat to make sure he had assistance in the event of a capsize. He did go over, and managed to right it by himself. I reckon he weighed 85kg at the time (187lbs). He used the jib halyard to rake the mast more upright, and the boat handled fine. From a safety perspective, it was on an inland lake & he had us as a backup to either assist or report his position if things got tricky.
Like sailing anything solo, take the necessary safety precautions, let someone know your intended route, or have a buddy sail alongside for backup.

P.S :The same guy won the single-handed race round the island on the same dam a few years later on a Hobie Tiger, and it was blowin` !!

Cheers
Steve

I sail my H16 solo quite often, and normally sail with the jib unless the conditions are particulaly bad. Fortunately for me, our club has safety boat cover so if I go over and can't get it back upright, I know there's someone to help out if needed. Also I make sure that I know I will be OK in the event of a capsize, so I make sure that I'm reasonably close to our safety cover.

It's substantially more difficult to get the boat back upright after a capsize with only one person, so I suggest that to make sure you would be OK, before sailing off into the blue yonder, you do a trial capsize near the shore where there is help and see if you can right the boat yourself. If you can't then don't go out solo!

If I sail unirig, then I use a loop of rope as an extension and using the jib halyard, tension up as normal. This at least keeps you pointing a bit higher. This also makes sure that there is sufficient tension in the system so that the mast is not banging around.

If you can sail a 14 and tack, then you can sail a 16 and tack. It's just remembering the basics.