Heaving To (How does it work ?)

[B27]

Again, this depends on the boat. My PDQ would do that, my F-24 will snap into irons and stay there. Almost as good as heaving too, as long as you lock the tiller. The F-24 with main only is really stable in irons. To get it out, if backing does not work (and often it does not), lift the CB. Then it falls right out. To sail with main-only, lift the CB half.

Some boats can be remarkably stable 'in irons'.
Some can be unpredictable, more so if the sea isn't flat.

The worst I've experienced is borrowing an RS600 dinghy, a fast light singlehander with trapeze.
It's party piece was to get into irons, accelerate backwards then capsize bow over stern.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

can also be handy to pick up a fore & aft or swinging mooring, heave to upwind & do a little forward / reverse blast of the engine now & then to slowly drift onto the mooring.

And a very easy and fast way to get back to a MOB if sailing upwind. Tack, heave to, engine on and usually reverse back and drift down.

It works very well, I recommend folks to try it.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Some boats can be remarkably stable 'in irons'.
Some can be unpredictable, more so if the sea isn't flat.

The worst I've experienced is borrowing an RS600 dinghy, a fast light singlehander with trapeze.
It's party piece was to get into irons, accelerate backwards then capsize bow over stern.

That is an awesome party piece. More fun even than the dart 18, which, in anything over 15kn of wind, requires particular care when bearing off at the windward mark, or risk putting the bow so deep in the water you’d stop dead, and skipper and crew would fly gracefully forward, landing in the water, whereupon, if the boat didn’t capsise, they didn’t always, you would be run over by your own boat.

 

[westernman]

That is an awesome party piece. More fun even than the dart 18, which, in anything over 15kn of wind, requires particular care when bearing off at the windward mark, or risk putting the bow so deep in the water you’d stop dead, and skipper and crew would fly gracefully forward, landing in the water, whereupon, if the boat didn’t capsise, they didn’t always, you would be run over by your own boat.

I understand exactly what you mean.
I had a Hobie FX One, and that would pitch pole ass over tit if you gave it half a chance.

I did many pitchpoles, but never had the ignomy of being run over by my own boat.

 

[B27]

That is an awesome party piece. More fun even than the dart 18, which, in anything over 15kn of wind, requires particular care when bearing off at the windward mark, or risk putting the bow so deep in the water you’d stop dead, and skipper and crew would fly gracefully forward, landing in the water, whereupon, if the boat didn’t capsise, they didn’t always, you would be run over by your own boat.

Dinghy racing, I sometimes get to the gybe mark, look behind me and think ' I better not capsize, or I'll be run over by my 'friends'.'

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Dinghy racing, I sometimes get to the gybe mark, look behind me and think ' I better not capsize, or I'll be run over by my 'friends'.'

Switch to XODs. They’re so slow you can probably out-swim them if you fall out.

 

[[70521]]

The headsail.

On re-reading this is wrong. It is the mainsail, I knew that!

Look at the boom.

 

[Daydream believer]

Dinghy racing, I sometimes get to the gybe mark, look behind me and think ' I better not capsize, or I'll be run over by my 'friends'.'

Get lapped a lot, do you?

 

[Daydream believer]

And a very easy and fast way to get back to a MOB if sailing upwind. Tack, heave to, engine on and usually reverse back and drift down.

It works very well, I recommend folks to try it.

Really?
Only if you volunteer to be the MOB

 

[Rhylsailer99]

Its great for fishing as the boat will sit nicely without rocking and just drift slowly, also a life saver if rolling at anchor makes you sick.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Really?
Only if you volunteer to be the MOB

I would use my horseshoe lifebuoy to demonstrate the manoeuvre. I have gone in the water at anchor or on a mooring to allow crew to recover me back on board. I am fairly confident what works and doesn't work on my boat to get back to people and recover them from the water.

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[ProDave]

I finally got to try heave too on our new boat, with mixed results.

It's a Hunter Horizon 23 with self tacking jib. Having rigged a line to stop the jib traveller we tried heaving too.

The jib will back, but we could not find a stable position, Tiller free or hard over either way and the boat would just continue turning and end up sailing off the wind.

We had some limited success if you kept steering the tiller, you could keep it hove to for a short time, long enough to drop the mainsail, or put a reef in for example, but it was very unstable and required attention to stop it turning one way or the other.

I guess with the small self tacking job it is never going to heave to like a normal larger jib.

 

[westernman]

I finally got to try heave too on our new boat, with mixed results.

It's a Hunter Horizon 23 with self tacking jib. Having rigged a line to stop the jib traveller we tried heaving too.

The jib will back, but we could not find a stable position, Tiller free or hard over either way and the boat would just continue turning and end up sailing off the wind.

We had some limited success if you kept steering the tiller, you could keep it hove to for a short time, long enough to drop the mainsail, or put a reef in for example, but it was very unstable and required attention to stop it turning one way or the other.

I guess with the small self tacking job it is never going to heave to like a normal larger jib.

Try experimenting with how far you sheet the main in. You might want to tie the tiller midships.

As the boat tries to head into the wind, the main should depower and the jib should push you back off the wind. Then the main should power up a bit and push you up into the wind again.

My boat heaves to very well - it will be stable at about with the wind almost beam on. But then I have a lot of sail well forward of the mast.

With your boat I would expect the stable position to be closer to 40 degrees to the true wind.

