"Heaving to" in Storm Conditions

[Jaguar 25]

I have read that if a yacht meets rough seas and/or high winds the advice from some sailors is to "heave to".

I would appreciate someone providing the logic behind this as it would appear to me to risk a knock-down if the waves come at the beam whereas I feel better to head directly into waves. Or have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick.... again!

 

[Wansworth]

On heaving too the boat is effectively sailing as close to the wind as posible without making headway,so the best situation posible.I am reliably told and have experience in a minor storm that the boat drift sideways leaving an área that buffers the boat against the waves.In a total nasty storm probably heaving too would not be an option or would have been abandoned earlierso that the boat runs off before the waves or is left to drift under bare poles where indeed rolling may occur.

 

[AMCD300]

Try reading this - very simple to understand.

http://saltyjohn.blogspot.it/2011/03/heaving-to.html

Basically, you should have reefed to bare poles and put up a storm gib by the time you need to heave to, so a knock down will be minimised - unless you are unlucky to hit a breaking wave. That's the theory anyway...

Another tactic espoused is the use of drogues and sea anchors to slow the boat down and stop broaching down the face of a wave...I bought the heavy weather 'bible' where this is all explained and the pros/cons outlined for each method. I would commend it to you.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heavy-Weather-Sailing-ebook/dp/B00EEHFIPW/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382981398&sr=1-2&keywords=heavy+weather+sailing

Andy

 

[dom]

Different boats respond differently to heaving-to: most require some main (or mizzen if you have one) and this exposes them to a knockdown if the vessel is momentarily flung beam-on to storm force winds. Many modern designs don't heave-to well at all, with many settling on almost a beam reach. So it's a case of know your boat first, before trying anything in a storm.

However, heaving-to in order to take a break (lunch, repair, or whatever) from plain old heavy weather is another matter - just watch for chafing points on your jib.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Larry Pardy wrote a book about this - the idea is to get the boat to heave to with the bows further up to windward, which is achieved by heaving to under main only, or a mizzen, or a sail on the backstay. The classic backed headsail is not the only way to get a boat to heave to.

 

[Jaguar 25]

Try reading this - very simple to understand.

A bit clearer after reading the blog.

Thanks.

Current strategy is not to venture out if more than ~F4, we'll keep with that but recognise that conditions can change quickly. Came back from France on Saturday (ferry not yacht!) and we were sunbathing on the deck for the first half of crossing when the wind was directly behind the ferry but conditions did deteriorate when nearer to UK with quite big seas.

 

[alant]

Larry Pardy wrote a book about this - the idea is to get the boat to heave to with the bows further up to windward, which is achieved by heaving to under main only, or a mizzen, or a sail on the backstay. The classic backed headsail is not the only way to get a boat to heave to.

The idea being, that the bows are a stronger part of the boat, rather than risk any stern gear.
However, modern boats, such as many Southern Ocean race boats, tend to even fly spinnakers, whilst running off the wind & away from these seas. One solo skipper, also running downwind at 25knts bare poles, in 75 knts wind.

 

[Eyore]

If you try it even in moderate to fresh conditions you will easily understand why it works.

 

[Salty John]

Storm tactics are determined to a large extent by the proximity of land. Land kills boats more certainly than the sea does, so staying away from land is the first consideration. Heaving-to is a great tactic, bringing immediate calm to the boat where once there was chaos. With some boats, though, when conditions are really bad the best choice is to run off down wind - under bare poles if necessary. But, you need sea room.

 

[Greenheart]

Maybe I've missed it, but is it possible we've got through a whole page on the subject of heaving to, without mentioning the staysail?

Or perhaps cutter-headed rigs are so rare today, there's no place for the staysail's mention.

A staysail's benefit as I understand it, is that it presents sail area near the mast (and the yacht's centre of lateral resistance) enabling a low-aspect, balanced area for heaving to.

Handsome, too. Even bland slab-sided AWB designs climb several stages in the likeability stakes, when they have a bit more going on ahead of the mast.

 

[blackdogsailing]

Larry Pardy wrote a book about this - the idea is to get the boat to heave to with the bows further up to windward, which is achieved by heaving to under main only, or a mizzen, or a sail on the backstay. The classic backed headsail is not the only way to get a boat to heave to.

Quite right Bill. My old wooden boat would 'hove to' very nicely under deeped reef main alone. However, the purists (of which I am not one)would argue that as you are gently forereaching using this method you are not 'Hove to'. As i think Salty John pointed out, you do need searoom !
Chris

 

[AndrewB]

We've heaved-to under storm jib quite often during gales, including on one occasion, a 3-day gale in the Atlantic that reached F11. The yacht sits at about 70 deg to the wind, reasonably safe from a roll. On the other hand, bare poles is very unstable, the yacht alternately heading off down-wind and then as it gathers speed down a wave "broaching" around when it hits the bottom and becoming very vulnerable to the roll. I've twice suffered total knockdowns in these circumstances, not pleasant.

