oldvarnish
Well-Known Member
I know that. But if can sometimes be difficult to relate other people's experiences to your own - different boats, different hulls, different crews, different seas.
How to heave to?
- Thread starter richardh10
- Start date
I know that. But if can sometimes be difficult to relate other people's experiences to your own - different boats, different hulls, different crews, different seas.
Babylon
Well-Known Member
You don't need to hove-to just because you're in boisterous conditions thousands of miles from shore.
I recall being on the wind on port tack in a busy central Solent when my son, then aged about 3, shouted "Daddy! I need a poo!" I tacked onto starboard and we sat there, pretty upright just by a mahoosive starboard-hand mark, hove-to with the main let out but the tiller unlashed (it works that way on my long-keeler) until he was finished.
I recall being on the wind on port tack in a busy central Solent when my son, then aged about 3, shouted "Daddy! I need a poo!" I tacked onto starboard and we sat there, pretty upright just by a mahoosive starboard-hand mark, hove-to with the main let out but the tiller unlashed (it works that way on my long-keeler) until he was finished.
chrisbitz
Well-Known Member
I have a question that I've never understood...
I've hoved-to a couple of times as practice, but I understand it's something you'd do in a storm.
So I'm confused - if you're sitting there, with your sails 90 degrees to the wind, why doesn't your boat get blown over violently?
I've hoved-to a couple of times as practice, but I understand it's something you'd do in a storm.
So I'm confused - if you're sitting there, with your sails 90 degrees to the wind, why doesn't your boat get blown over violently?
Storyline
Well-Known Member
You are not 90°, it is around 45°. I think about it as stalled sailing. The boat remains upright (see potty post above)
Not just relevant for storms, also good for jigging for mackerel.
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chinita
Well-Known Member
+1, but make sure your final tack is Starboard.
Just in case you encounter any 'racers'.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I find that my Hanse does not heave too.
If i just let the main out it flogs too much
On my last boats the backed jib just put enough pressure on the main to stop it flogging & the 2 balance
With a short fin my hanse rounds up , backed jib or not, tacks then goes into a dangerous gybe
I once tried just bare poles & was running down wind at 5.8 Knots average I had to let the rudder go due to illness & the boat went beam on , rolling so much I was nealy thrown out of the cockpit & hit the guardwires a couple of times. Seas then decided to wash over the boat as they broke
The next time I will try using the self tacking jib only & sailing to windward with the aeries steering.
i am not sure if the boat will maintain enough speed for the aeries to work
Has any one tried that with a wind vane?
Next effort wil be ( assuming sea room) to run down wind under bare poles & let the aeries steer but this could be very dangerous
Apart from that I am very worried abot what to do.
I was caught in a F9 coming from Ijmuiden to Bradwell with a crew & we dropped sail & motored into the wind at 3 kts
However, on my own, miles from home & short of fuel, makes that a no no
Streaming warps over the bow single handed will be difficult & with a big rudder I would be worried about a wave pushing me back & breaking the rudder
I suppose warps over the stern might be easiest
No good in the north sea however, as sods law dictates I may have to move for a ship in a hurry
If i just let the main out it flogs too much
On my last boats the backed jib just put enough pressure on the main to stop it flogging & the 2 balance
With a short fin my hanse rounds up , backed jib or not, tacks then goes into a dangerous gybe
I once tried just bare poles & was running down wind at 5.8 Knots average I had to let the rudder go due to illness & the boat went beam on , rolling so much I was nealy thrown out of the cockpit & hit the guardwires a couple of times. Seas then decided to wash over the boat as they broke
The next time I will try using the self tacking jib only & sailing to windward with the aeries steering.
i am not sure if the boat will maintain enough speed for the aeries to work
Has any one tried that with a wind vane?
Next effort wil be ( assuming sea room) to run down wind under bare poles & let the aeries steer but this could be very dangerous
Apart from that I am very worried abot what to do.
I was caught in a F9 coming from Ijmuiden to Bradwell with a crew & we dropped sail & motored into the wind at 3 kts
However, on my own, miles from home & short of fuel, makes that a no no
Streaming warps over the bow single handed will be difficult & with a big rudder I would be worried about a wave pushing me back & breaking the rudder
I suppose warps over the stern might be easiest
No good in the north sea however, as sods law dictates I may have to move for a ship in a hurry
prv
Well-Known Member
Kindred Spirit (gaff yawl, traditional underwater shape) used to heave to beautifully. Absolutely parked in the water, going nowhere. The last time I hove to in her before we sold her was to have lunch while on my own and not in a hurry to get anywhere in particular. I tipped some sandwich crumbs over the side afterwards, and they just floated there next to the cockpit until I got bored of watching them. By sheeting the mizzen in and out it was possible to adjust the angle we lay to the wind as well.
