Sailor here - an 8 meters boat is in that awkward spot where it's big/heavy enough that it can do damage if incontrollably drifting against something (e.g. the

Sailor here - an 8 meters boat is in that awkward spot where it's big/heavy enough that it can do damage if incontrollably drifting against something (e.g. the wooden vessel itself) but light enough that you can literally just push it with the strength of two people if that happens. So I'd argue it's more safe to have some crew on it in case you need to be hands-on, and just talk over radio while being towed.