The only other heavy weather tactic I've used is to run off towing warps. Generally a storm jib isn't needed as the drag will hold the stern to the wind and slow the boat to prevent it sliding down waves, but it still needs active steering to avoid the "broach". A good wind-vane is a blessing here, whereas it isn't needed for heaving-to. Of course, in extreme conditions with a small crew it is best to stay below.

Which you use depends on which way you are going and how much sea-room you have.

 

[Stemar]

... Came back from France on Saturday (ferry not yacht!) and we were sunbathing on the deck for the first half of crossing when the wind was directly behind the ferry but conditions did deteriorate when nearer to UK with quite big seas.

Not an uncommon scenario with a wind from the south(ish). Leaving France, there's no fetch, so the sea seems calm. As you get closer to the UK, the fetch - and the wave height - increases, giving you the choice of continuing towards a lee shore in far bigger seas than you're comfortable with or a long hard beat back to France.

I've left Cherbourg a couple of times with a good breeze over the quarter but a flat sea, made a quick crossing, but a bloody uncomfortable last third, then looked at Chichester Bar and decided that Gosport was a better place to go.

 

[Storyline]

We've heaved-to under storm jib quite often during gales, including on one occasion, a 3-day gale in the Atlantic that reached F11. The yacht sits at about 70 deg to the wind, reasonably safe from a roll. On the other hand, bare poles is very unstable, the yacht alternately heading off down-wind and then as it gathers speed down a wave "broaching" around when it hits the bottom and becoming very vulnerable to the roll. I've twice suffered total knockdowns in these circumstances, not pleasant.

The only other heavy weather tactic I've used is to run off towing warps. Generally a storm jib isn't needed as the drag will hold the stern to the wind and slow the boat to prevent it sliding down waves, but it still needs active steering to avoid the "broach". A good wind-vane is a blessing here, whereas it isn't needed for heaving-to. Of course, in extreme conditions with a small crew it is best to stay below.

Which you use depends on which way you are going and how much sea-room you have.

Thanks for that post

 

[silver-fox]

One of the main benefits of heaving-to is that it allows a weak crew to rest. My experience of heavy weather has just reinforced the old adage that the crew is the weakest part of the boat.

In bad weather heaving-to can give a crew the time it needs to rest and recover but its not really an option I prefer for extreme weather when I would opt for a Jordan series drogue, assuming I had the sea room.

http://www.oceanbrake.com/whatisit.html

 

[TQA]

I would always have a practice at this in benign conditions.

I have only had to do it once in storm conditions where we were just worn out and it was great to heave to and go to bed. This was in a ketch and she would heave to under mizzen and a tiny bit of backed headsail.

But I avoid entering harbours at night so being able to 'park' the boat and wait without going anywhere much is good. My current boat, a cutter, is a fast old lady and we keep getting places sooner than I plan. She heaves to under backed staysail and a double reefed main.

 

[alant]

We've heaved-to under storm jib quite often during gales, including on one occasion, a 3-day gale in the Atlantic that reached F11. The yacht sits at about 70 deg to the wind, reasonably safe from a roll. On the other hand, bare poles is very unstable, the yacht alternately heading off down-wind and then as it gathers speed down a wave "broaching" around when it hits the bottom and becoming very vulnerable to the roll. I've twice suffered total knockdowns in these circumstances, not pleasant.

The only other heavy weather tactic I've used is to run off towing warps. Generally a storm jib isn't needed as the drag will hold the stern to the wind and slow the boat to prevent it sliding down waves, but it still needs active steering to avoid the "broach". A good wind-vane is a blessing here, whereas it isn't needed for heaving-to. Of course, in extreme conditions with a small crew it is best to stay below.

Which you use depends on which way you are going and how much sea-room you have.

I 'hove-to', with just a bit of main (in mast reefing) showing, on a med delivery (HR 45), whilst the owners took to their bunks. Got pushed 25 miles, so "sea-room" is a must.

PS quite unnerving to sit in a centre cockpit at night & see big white rollers coming out of the dark, expecting each time to get a green-one into the cockpit, but the boat always rode above it.

 

[westernman]

On heaving too the boat is effectively sailing as close to the wind as posible without making headway,so the best situation posible.I am reliably told and have experience in a minor storm that the boat drift sideways leaving an área that buffers the boat against the waves.In a total nasty storm probably heaving too would not be an option or would have been abandoned earlierso that the boat runs off before the waves or is left to drift under bare poles where indeed rolling may occur.

Has to be experienced to be believed. It really does work - you see big seas approach and expect to get a good shower in the cockpit when the wave breaks over you, but it just disapears like magic.