John is 100% correct
We used to teach this in a sailing school where I worked, AFTER we had taught the students all the other methods, figure eight, quick-stop, quick return, etc. etc. All the students were amazed at how easy it was. You can play the mainsheet to adjust your downwind drift and should never be more than a couple of boat-lengths away from the victim. If you do it right, you can bring the victim right to your stern and pick them up. A side benefit is that the jib sheets are not flogging all over, as they do in any of the other methods, unless you furl the jib. It is very easy to get hurt if you need to go out of the cockpit and the jib is flogging. If your boat doesn't like to heave-to, practice with the jib sheeted in really hard, until you find the way to make the boat stop and go side-ways. I have only run into one boat, a very flat bottomed Beneteau, that just WOULDN'T slow down enough.
We used to teach this in a sailing school where I worked, AFTER we had taught the students all the other methods, figure eight, quick-stop, quick return, etc. etc. All the students were amazed at how easy it was. You can play the mainsheet to adjust your downwind drift and should never be more than a couple of boat-lengths away from the victim. If you do it right, you can bring the victim right to your stern and pick them up. A side benefit is that the jib sheets are not flogging all over, as they do in any of the other methods, unless you furl the jib. It is very easy to get hurt if you need to go out of the cockpit and the jib is flogging. If your boat doesn't like to heave-to, practice with the jib sheeted in really hard, until you find the way to make the boat stop and go side-ways. I have only run into one boat, a very flat bottomed Beneteau, that just WOULDN'T slow down enough.