# Heaving-To



## manatee (Feb 27, 2013)

Seeing a fair amount of interest in the topic in different threads over the last few weeks, I'd like to invite you experienced folk to share your knowledge to help us noobs learn the tricks of the trade. Thanks for your help.

For noobs, I found this as a starting point:

Heaving-To

Copy-and-paste the line below into the Google search window to get a list of sailnet threads mentioning heaving-to:

"heaving to" /site:http://www.sailnet.com/forums/


----------



## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

all boats are different is my advice and after that test your boat with different techniques...

take some pics if your heaving to

my first heaving to experience(on an h28 full keel 1945 boat) we took advantage of how well the boat did it in the middle of san francisco bay and decided to have lunch the motion was so nice...

cheers


----------



## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

As mentioned above; you are going to have to experiment on your boat. Originally used on full keel boats, the fin keel and cutaway keel boats may not heave to as advertised.
Being hove to, or not making way through the water, does not alleviate you of the responsibility to keep a good look out. It is not an excuse to go below and sleep, and leave your fortune to fate, or to some watchstander, asleep on the bridge of his vessel.


----------



## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

capta said:


> As mentioned above; you are going to have to experiment on your boat. Originally used on full keel boats, the fin keel and cutaway keel boats may not heave to as advertised.


There is a lot more than keel shape that matters. My friend's Pacific Seacraft Orion (which has a cutaway forward full keel) lies hove-to most nicely on main only.

My Pearson will lie hove-to on main only or with some jib. However it continues to fore reach at about 1-2 knots with jib out.

The boats (full keel, but small day sailors) that I teach on have a fractional rig with a small jib. They hove-to very nicely with both sails, but you do need to trim the jib quite tightly for it to work or they fore reach as well.

You will need to experiment and find out what works well on your boat.


----------



## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

The only difference in heaving to with a fin is bringing the boat to a full stop before letting the bow swing down wind and putting the helm up. If the boat isn't stopped it will just keep fore reaching. You can usually balance the sails by adjusting the main, if the bow wants to come up you need to depower the main. We used to heave to in all sorts of small dinghies between races, I've never sailed a boat that won't heave to.
I don't understand how you could heave to with a single sail without fore reaching, it's the balance of jib against rudder and main.


----------



## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

yeah I will tend to agree with the above...dinghy sailing is where you learn this and can really see how much you are moving...

I kind of dont understand the whole NON foresail heaving to since in essence its the backing up of the jib or foresail which leaves the bow in a standstill...but again modern boats especially the really new ones with canting keels twin rudders, etc...I have no experience in..soooo

having said that you can only learn by trying out....ON YOUR BOAT or a sistership

notice I said have "lunch" thats sailor talk for keeping a lookout and eating saltine crackers! jajajaja

peace guys

ps. on full keelers the angle of the backed up jib should be parallel to the angle of the tiller...assuming you have a tiller. and main or mizzen or whatever for the most part depowered or midships...what I always did was simply lower main completelt and the mizzen sometimes helped with steading the motion of the waves...

kind of like a small anchor sail in rolly anchorages...


----------



## TomMaine (Dec 21, 2010)

capttb said:


> I don't understand how you could heave to with a single sail without fore reaching, it's the balance of jib against rudder and main.


I've found in winds in the 30's to 40 knot range, my boat will heave to under deeply reefed main alone(I have a yawl which could put my CE forward a bit). Windage forward of the main, mostly from the furled genoa, is enough to keep the bow at about 45 degrees to the wind and waves with the main sheeted tight on the centerline.

However, if I lock the rudder to windward(standard heaving-to position), she may tack. So the wheel is adjusted so the boat settles, hove-to, occasionally fore-reaching for a bit, then settling.

I needed to do the above this past season when my daughter and I had to get some rest from 35 to 40 knot winds on an overnight(we were spent).

The reason I tried this was to keep the bow pointed well forward into the good sized seas with breaking crests, as opposed to beam to, which it will tend to do, hove-to, in higher and higher gusts, if there is even a little jib on the headstay.

