How easy

[GarryR]

How easy would a vintage Nat 12 be to sail with helm only in light winds?  I occasionally suffer a loss of crew in the summer in my Merlin but would like to sail on light days and feel the Merlin is a bit big so is the Nat 12 a possibility?

[Jimbo41]

[tom lee]

I used to sail my mark4a regularly single handed in light winds.
the vintage boats are a lot easier to sail single handed than  more modern ones.

[Tim Gatti]

Hi Garry - shouldn't be a problem as long as you've a longish tiller extension to get you forward - and the tip on good cleats and continuous jib sheets is a must. Tie the ends together with a fisherman's knot and they'll be easy to release if you need to.

If you do tip over, remember you won't have a crew to help get her back up again or bale her out -  in light airs you won't be able to reach off and get the water out through the transom flaps (if you have any).

My advice would therefore be to have a big bucket available which will help you do the work for two.

I used to sail my old Zenith (14' 6" spinnaker/trapeze boat) single-handed in the light stuff from the trapeze - before the days of Musto Skiffs and RS700's and regularly raced my Mirror s/h with spinnaker in Force 4 - 5.

It certainly speeds up your responses and hones your boat-handling skills - but a word of warning - it's sometimes difficult to adjust to having a crew back in the boat again.  Good luck.  Tim.