The vast majority of sailing yacht scenarios comprise a couple sailing the boat together, needing to carry out all maneuvers and activities themselves with no help from a back-up crew. Their boat handling, navigation, sail handling, anchoring, and mooring skills all have to be carried out both efficiently and effectively, preferably with a minimum of physical effort (to conserve energy).

But most sailing technique books assume a crew of three or four, all willing to lend a hand. This book is therefore a first, addressing the most common sailing scenarios that anyone cruising will have to deal with, and providing clever, original, highly effective (and most important, successfully tried and tested by the author) techniques and solutions for dealing with the huge variety of essential operations on a boat--from sail setting and reefing; to picking up mooring buoys in a variety of wind and tide situations; to anchoring, berthing, and leaving a pontoon shorthanded; to picking up a man overboard; to sailing in fog and heavy weather--and even going up the mast.

This book will be a godsend to anyone sailing solo or shorthanded--including couples with young children who need to be supervised by one parent whilst the other runs the boat.