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.