My wife and I decided to practice heaving to in our Cal 28-2. We have a 150% roller furled Genny. On either the port or starboard tack the boat ends up drifting quietly at about 1 kt, however, she is lying at 90 degrees to the wind. We tried again with the jib rolled up to the first reef mark (about 130%) with the same result. I think the boat should end up somewhat closer to the wind (40 - 60 degrees) then it does. These ateempts were made in 10 - 15 kts apparent with about a 1 - 2 foot sea. I'm a little antsy about trying it in more wind and sea before we figure out why she's lying so far off the wind. I left the main sheeted in and tried easing it off quite a bit. No matter what I changed, 90 degrees seemed to be where she wants to lie. Anyone got any suggestions? -Smitty
Heave to
- Thread starter Smitty
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I'm going to stick my neck out here because I only know how this works on my own boat which has a 110 jib. It sounds like you still have too much jib out and you may be sheeting the main in too far. You have to experiment with the correct setting. The idea is to get the backwinded jib to counteract the rudder so they neutralize each other. Also, you have to experiment with trim on the mainsail so it balances the boat and provides a little headway. My main is trimmed in just so it does not flap. I singlehand a lot so I do this every time I return to the slip. This keeps me in practice and makes it easier to lower the main and pull in the jib alone. Try it, you'll like it.
I'll chime in as well.
I never could get my boat to heave to when practicing. It would always wander one way or another and fall off. However, recently I got caught in a super cell with 45+ winds and while being pounded by hail, put the nose about 15* off the wind on a Starboard tack with the jib backwinded and then sheeted the main up into the wind. The boat settled down and made about 2-3 knots to windward without anymore theatrics. I was amazed.
I never could get my boat to heave to when practicing. It would always wander one way or another and fall off. However, recently I got caught in a super cell with 45+ winds and while being pounded by hail, put the nose about 15* off the wind on a Starboard tack with the jib backwinded and then sheeted the main up into the wind. The boat settled down and made about 2-3 knots to windward without anymore theatrics. I was amazed.
I agree that you
still seem to have too much jib up when heaving to. When I use my furling 150 to heave-to on my H28.5, I've got to roll up the genny to about 80-90 per cent to (1) keep it off the shrouds (which will really wear it out fast) and (2) to not overpower the rudder. I also adjust mainsail trim to that the main is just on the verge of, or has a bit, luffing.
still seem to have too much jib up when heaving to. When I use my furling 150 to heave-to on my H28.5, I've got to roll up the genny to about 80-90 per cent to (1) keep it off the shrouds (which will really wear it out fast) and (2) to not overpower the rudder. I also adjust mainsail trim to that the main is just on the verge of, or has a bit, luffing.
ease the main
Hello, You need to ease the main so that it is just about luffing. When the boat falls off, the main becomes powered up and points the boat into the wind. When the boat comes up into the wind, the main becomes depowered, and the pressure on the genoa makes it fall off, and the process begins again. You should sit around 60 degrees off the wind and move to weather at 1 kt or so. Good luck, Barry
Hello, You need to ease the main so that it is just about luffing. When the boat falls off, the main becomes powered up and points the boat into the wind. When the boat comes up into the wind, the main becomes depowered, and the pressure on the genoa makes it fall off, and the process begins again. You should sit around 60 degrees off the wind and move to weather at 1 kt or so. Good luck, Barry
Great link Radioop
That is the first description of how to heave to that I actually understand. I'm going to try it tomorrow. Smitty, thanks for posting the question, I've been trying to find out how to accomplish this maneuver for a while. Manny
That is the first description of how to heave to that I actually understand. I'm going to try it tomorrow. Smitty, thanks for posting the question, I've been trying to find out how to accomplish this maneuver for a while. Manny
It might be worth pointing out
It might be worth pointing out that not all boats will heave to and some boats will sort of do it but make a course relative to the waves such that the maneuver might be unsafe under extreme conditions. If you just want to slow down and let a friend catch up or enjoy your lunch without needing to tend the helm fine but if you are considering this as practice for heavy weather sailing you might want to talk to other owners of your model boat and see if this is a viable tactic offshore in your boat. I think one problem with this is amount of beam the boat has and of course the underwater profile. A narrow deep full keel boat tends to do just fine and a modern wide fin keel boat seams to have trouble heaving to in rough seas. When the boat reaches the wave top you are hit by a gust of wind, the wave doesn’t block the wind now, and because of inertia you tend to continue going up even at the top of the wave so the boats apparent displacement drops and the stability disappears for a fraction of a second so the boat gets knocked down. A fin-keel boat with beam will spin because of this and start the trip down the wave in an awkward position. A full keel boat gets knocked down by the wind but keeps her course and starts the trip down the wave ready to meat the opposite problem in the trough. The same inertia now increases the stability and the wave blocks the wind a bit so the boat jumps upright if she has a lot of beam but still lies on her side if she is narrow. Now one boat presents the tune of the bilge to the crest of the oncoming wave and the other presents the deck and cabin side. I leave it to you to guess which surface is more suitable for the coming strike. If the wave shape is such that the wave might toss you to leeward instead of the crest striking you then you might want to lie-a- hull instead of heaving to. Now a fin keel will really be a problem and the full keel stands out as the better choice. But of course you have already made your decision about which boat to voyage in so knowing you have a problem at this point doesn’t help much. I guess you have to run whether or not you have sea room or a suitable boat for that tactic. All the best, Robert Gainer