Ariam, on the other hand (fractional rig, fin keel, fully-battened main), does not like to stop sailing at all as long as the main is up. On the Scuttlebutt Poole cruise back in the spring I tried to heave to for the first time to have a chat with Colin in his boat - we just couldn't stop, and kept having to circle round him. Admittedly I couldn't really concentrate on getting things balanced as I was trying to talk to Col, take photos, and use the radio - but it was nothing like Kindred Spirit's easy halt. I really ought to have a practice session to get to know the new boat better in this sort of thing.
Pete
Storyline
Well-Known Member
Lol
chinita
Well-Known Member
In my Vertue (not a Hanse) I once hove to in mid Atlantic and took eight hours sleep. My sandwich crumbs were still floating there when I awoke!
Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
Your Vertue probably went for a little potter around knowing exactly when you would wake up and took herself back to the same spot just in time
They're nice like that!
BlueChip
Well-Known Member
If I'm sailing with SWMBO we usually hove to while we put a reef in the mainsail, it takes all the load off the sail and the boat sits upright, making the reefing process much easier and less stressful.
Jamesuk
Well-Known Member
Press the button 'heave to' on the Raymarine autopilot and let the computer manage the motors on the winches sort it out
Otherwise as mentioned. Simply tack but make sure the headsail is tight if not you could invite flogging of the headsail especially if its a genoa.
Leave the main sail slightly slack but helm to weather.
You never need to do it down wind of course ;-)
Otherwise as mentioned. Simply tack but make sure the headsail is tight if not you could invite flogging of the headsail especially if its a genoa.
Leave the main sail slightly slack but helm to weather.
You never need to do it down wind of course ;-)
VO5
Well-Known Member
Yes, but you have to lower the topping lift to ensure sail is flat. Then sheet it tight amidships. Works a treat !
chinita
Well-Known Member
I must be doing something wrong. I never sail with the topping lift on.
onesea
Well-Known Member
I am not certain this is always correct, heaving-to to me is about making the boat in a safe easy position to allow you to leave the tiller for extended periods of time. Its not about show boating and keeping the boat stopped, its about letting the boat look after herself.
Ok you do not want her surfing off at 6 knots but a couple of knots drift in which ever direction, does it really matter?
For me I would not consider trying to heave to until the head sail is less than 100% as I do not want to risk putting a spreader through a Genoa.
I must be terrible I don't even have one..
prv
Well-Known Member
I've never hove to in serious conditions - but I'd have thought it would actually be better to be fore-reaching slightly. This takes you further away from going backwards, which is something to avoid as it will strain the rudder.
Someone on here who sailed with Tillman said the man favoured a "square drift" - where you move forward at the same rate as you move to leeward. Although I guess this may not be applicable to fin keels which perhaps make a lot of leeway?
Pete
chinita
Well-Known Member
Come to think of it, one of my boats doesn't either!
I must go out and buy one so I can lower it when heaving to.
Are they expensive? Any recommendations?
oldvarnish
Well-Known Member
The Pardeys are describing the process of heaving-to in order to survive storm conditions by employing the smooth 'slick' a properly hove-to boat creates as she drift to leeward.
I agree; there's also the 'stopping for a cuppa' kind of heaving to which requires a different approach.
stevebrassett
Well-Known Member
There was a good piece of advice given on these pages some time ago if you are sailing with a novice and want them to heave to.
"Point the tiller at the end of the boom until the boat stops."
"Point the tiller at the end of the boom until the boat stops."
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
>Tack the boat but leave the headsail aback. Then lash the tiller to leeward.
Given you only heave to in strong winds and big seas it's a good idea to reef the genoa and drop the main. We did once in a ketch and furled the genoa, dropped the main and used the mizzen, the drift rate is awesome.
Given you only heave to in strong winds and big seas it's a good idea to reef the genoa and drop the main. We did once in a ketch and furled the genoa, dropped the main and used the mizzen, the drift rate is awesome.
