Yeah! I have enjoyed his series quite a bit. Excited to get the boat back out!
Heave To Question
- Thread starter colb218
- Start date
By the way..
We have tested "Heave To", under full sail and at max hull speeds.
It took my 43' boat to stop in ≈100 feet.
Good way to "Put on the Brakes" to avoid collisions too.
Jim...
PS: It took a bit longer to manage the sails, on an Actual Coast Guard Inspection.
We have tested "Heave To", under full sail and at max hull speeds.
It took my 43' boat to stop in ≈100 feet.
Good way to "Put on the Brakes" to avoid collisions too.
Jim...
PS: It took a bit longer to manage the sails, on an Actual Coast Guard Inspection.
Jim, can you be more specific about how you enacted the heave to? With the typically large B&R mainsail and 100% or so jib I think the mechanics would be different than a masthead rig with, or course (Comma police), a large jib or Genoa and a smallish main.
On my boat, wind power ...
Headsail provides ≈55%
B&R Main ≈45% and I can never go "wing to wing" because the spreaders.
Primary braking power is the Head Sail.
Simply turn into the wind and let the Head Sail catch the wind [I never change the Sheets position]
and
then Main sail has no wind power.
This uses your boats beam as slide resistance. Like an Ice skater stops.
Rudder, like John showed above , thus the Rudder also slows the boat too.
______
Maximum resistance to forward motion.
Boat comes to a stop.
Jim...
PS: "Crazy Ivan" with no engine power.
We've always heaved to in our sloops. It was easy. But in a yawl, heaving to feels like cheating. You just reach back (after furling headsail and main), and sheet the mizzen main sheet - tight.
I obviously do not rely on heaving to as the single solution to MOB because there are conditions where it cannot be done (motoring for example or when the spinnaker is deployed). I do regularly go to hove-to from a deep reach with main and genoa for the two reasons listed above. The call of nature is not constrained by the point of sail after all. From a deep reach it takes slightly longer to heave to. I bump the wheel a couple of spokes to windward and lock it. While it is turning upwind, I hand haul the slack out of the working jib sheet until it is hauled in relatively tight as the bow crosses through the eye of the wind. Then I turn the wheel hard the other way and we stop. Then I haul in the main sheet and we are done. No general confusion. No flogging of the headsail. No loss of control. No cushion disappearing to windward because it would be either even with me or to leeward.
Many years ago, my brother-in-law was at a company picknick at Farragut State Park on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho. He and some of his co-workers who were sailors were standing on the bluff overlooking the lake. It was a very fine Saturday with bright 75º sunshine and a very nice 15+ knots of wind.
Of course, they are watching all of the sailboat while they talked. One of them said "Look at that clown out there that can't get the boat to move even on a great day like this!" which caused all to look at the one stationary boat with the yellow and white genoa amongst all of the other boats zipping around happily. After a good amount of snarking and derision bantered about by his coworkers about the clown who cannot sail in a breeze, my brother-in-law said "He is probably hove-to eating lunch. This was followed up with more mirth (or "He's doing what?!?!) from his coworkers but they were still sure that the skipper just did not know how to move the boat under sail.
At this overlook, there are fixed mount binoculars set up to look at the mountain goats that are frequently seen on the cliffs on the opposite side of the lake, so my BIL says "Why don't we have a look". The scope revealed 5 people sitting around the cockpit table with plates of food and drinks on the table with the boat hardly moving in spite of the decent amount of chop due to the fifteen miles of fetch at that location. Dumfounded they wanted to know how he knew what they were doing to which he replied, "I recognize my brother-in-laws genoa and that is how they always eat lunch."
Of course, they are watching all of the sailboat while they talked. One of them said "Look at that clown out there that can't get the boat to move even on a great day like this!" which caused all to look at the one stationary boat with the yellow and white genoa amongst all of the other boats zipping around happily. After a good amount of snarking and derision bantered about by his coworkers about the clown who cannot sail in a breeze, my brother-in-law said "He is probably hove-to eating lunch. This was followed up with more mirth (or "He's doing what?!?!) from his coworkers but they were still sure that the skipper just did not know how to move the boat under sail.
At this overlook, there are fixed mount binoculars set up to look at the mountain goats that are frequently seen on the cliffs on the opposite side of the lake, so my BIL says "Why don't we have a look". The scope revealed 5 people sitting around the cockpit table with plates of food and drinks on the table with the boat hardly moving in spite of the decent amount of chop due to the fifteen miles of fetch at that location. Dumfounded they wanted to know how he knew what they were doing to which he replied, "I recognize my brother-in-laws genoa and that is how they always eat lunch."
Sounds like a maneuver well executed by an experienced sailor. The big question is whether a SO can perform the same or more importantly make the decision as to which maneuver to undertake.
@Sailfanatic how many times have you hove-to your boat. This is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely would like to know a number. It is true that when I execute a hove-to maneuver it is always well executed and that is due to the experience gained in performing the maneuver in the high hundreds of times given that it is a rare day on the water when I do not do at least one.
My favorite way to deal with intra-race maneuvering is to position my boat about 7-10 boat length below the line midway between the committee and the pin so that I am near the line without being in the way and hove-to on starboard tack. We park there eating snacks and hydrating until about the 2-minute mark I gybe out to the right side and tack back onto starboard when I hit my desired turning point for the line.
Hove-to is a very simple maneuver to do and very hard to screw up. I have taught my wife and daughter to do it and usually demonstrate it to guests when we stop for lunch. There are only two mandatory steps, and the rest are just for style points.
