Neil
Well-Known Member
Also reefing single-handed, especially when you are muttering to yourself, "I knew I should have reefed when those first gusts came...."
heaving to
- Thread starter Birdseye
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Also reefing single-handed, especially when you are muttering to yourself, "I knew I should have reefed when those first gusts came...."
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
My little Swin Ranger used to heave to beautifully, this Colvic Countess ketch needs quite a lot of fine adjustment and defo no mizzen up.
Mind you, I have never tried it with genoa and mizzen, no main.
Mind you, I have never tried it with genoa and mizzen, no main.
prv
Well-Known Member
Kindred Spirit used to heave to really well. I could have lunch and tip the crumbs over the side, and they would still be floating on the water right next to the cockpit minutes later. Obviously we'd drift with the tide, but through the water she hardly moved at all.
Sheeting the mizzen in and out adjusted the angle she lay to the wind. Ariam will pretty much only lie beam-on, heeling substantially, but KS could point up relatively close with the mizzen sheeted in.
Pete
chrisedwards
Well-Known Member
Yes - very easily - junk sails have numerous advantages over marconi here - they can be reefed far smaller, far quicker and with perfect set and balance at all reefs - just imagine that! So I reef to one or two panels, sheet in flat (remember the sail never flogs) and lash the helm amidships or slightly to weather.
Or just let fly the sheets - as I said - the sails never flogs - and make a cup of tea then heave in the sheets again.
It really is a wonderful rig.
Fantasie 19
Well-Known Member
Me too - that's what I use it for more than anything else; it goes eerily calm while you're hove to - curiously addictive!
Porthandbuoy
Well-Known Member
I heave-to whenever the grandkids need to use the heads. Makes life a lot less traumatic for them.
Heaving-to on the starboard tack: A good reason for having the mainsail halyard and topping lift exiting the foot of the mast on the starboard side. My topping lift was on the port side, which made reefing harder than it needed to be, so I changed it.
Heaving-to on the starboard tack: A good reason for having the mainsail halyard and topping lift exiting the foot of the mast on the starboard side. My topping lift was on the port side, which made reefing harder than it needed to be, so I changed it.
john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
In that case try more (ie bigger) head sail sheeted aback? I find it difficult to believe that a triple reefed mainsail that's eased will produce enough power to force a backed genoa through the wind.
Out of interest, what boat do you have?
PhillM
Well-Known Member
We do it all the time. When beating to make a cup of tea. When we want to reef or get ready for a headsail change.
Longish keel and fractional rig, works a treat.
Mind you, I really should have reefed earlier yesterday F3 increased to F6 downwind - I was having so much fun surfing that I left it too long. Blew all the mainsail slides right up to the second reef point. I assumed that was the boat making its point, so I reefed and will be in Deacons tomorrow, looking for new slides and plastic shackles for the main.
Longish keel and fractional rig, works a treat.
Mind you, I really should have reefed earlier yesterday F3 increased to F6 downwind - I was having so much fun surfing that I left it too long. Blew all the mainsail slides right up to the second reef point. I assumed that was the boat making its point, so I reefed and will be in Deacons tomorrow, looking for new slides and plastic shackles for the main.
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
Even my Dragonfly trimeringue heaves to easily, having been told many times by experts that a centreboard multihull with a fully battened main won't do it. Boat doesn't listen to experts. Just gets on with it. The battens on the mainsail from number 3 down go into an S shape which mostly (but not completely) de-powers the sail with no flap or flog at all. The drift to leeward is a bit more than a mono as I don't have a lot of lateral resistance, but it's still quiet and mostly stopped.
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Angele
Well-Known Member
If you read the post to which I was responding (OldVarnish at #13), you will see that he was suggesting that I sheet my main in hard.
That is the situation when I said she will tack back.
Angele is a Dufour 40. As I said way back in post #3, she will heave to reasonably well will the main eased. The thing I dislike about that is the fact that the boom is free to move and, as my mainsheet block is in the centre of the cockpit, that creates a bit of a safety issue.
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
My first 2 boats- both Stellas. Would heave too beautifully & utterly reliably with little mainsail flog. ( this is important to reduce damage to the main)Just back the jib & let the mainsheet out & tie the tiller amidships. It is great when single handing as one can stop & think things out
However, my Hanse will NOT heave too & that is its biggest failing. I can tie the self tacking jib to windward ok bit even with the main right out she will round up, tack then sometimes even gybe.
