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Old 28-09-2016, 09:46   #1
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Heaving to in cat?

Is this possible to do, and how would one do this?

I used to do this in my monohull when sailing alone and I had to go below to check on something down below for 10 minutes or so.

Just backwind jib, ease main just a bit, and lock the wheel.

Same procedure on a cat?

BTW, not trying to start a topic on should i do this, why i want to do this, etc., just how to do and can it be done on a cat?
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Old 28-09-2016, 09:51   #2
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

same procedure on a cat
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Old 28-09-2016, 09:59   #3
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Same procedure, like monohulls, some hold it better thanothers . Balance on each boat will be different.

Not comfortable however.
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Old 28-09-2016, 10:25   #4
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

If the water isn't too skinny, you certainly could go hove to if you're using a sea anchor in a bridle setup to adjust pointing. Otherwise, cats don't point as well as monohulls. So, I would expect your success will be inversely proportional to wind speed. When you need it most, a conventional approach might not work well. You should practice the procedure when you're out, especially in higher winds.
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Old 28-09-2016, 11:27   #5
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

A better answer is no.

  • It is a non-functional heavy weather method. Possibly quite dangerous.
  • It is rough as hell. Cats hate beam seas, and they heave to more beam-on than monos.
  • Shallow keels makes the heading less stable.
  • Drift is faster.
Basically you can do it, but you never will because it sucks. Better to fore-reach (tiny jib in very tight, main way out) or to drift down wind under bare poles; cats do both of these well, perhaps better than monos, all things being equal.
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Old 28-09-2016, 11:45   #6
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

I am not talking about heavy weather situations. I am out for a daysail and need to go below. I don't want to be moving at 7kts with no one on the helm.

In my mono, I would just heave to, kind of like just drifting in place, fix whatever wasn't working, and then I could be back on the helm.

In the open ocean, I can leave the AP on and not worry about 15 minutes below. Not so in the bay on a Sat aft.
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Old 28-09-2016, 12:22   #7
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Jbinbi. We have put our L450 into a heave to position three times over the last two years, 2x because of weather and another waiting for daylight to enter a new port. Im sure each cat is different and you'll need to experiment as we did to get the right configuration. We can get our boat to settle 30-40 degrees off the wind and would agree, though I have no experience at this, that its not as comfy a mono, but it's necessary at times and you need to know this procedure.

This is what works for us and was forwarded to me from Dave from NZ.

- treble reefed main (actually when not in hove to for weather, you want even less sail than the 3rd reef provides; (NO GENOA),
- traveller fully to leeward and mainsheet firmly in,
- when yacht settlers, then helm 80% to full windward.

We have tried it with the genoa only but just couldn't get it to settle down. It may be different for your cat. You just need to go out in mild conditions and play with it until you get right.
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Old 28-09-2016, 12:54   #8
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbinbi View Post
I am not talking about heavy weather situations. I am out for a daysail and need to go below. I don't want to be moving at 7kts with no one on the helm.

In my mono, I would just heave to, kind of like just drifting in place, fix whatever wasn't working, and then I could be back on the helm.

In the open ocean, I can leave the AP on and not worry about 15 minutes below. Not so in the bay on a Sat aft.
OK

Some will heave to, some will not. For my boat in that circumstance, it is safer to tack in an empty direction, oversheet the jib, and let the main all the way out. The slot will pinch so badly it is a lot like heaving to, very slow and more reliable.

Also, with an overlapping headsail, heaving to does horrible things to the cloth. May not apply, but it is a good reason NOT to heave to in fair weather. Great way to stretch a sail.
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Old 28-09-2016, 14:04   #9
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Many modern cats will do it easy, furl jib, and tack really slowly, the boat will pretty much go into irons as the COE moves aft.
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Old 28-09-2016, 14:28   #10
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

We heave to on our Lagoon 380 whenever we hook up a fish while trolling. Just turn her through the wind & lock the wheel.

She sits nice & comfortable while we play & land the fish. Never done it to sit out bad weather though.


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Old 28-09-2016, 14:54   #11
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gspeak View Post
We heave to on our Lagoon 380 whenever we hook up a fish while trolling. Just turn her through the wind & lock the wheel.

She sits nice & comfortable while we play & land the fish. Never done it to sit out bad weather though.
Excellent!

Can you pm me with how you troll, what you use for a rig/line/wt. I don't want to take this thread OT unless you want to, but was interested in how to fish off my boat in salt water, I have only done lake fishing while not moving. So curious how to troll on a sailboat, what speed, do you sail, motor, motor sail,and what you use. thanks.
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Old 28-09-2016, 15:11   #12
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Hi

I'm a novice, so don't take any of this as advice. I may be remembering this incorrectly.

When I was with the previous owner of my boat we needed to heave to. We tacked 90* and left the jib on the wrong side about 1/3 furled and the main on 1/3rd reef with the traveller right out. The boat settled to 1-2 kn and swung slightly into wind and back but mostly on course about 40* into wind without the rudder turned. I'm not 100% sure about the rudder so this is a bit of a question more than a comment.

It was quite smooth.
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Old 28-09-2016, 15:27   #13
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Heave to, just the same as with my mono. Back-wind the partially furled Genoa and lock the wheel on opposite lock. No main!
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Old 29-09-2016, 01:41   #14
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

I guess the OP wants to heave to for a few minutes time out from sailing normally, so dropping the main or jib would be too much hassle.
Have done this a few times on various cats in the classic method, tack and leave the genoa aback and helm up. Adjusting the helm to get the right attitude worked for me. If the genoa bears too much on spreaders etc, wind in bit. To resume, helm down and tack the genoa.
If you do this on starboard tack i.e. Main to port then you have right of way in most situations although you are of course not keeping a proper watch
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Old 29-09-2016, 08:58   #15
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Re: Heaving to in cat?

Quote:
Originally Posted by thinwater View Post
A better answer is no.

  • It is a non-functional heavy weather method. Possibly quite dangerous.
  • It is rough as hell. Cats hate beam seas, and they heave to more beam-on than monos.
  • Shallow keels makes the heading less stable.
  • Drift is faster.
Basically you can do it, but you never will because it sucks. Better to fore-reach (tiny jib in very tight, main way out) or to drift down wind under bare poles; cats do both of these well, perhaps better than monos, all things being equal.
You sound experienced. What about with sea anchor to adjust angle to wind?
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