1. Turn upwind until the boat passes through head-to-wind to the opposite tack.
2. Once the boat turns onto the opposite tack, turn the wheel in the opposite direction like you are trying to go back the other way (fyi, you will not make it)
There is a huge latitude in how tight the main and jib sheet are, and they have only a minor effect on the speed of drift and angle to the wind, but the boat is for all intends and purposes stopped where it is.
FWIW, I have taught several hove-to classes for my sailing club with both classroom and on-the-water instruction. The most common comment at the end of the class is "I can't believe that is all there is to it and to think that I thought it was hard!" As a said in an earlier post, in my experience, there are only two conditions when you cannot hove-to. 1. When you have no headsail up. 2. When you have a flying sail up.
I have hove to exactly 0 times. I went out one day on my Ranger 29 and attempted to heave to. My technique was to bring the boat into the wind as I would to tack but did not release the jib sheet. The result was that the wind on the backed jib would spin the boat all the way around until the boat was headed downwind. I could not find a balance point for the rudder and mainsheet that would result in a slow fore reaching position. My conclusion was that heaving to is a maneuver for long keel boats. I'm sure I was doing something wrong but nevertheless I couldn't find it.
Can you heave to centerboard boats?
Can you heave to centerboard boats?
FWIW as an ASA instructor I heave-to usually some six or so times a day, most every day. Heaving to is a simple procedure, which students are taught to initiate from close-hauled. My comments aren't regarding heaving too, but regarding committing to a MOB requiring heaving to from a run. I doubt many SOs could successfully execute that procedure, or to a certain degree, most any sailor who hasn't practiced doing so. If your SO has been trained to do so, and can do so smoothly, well then it sounds like you have the MOB subject addressed for your boat.
Last edited:
Yes, but as stated upthread, each boat's a bit different. You didn't mention in your description allowing the main to luff by releasing the main sheet, or if you tried reefing the foresail down.
My old MacGregor 25 would heave to beautifully with a full genoa backwinded and mainsheet loose, tiller tied off.
The few times I’ve been boarded for USCG inspection we’ve kept our way on. The coasties come along side; one or two come aboard while the other(s) pace a few boat lengths off the lee stern or dead astern. Never heaved to. But then I wasn’t single-handing.
Heaving-to the Bavaria is not as straightforward as it is for other boats I’ve sailed. Masthead rigs of the older Cal and Catalina yachts, particularly the small ones, heave-to easily and are stable. It seems to work best with a No. 3 (i.e., working jib) up. Those yachts have wider (longer) keels; i.e., not as narrow as the Bavaria’s. On the Bavaria (fractional rig) I must furl the headsail to working jib dimension then lead (fairlead) the sheet inside the shrouds to the sheet winch to adjust the flatness of the back-winded headsail. I do this using a type of barber hauler configuration. After I fiddle a bit with the headsail area and sheet tension, helm down, she will eventually lay to properly for a while at least. It’s not stable though; at least so far. Eventually, if not tended to, the boat will find its way mostly stern to the seas.
Last edited:
We were under sail when the USCG hailed us "Captain heave-to". I complied quickly.
I had 3 others in the cockpit.
One USCG [side arm, radio, life vest, and non skid boots] stepped aboard with my main sail flapping in the breeze.
He asked "Who is the Captain?"
All 3 in the Cockpit quickly pointed at me and he "HE IS"!!
He did go below quickly checked Holding tanks levels, Fire extinguishers, asked about life vests, Marine Radio, etc.
He then thanked the Captain, left saying all was good and have a nice sail.
So now you all know I am not the Skipper, but the Captain of my boat!
Captain Jim...
Hi Shemandr
RE: The result was that the wind on the backed jib would spin the boat all the way around until the boat was headed downwind.
You didn't mention what foresail that you had up, but I suspect that it was just too large for the wind conditions. There is a point where the force applied to a backwinded sail will overpower the rudder.
RE: Can you heave to centerboard boats?
Yes you can. In Australia I have a 22 foot trailersailer. Very flat underbody and a centerboard. It only has a smaller jib foresail and will heave to quite smartly.
I suggest a few more attempts before giving up.
gary
RE: The result was that the wind on the backed jib would spin the boat all the way around until the boat was headed downwind.
You didn't mention what foresail that you had up, but I suspect that it was just too large for the wind conditions. There is a point where the force applied to a backwinded sail will overpower the rudder.
RE: Can you heave to centerboard boats?
Yes you can. In Australia I have a 22 foot trailersailer. Very flat underbody and a centerboard. It only has a smaller jib foresail and will heave to quite smartly.
I suggest a few more attempts before giving up.
gary
I think it takes practice on your boat, and in different wind conditions and different sails.
My O’Day 322 has a very small keel footprint ( not an elongated fin), so she doesn’t track straight very easily. But with some practice, I have gotten her “parked” so I could,eat, use the head, etc. while single-handed.
I think each boat is going to be a little different...but the concept is the same for all boats…backwind the jib and ease the main sail, rudder locked at an angle that keeps the boat stalled out.
Greg
My O’Day 322 has a very small keel footprint ( not an elongated fin), so she doesn’t track straight very easily. But with some practice, I have gotten her “parked” so I could,eat, use the head, etc. while single-handed.
I think each boat is going to be a little different...but the concept is the same for all boats…backwind the jib and ease the main sail, rudder locked at an angle that keeps the boat stalled out.
Greg