It might be worth pointing out that not all boats will heave to and some boats will sort of do it but make a course relative to the waves such that the maneuver might be unsafe under extreme conditions. If you just want to slow down and let a friend catch up or enjoy your lunch without needing to tend the helm fine but if you are considering this as practice for heavy weather sailing you might want to talk to other owners of your model boat and see if this is a viable tactic offshore in your boat. I think one problem with this is amount of beam the boat has and of course the underwater profile. A narrow deep full keel boat tends to do just fine and a modern wide fin keel boat seams to have trouble heaving to in rough seas. When the boat reaches the wave top you are hit by a gust of wind, the wave doesn’t block the wind now, and because of inertia you tend to continue going up even at the top of the wave so the boats apparent displacement drops and the stability disappears for a fraction of a second so the boat gets knocked down. A fin-keel boat with beam will spin because of this and start the trip down the wave in an awkward position. A full keel boat gets knocked down by the wind but keeps her course and starts the trip down the wave ready to meat the opposite problem in the trough. The same inertia now increases the stability and the wave blocks the wind a bit so the boat jumps upright if she has a lot of beam but still lies on her side if she is narrow. Now one boat presents the tune of the bilge to the crest of the oncoming wave and the other presents the deck and cabin side. I leave it to you to guess which surface is more suitable for the coming strike. If the wave shape is such that the wave might toss you to leeward instead of the crest striking you then you might want to lie-a- hull instead of heaving to. Now a fin keel will really be a problem and the full keel stands out as the better choice. But of course you have already made your decision about which boat to voyage in so knowing you have a problem at this point doesn’t help much. I guess you have to run whether or not you have sea room or a suitable boat for that tactic. All the best, Robert Gainer
When I said she was moving at about 1 kt
I should have said that was SOG. The boat speed through the water is 0. According to the chartplotter the 1 knot 1s being driven by the wind and the vector is parallel to the true wind. Thank you all for the great responses, I'm going to try with the jib rolled up more (to about 90 - 100%) and if that doesn't help, I'll try easing the main more. Robert, thanks for the great explanation. I was aware of most of this and that's why I was starting in relatively light winds and easy seas. (5 - 15 kts apparent and 1 - 2 foot). I thought that if we could get that to play well we'd kinda sneak up on trying it in harsher conditions. One of the things that has surprised me is how few owners are aware of the technique or how useful it can be. Most of the "real sailors" I've spoken to go "what's that" when I mention heaving to. -Smitty
I should have said that was SOG. The boat speed through the water is 0. According to the chartplotter the 1 knot 1s being driven by the wind and the vector is parallel to the true wind. Thank you all for the great responses, I'm going to try with the jib rolled up more (to about 90 - 100%) and if that doesn't help, I'll try easing the main more. Robert, thanks for the great explanation. I was aware of most of this and that's why I was starting in relatively light winds and easy seas. (5 - 15 kts apparent and 1 - 2 foot). I thought that if we could get that to play well we'd kinda sneak up on trying it in harsher conditions. One of the things that has surprised me is how few owners are aware of the technique or how useful it can be. Most of the "real sailors" I've spoken to go "what's that" when I mention heaving to. -Smitty
Another consideration ...
As mentioned, not all boats heave to the same way, and one has to play around with things a bit on any given day depending on wind speed and wave action. One thing no one has mentioned is to observe the state of the water to windward. When you heave to, you'll leave a smooth water "slick", where the surface is smoother and calmer than the water around it. Doesn't matter a whole lot if you're just stopping to eat lunch, but if you're heaving to as a weather tactic, the slick needs to be such that it protects the boat from rougher wave action. The boat sits in a little calm area in the midst of heavier seas. On most boats, you can play around with rudder position and main position to move the way the boat sits, and thus the location of the slick. On my C27, she heaves to with jib backed, main sheeted in pretty tight, and tiller hard over and points up pretty high. I have to bring the tiller in a bit to get her to fall off a bit so the slick is properly positioned. Just re-read that and it sounds complicated. Find a good book and read someone more descriptive than me.
Tom Monroe 6219 Different Drummer
As mentioned, not all boats heave to the same way, and one has to play around with things a bit on any given day depending on wind speed and wave action. One thing no one has mentioned is to observe the state of the water to windward. When you heave to, you'll leave a smooth water "slick", where the surface is smoother and calmer than the water around it. Doesn't matter a whole lot if you're just stopping to eat lunch, but if you're heaving to as a weather tactic, the slick needs to be such that it protects the boat from rougher wave action. The boat sits in a little calm area in the midst of heavier seas. On most boats, you can play around with rudder position and main position to move the way the boat sits, and thus the location of the slick. On my C27, she heaves to with jib backed, main sheeted in pretty tight, and tiller hard over and points up pretty high. I have to bring the tiller in a bit to get her to fall off a bit so the slick is properly positioned. Just re-read that and it sounds complicated. Find a good book and read someone more descriptive than me.
Tom Monroe 6219 Different Drummer- Status