The Triton, without a doubt, is an easier boat to single-hand. Although they are both are pre-disposed to a bit of weather helm, the J/30 has significantly more power and things happen a lot faster. Also, the large, transom-hung rudder on the J/30 make it very sensitive to small movements. That's normally a good thing if someone is just helming, but it's hard to leave the tiller alone. I had a very hard time trimming the genoa to close-hauled without rounding up.Case, in another thread, wrote:Hey - Which is easier to singlehand, Mojito or Rambunctious?
I didn't even try to hoist a spinnaker as I could not tie the tiller off effectively. Does anyone have any ideas for that that would not involve permanent hardware installation?
I'm reconsidering the race - it would be a lot of work and I don't know if I have the right boat for competitive single handing. Another issue is dealing with breakage by yourself. At the end of the day Saturday, I did one of the last jibes of the day, sailing with just the main (at 7 knots, the boat is like a big dinghy with just the mainsail). On that jibe, the shackle that holds the mainsheet block to the traveler car broke. I was able to grab the mainsheet and hold on to it while I turned the boat head to wind. Fortunately, I did not break the gooseneck. I tied the mainsheet to the two jib cleats and pulled the mainsail off.
When I went to start the motor, the water idiot light and buzzer went off; there was no water pumping through the motor. Without a sail or a motor, I threw the anchor out. Then I took the motor cover off and started pulling parts off the cooling system, starting with the impeller, which had less than 2 hours running time on it. The impeller was fine, there were no leaks and I couldn't find the source of the problem. I suspected the thermostat, but I couldn't get the thermostat housing off with my limited tools; I needed a 9mm socket. I was starting the round off the aluminum bolt heads with a crescent wrench.
I put everything back together and started the motor. To my relief (it had built a bit and was getting choppy and I get seasick down below in any kind of chop) the motor seemed to be working. I pulled up the anchor and headed straight to the marina, which was only a couple miles away. As I was heading up the bayou, the alarm sounded again, so I shut the motor off and coasted. When I got closer to the slip, I restarted the motor with no problems and put the boat away without difficulty.
I'm glad I wasn't a couple dozen miles away from a marina and alone with the same problems during a race though.
By the way, the bad luck continued this evening. When I was replacing the thermostat, I sheared one the two bolts that hold the thermostat housing in place.
Then, I got a sign my luck might be turning when I was able to get the sheared bolt out of the manifold (it was nearly flush) with just pliers and foul language.
So, maybe I should do the race...What do you think (my wife thinks I'm out of my mind)?