With main only sheeted in she will make way & tack
With main right out it will flog like h..ll & it is too good a main to ruin like that
My next move in strong winds is to try lowering the main & setting my aeries so she sails to windward a bit on the self tacker. That may mean i can do other things while she looks after herself
If i lower all sails & leave the helm she will sit broadside on to the seas & do her best to throw me out of the cockpit
However, my Hanse will NOT heave too & that is its biggest failing. I can tie the self tacking jib to windward ok bit even with the main right out she will round up, tack then sometimes even gybe.
With main only sheeted in she will make way & tack
With main right out it will flog like h..ll & it is too good a main to ruin like that
My next move in strong winds is to try lowering the main & setting my aeries so she sails to windward a bit on the self tacker. That may mean i can do other things while she looks after herself
If i lower all sails & leave the helm she will sit broadside on to the seas & do her best to throw me out of the cockpit
fishermantwo
Well-Known Member
My fin keel/skeg rudder half tonner yacht will not heave to in the traditional manner except on light days. I fish off shore regularly and for bottom bouncing I try to slow the boat as much as possible. Generally the best method is to furl the headsail, sheet the fully battened main in about the close hauled position and adjust the windvane steering to hold the vessel with just the main shivering. As the wind increases I have found that going down to the second and even third reef she sits there nicely making the least speed through the water. If I drop the main completely she goes to windward with just the mainsail stack pack, the main up must have enough drag to hold her. If I had to stop now in extreme conditions I think I would use the main only down to the third reef sheeted down hard with the traveller out wide and hold the vessel just off the wind with the vane.
Sybarite
Well-Known Member
Mainly two situations where I heave to: reefing and landing a fish.
ProDave
Well-Known Member
Since we learned to heave to this year it is now our preferred method of dropping the main sail at the end of a sail (rather than motoring into the wind) and it works well for that.
Yesterday we thought why not use it to raise the main as well?
So we tried unfurling the jib the wrong way to start off with the jib backed, but although we got the jib out just couldn't get the boat hove to, she just wanted to round up down wind.
Anyone got a suggestion how to go from bare poles to hove to? I guess next time wind the jib out the right way then immediately tack?
Yesterday we thought why not use it to raise the main as well?
So we tried unfurling the jib the wrong way to start off with the jib backed, but although we got the jib out just couldn't get the boat hove to, she just wanted to round up down wind.
Anyone got a suggestion how to go from bare poles to hove to? I guess next time wind the jib out the right way then immediately tack?
Birdseye
Well-Known Member
That one is a puzzle dave because on the surface it should be the same. But maybe its a case that when you are dropping the main the boat is heaved to first of all and then slowly comes out of the heaved to with just the genny up, and then wants to round up down wind. I cant see how it can be anything else. The pressure on the backed jib will be trying to push the bows away from the wind and push the boat backwards which with the rudder lashed the way you normally would for heabvong to will further help the bows to blow off.
When I had a Prout cat, I had to get used to the boat stalling when tacking and then starting to go back wards before picking up speed on the new tack. So I had to learn to reverse the rudder. If what I suspect is happening in your case is the boat starting to go back a bit, then try steering the boat away from the wind. That should counteract the wind blowing the bow off.
When I had a Prout cat, I had to get used to the boat stalling when tacking and then starting to go back wards before picking up speed on the new tack. So I had to learn to reverse the rudder. If what I suspect is happening in your case is the boat starting to go back a bit, then try steering the boat away from the wind. That should counteract the wind blowing the bow off.
prv
Well-Known Member
That's what I'd do, although as is clear from this thread, all boats behave differently
Pete
sailaboutvic
Well-Known Member
Angele
we have a Dufour 385 we just back the Gen and let the main right out , we are also fuller batten and it works fine there has been the odd time when we had to reef the main and just hall it in a small amount , sometime you need to play with these things , good luck
www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com
we have a Dufour 385 we just back the Gen and let the main right out , we are also fuller batten and it works fine there has been the odd time when we had to reef the main and just hall it in a small amount , sometime you need to play with these things , good luck
www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com
alant
Well-Known Member
Even with bare poles, most yachts will generally weathercock, with bows downwind.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you have too much genoa out.
Heaving to requires the yacht to be moving through the water, albeit very slowly (otherwise there would be no point in lashing the tiller to leeward).
Let her get moving downwind with a reduced amount of genoa set, then put the tiller down and turn her into wind. Leave the tiller lashed to leeward.
This works on my boat (a long keeled masthead sloop).
Angele
Well-Known Member
Vic
Yes, if you reread my posts (#3 and #30) that is exactly what I do too and it works fine. It is just that I don't like having a boom that is moving about and on the Dufour 40 (unlike the 385) the traveller is in the middle of the cockpit, so it creates a bit of a safety issue.
