Heaving to in a ketch?

[steve yates]

Those with/had ketches, how did you find them for heaving to? whats the best combo to use? any advantages/disadvantages with ketches in this situation?
It's a fin keel by the way, my new westerly longbow.
thx

 

[Vegable]

Hi again Steve,
I found heaving to wasn't a problem and she rode/hove to very comfortably and easily.
I found with the Renown that she sailed much closer to the wind with the mizen sail lowered, and the mizen was a pain when on a run - blanketting which ever sail was on the same side.
I made up lazy jacks for the mizen and tied a downhaul rope to the head of the sail so the sail could be lowered very quickly and this made it dead easy to trim the boat to the various conditions. The downhaul was tied in the halyard "hole" and then ran straight down to just below the boom and onto a cleat fitted on the mizen mast. You released the halyard and pulled down on the downhaul and bob's your uncle.
I never reefed the mainsail, always dropped it and sailed with just the mizen and foresail. She's beautifully balanced with this rig.
You'll also find, especially when beating into the wind, that you won't have to touch the steering (especially if it's still stiff! �&#56833, she'll happily sail herself.
It's a lovely set up that you've got and you should get a lot of fun and worry free sailing out of her. We often got 7.5 knots out of her and once, coming across the Irish sea the gps said we got 10.3 knots surfing down a wave!
Mike

 

[prv]

I used to have a yawl. Hove to beautifully, though that was more about the hull shape (traditional long keel) than the rig. I did find that the mizzen was useful for adjusting the angle at which she lay to the wind, by sheeting it in or out.

If planning to heave to for a longer period, I can imagine that mizzen and (possibly reefed) jib would work well, more relaxed and snug than the full rig. Just speculating, though, these things do vary a fair bit between designs.

Pete

 

[KellysEye]

We had a ketch and only hove to once with a reefed main.

 

[geem]

We pur ketch we have heaved to with reefed genoa and full mizzen. Fore reaching at about 1kt. Very comfy and easy to do

 

[Uricanejack]

The stupid answer? Try it and find out.

Actually I am quite serious. Its one of those things which is worth knowing. The only real way to know with your boat is to give it a try.

I used to sail a ketch its a nice versatile rig, The main and jib do most of the driving, The Mizzen didn't give a lot of drive but it balances the boat really well.
We did not heave to very often. I should have tried it more.
Traditional thought.
Tack through the wind, But hold the Jib sheet.
After Jib is "backed" put helm hard over to try and turn back.
Let both the main and mizzen tack then ease both fully.
The ketch should heave to.
You may find you either need to have both fully eased, or can have the mizzen sheeted in a bit to adjust heading.
My guess if you sheet in the mizzen she will head up a bit and may gain a very little bit of way. But adjusting the mizzen will give you some steering by the wind, giving you some control.
If you actually want to make a little bit of way sheet the main in for some drive.
Between the two you might find you have more control than the rest of us have in our sloops.

Its not a technique I use a lot. Some people like heaving to, to reef. I prefer to keep sailing.

I do like it as part of MOB recovery. Or in my case Hat recovery. Without getting into all the arguments of the best way to MOB.
The nice thing is the control. No flapping lines and sheets going in the water. Starting motor should be ok without worrying about a line in the prop.
Getting my hat back.
I had a big landing net. The boat hook works to.
If I miss my hat. I just tack the jib and go round and do it again.

Occasionally used to heave to for lunch, when teaching sailing on English bay. Starboard Tack preferred.