But you will eventually find out something which works.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Our old boat, a westerly 32 simply would not hove to with genoa backed. Too big maybe? It simply tacked or eventually ran down wind

We just furled genoa and hove too under mizzen or main but even that was unstable.

Present boat hove too ok under main which is great for quieter lunch in big seas, but I dont see how it would help me reef as the moment I take tension of main sheet she rolls like a pig - lies a-hull not hoved

 

[B27]

I finally got to try heave too on our new boat, with mixed results.

It's a Hunter Horizon 23 with self tacking jib. Having rigged a line to stop the jib traveller we tried heaving too.

The jib will back, but we could not find a stable position, Tiller free or hard over either way and the boat would just continue turning and end up sailing off the wind.

We had some limited success if you kept steering the tiller, you could keep it hove to for a short time, long enough to drop the mainsail, or put a reef in for example, but it was very unstable and required attention to stop it turning one way or the other.

I guess with the small self tacking job it is never going to heave to like a normal larger jib.

The main needs to be sheeted in. At least part way. The sail is filled not flapping.
With main and no jib, the boat should head up.
Even a small, partly furled jib should make the boat bear away.
The boat finds a stable position where the two balance.
If a wave knocks the boat one way, the sails will return the boat to that balanced direction.
That is the point of it, one stalled sail balancing the other. While the boat goes slow,

The fact that the sails are not flapping is attractive when you have expensive racing sails!

You may want a bit of kicker, and the main set fairly flat.

Any evolution involving only one sail is not, in my book 'heaving to'.
If 'resting' with one sail partly drawing works for you as a means of having the boat in a slow stable mode, there's probably another name for it.
In my single hander with only one sail, there's a kind of 'nearly in irons' position where the sail only flaps a bit and the boat goes nowhere much, but it isn't the same thing at all!
In certain boats with fully battened mains, I think you can perhaps be hove to on the main only, with the leach set and the luff backed and the battens in a stable S shape?

With our dinghy we can 'heave to' and rest or eat lunch while the boat goes slow and is stable.
We can adjust its direction of 'drift' using rudder and/or mainsheet.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

The main needs to be sheeted in. At least part way. The sail is filled not flapping.
With main and no jib, the boat should head up.
Even a small, partly furled jib should make the boat bear away.
The boat finds a stable position where the two balance.
If a wave knocks the boat one way, the sails will return the boat to that balanced direction.
That is the point of it, one stalled sail balancing the other. While the boat goes slow,

The fact that the sails are not flapping is attractive when you have expensive racing sails!

You may want a bit of kicker, and the main set fairly flat.

Any evolution involving only one sail is not, in my book 'heaving to'.
If 'resting' with one sail partly drawing works for you as a means of having the boat in a slow stable mode, there's probably another name for it.
In my single hander with only one sail, there's a kind of 'nearly in irons' position where the sail only flaps a bit and the boat goes nowhere much, but it isn't the same thing at all!
In certain boats with fully battened mains, I think you can perhaps be hove to on the main only, with the leach set and the luff backed and the battens in a stable S shape?

With our dinghy we can 'heave to' and rest or eat lunch while the boat goes slow and is stable.
We can adjust its direction of 'drift' using rudder and/or

Deleted

 

[B27]

I would agree with the exception that some boats can heave to on headsail alone as when the boat falls off it starts to make way due to the keel and then rudder will cause it the head up. This way the main can remain completely de powered .
I’ve done this when stitching up a rip in the main.

I agree that works in some boats but I think it is distinct from 'Heaving To'.
I vaguely recall it has a name of its own? I'll remember it in a day or two I expect!
I'm not trying to be uselessly pedantic, if I suggested someone 'heave to' I think it's important the term is clear.

You can sometimes get a Laser to do something very similar (usually unwanted!), but unlike heaving to, being knocked by a wave will either power you up or put you fully into irons and backwards you go!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I agree that works in some boats but I think it is distinct from 'Heaving To'.
I vaguely recall it has a name of its own? I'll remember it in a day or two I expect!
I'm not trying to be uselessly pedantic, if I suggested someone 'heave to' I think it's important the term is clear.

You can sometimes get a Laser to do something very similar (usually unwanted!), but unlike heaving to, being knocked by a wave will either power you up or put you fully into irons and backwards you go!

I agreed with you and changed my mind and deleted before your reply it’s probably got a name but it’s not strictly heaving to.

 

[thinwater]

... I'm not trying to be uselessly pedantic, if I suggested someone 'heave to' I think it's important the term is clear....

That is always a worthwhile goal.

The US Navy current dictionary says: Heave to: to bring the vessel's head or stern to the wind or sea and hold her there by the use of the engines and rudder. In fact, I have done this storms. It can be a very effective method with an outboard; bare poles, turn the outboard to one side, and keep it just above idle. The wind blows the bow off and the engine pushes it up. It works when there is enough speed for the rudder to be effective, and it works on small boats that can't keep sail up in a thunderstorm.

Historically, covering many boats of many rigs, the meaning of heave to was to slow the boat by means of sails working in position (something backed), but given the variety of rigs, I don't think any narrow definition ever fit. Some boats can park with one sail and the rudder working in opposition.

I think this term may defy narrow, specific definition. It may be simply a method that places the boat at an angle to the waves, without significant forward way, and drifting to leeward. This can be done by opposition of sails, rudder, and engine, as specific to the boat.