Heaving-to myths.

[Calif.Ted]

It's preferable to heave to on a starboard tack so you are stand on vessel in most instances. You are only going to do so where you have enough sea room to slowly drift to leeward anyway. Back winded jib against main with helm hard to windward all forward motion stopped. Boat slowly swings a little while drifting into your own "slick" to leeward. Main is adjusted with traveler to balance, anything else is forereaching.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by wholybee

I might (probably) am wrong, but I thought the backwinded jib not only balanced the boat, but provided drag. Such that the boat would come close to holding still over the water, instead of sailing forward. As such, if you hove to with the main only, you would be making way, and not be hove to.

Depends on the boat.

• Main way out--not much drive
• Rudder over provides drag
• Windage provides drag

[Flagman101]

On a sloop, jib push boat to lee, main to windward. Ruddermakes the boat luff up if any movemwnt forward.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by Journeyman

All the advice on heaving-to tends to read:

"All you have to do is tack the boat without releasing the jib sheet and voila with a few adjustments to the mainsail and rudder you are hove to for heavy weather".

That is patently NOT true.

Actually in my experience that is patently EXACTLY true. The supposition you make is that you have a whole lot of sail out there but if the conditions are bad enough to require heaving to, the headsail should be mostly furled away, greatly reducing tension on the now-windward sheet.

And yes, I have actually done it, more than once, never broken anything.

[Flagman101]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Actually in my experience that is patently EXACTLY true. The supposition you make is that you have a whole lot of sail out there but if the conditions are bad enough to require heaving to, the headsail should be mostly furled away, greatly reducing tension on the now-windward sheet.

And yes, I have actually done it, more than once, never broken anything.

[hpeer]

Probably best to try it first without ANY headsail. Then pull out only as much as needed.

We hove to overnight this summer on a passage. Just needed to mark time overnight while a squall line passed ahead of us. It gave us a chance to sleep.

[Halam]

Originally Posted by JeffDPT

I heave-to often...

Likewise, let people use the head in peace if it's lumpy. Usually on starboard tack, with whatever sail I have set at the time.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Probably best to try it first without ANY headsail. Then pull out only as much as needed.

Excuse my ignorance but is that even possible? With no headsail out at all, the main either has to go head-to-wind (or at least luffed) or it will continue to draw, negating the process of heaving to.

The backed headsail tries to go off the wind, the rudder (via forward movement) tries to prevent this and when they’re in synch, you are hove-to. No headsail, no hove-to. Or have I got that wrong? Personally I have never tried to heave to on just a mainsail, I’m ready to be educated.

With no headsail and no main, you’re not hove-to, you’re lying a-hull.

[JPA Cate]

@journeyman:

As others have said, heaving to will depend to some extent on your hull and keel shapes. Before we left the States, we practiced heaving to. On our 36 footer, to get the boat to really stop, we put a snatch block on the toe rail on each side about 1/2 way between the cap shroud and the forward mooring cleat. It had to be so far forward in order to really get the storm jib backed. It was paired with double reefed or triple reefed main. We once spent 3 days hove to (due to illness and inability to keep watch). The sheet never bore on the cap shroud at all. Yes, you do have to go forward to lead the sheet. In fact, you should be going all around your boat from time to time on passage, inspecting as you go; plus you need to be able to cope with that and have experience, so your body learns how to move.

We have hove to on that boat with staysail, and its sheet did bear on the bottom of the cap shroud, but it did not chafe: the whole set up was very stable. Plus if you're doing this because conditions are unfit for you to make progress towards your destination, the boat's motion is mainly just up and down, heeled over, and by comparison to what it had been, quite stable.

Susan and Eric Hiscock used to heave to for dinner, every night, on downwind tradewind passages, which I thought was rather quaint, because we never hove to to cook or eat. But both boats hove to to take unpleasant motion off.

Next time you give it a go, use about the same sail area out on your roller that would be a storm jib's area, and see how it goes. And also, put in a couple of reefs first, and then see how the boat does. The goal is to stop the boat, and you will soon learn whether she will truly stop, and lie in her slick. If she will, the slick deters the breaking waves.

Ann

[thinwater]

Every boat I've owned has been different.

1. Heaving to with a large genoa can stretch the luff, as can backing the genoa too much when tacking. It just depends on the location of the spreaders, which varies from boat to boat. In heavy weather, of course, you will have a small jib.
2. Yes, there is loading against the shrouds on most boats (not multis as a rule; they sheet inside the cap shrouds, but the mast diamond wires can be a wear point. However, you should be reefed down to where the pressure is light. Why would you want any more sail up than that required to maintain attitude? Chafe gear on the sheet would be smart too.
3. Multis don't heave to for weather. Picking up an MOB is about the only good reason. If all you want to do is slow down, just let the main WAY out (full battens--it won't flog) and point high. The slot becomes so plugged the boat practically stops. Heaving to places the boat beam-on to wind an waves , which is the LAST place a multi wants to be, for safety, and just comfort. Either forereach, run off, or run off with a drogue. But don't heave to.

As Jim says, practice. That is how you learn what works and the best way to do it.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Probably best to try it first without ANY headsail. Then pull out only as much as needed.

Excuse my ignorance but is that even possible? With no headsail out at all, the main either has to go head-to-wind (or at least luffed) or it will continue to draw, negating the process of heaving to.

The backed headsail tries to go off the wind, the rudder (via forward movement) tries to prevent this and when they’re in synch, you are hove-to. No headsail, no hove-to. Or have I got that wrong? Personally I have never tried to heave to on just a mainsail, I’m ready to be educated.

With no headsail and no main, you’re not hove-to, you’re lying a-hull.

[hpeer]

You asked for advice. Try it.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by StuM

Against an upper shroud? i.e. above the spreaders?

Maybe he meant the windward shroud, i.e. the high side of the boat...?

LittleWing77

[Jim Cate]

Our current boat is quite different from the one Ann describes above. She has a very shallow forefoot and considerable windage forward with two furled jibs and a fair amount of freeboard. I've not found her to really heave to in the traditional sense (drifting sideways downwind, staying in her own slick) but she will forereach very slowly at around 45-60 degrees AWA. To achieve this, our best technique is to furl both genoa and the Solent jib, put three reefs in the main* and travel it well up to windward. Some experimentation with rudder angle and angle of the boom will result in a fairly stable state, making a knot or so forward with considerable leeway. You don't get the benefit of the slick, but the motion is minimized and not much ground is covered... and it isn't all to leeward as is t he case with being hove to. Sometimes that is useful!

* Our third reef is very deep, in lieu of a trisail.

Jim

[Eder]

Just a reefed main with the rudder over puts my IP460 to sleep quick. Harder it blows the smaller I make the main. No way I'm abusing my head sail 1000 miles from no where.