We avoided any yawing of gusts pushing the bow down wind(boat broadside to wind/waves) which would have been a much, much wetter and rougher ride.

In lighter conditions, I need the jib(or a good portion unfurled), back winded. Or in lighter-moderate conditions, I'll just heave-to with mizzen alone-sheeted centerline, and rudder locked to windward. The boat rides in a nice slick but it's mostly broadside to wind and waves. Not a good thing in heavier wind and seas.


----------



## SVTatia (May 7, 2007)

TomMaine said:


> ...Windage forward of the main, mostly from the furled genoa, is enough to keep the bow at about 45 degrees to the wind and waves with the main sheeted tight on the centerline.


This is absolutely right. My previous boat behaved the same, hove-to with just the main, 'cause it had high freeboard forward, and I have spent up to 3 days waiting for favorable winds on the way to the Azores.



TomMaine said:


> ...
> The reason I tried this was to keep the bow pointed well forward into the good sized seas with breaking crests, as opposed to beam to, which it will tend to do, hove-to, in higher and higher gusts, if there is even a little jib on the headstay....


The advantage of being hove-to is that the boat creates a slick to windward, and while the seas are confused sometimes breaking all around, it is somewhat smooth in the slick, softening the motion. This is why it is important to keep forward motion (foreaching) to a minimum, it is impossible to stop it at all.


----------



## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

you can also pour oil too...its a bit messy though....jajaja


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

never found any need to heave to inmy boat or when sailing secvere electrical stormsin gom. we just sailed thru. ws wicked but it was also great experience.
my boat so far--no problem with 60 plus kt winds. i do not sail in furycames or tropical storms. i have yet to find a rationale for me to heave to..mebbe if i was exhausted, but so far i have had helpers. 
i have gone into irons to boat a fishie. i have put my boat and others into irons for various reasons..including teaching an ******* to behave..lol..was his boat and he couldnt sail it. so we sat until he went nutz then i sailed out of it. took his non-learning butt home to his place and never saw again.


----------



## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

capttb said:


> I don't understand how you could heave to with a single sail without fore reaching, it's the balance of jib against rudder and main.


You can also balance the rudder against the main without the jib and heave-to.


----------



## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

In our current boat the best combination I've come up with is a fully furled genoa, full staysail and reefed main. This works well in 15-20 knots, haven't tried it in anything stronger. I think if I double reefed the main with the staysail she would hove to in stronger winds, each boat is different. Our boat has a long fin and skeg hung rudder and is a cutter rigged sloop.


----------



## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

OK. I am motivated. I need to heave-to more! I am going to make a list in my log book. It will start with 5 kt, and go up to 35 kt by 5 kt increments. I am going to try to heave-to in as many conditions as possible next season, making note of what configuration worked.


----------



## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

It is one of the first things that I like to play with on an unknown boat. It is useful to know and is helping me get a better understanding of how to heave-to as well.

I'm going out in my boat tomorrow and want to try to see if I can get it to heave-to without fore reaching.


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

Just a quick note, if the boat is for-reaching you are not hove to you are sailing very poorly. As a storm tactic for-reaching defeats the whole point of being hove to. Main only, my full keeler will heave to very nicely.


----------



## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

It is my understanding when heaving to ...there is some forward motion. The idea is to limit this motion as much as possible to remain in the slick produced, however, I don't think it's possible to completely eliminate it.


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

If you are properly hove to there is Zero forward motion. Most sailors have no idea how to properly heave to and very fer boats will do it.


----------



## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

I have a full keel with a cutaway forefoot and when I "heave to" I tack and back wind the yankee, lock the wheel to steer upwind and adjust the main. No matter what I try I am close to being beam on to the wind whereas I want to be around 50 degrees from the wind. Because of the cutaway forefoot I can probably get closer to the wind with the main only with the rudder over hard and not worry about tacking through. I single hand a lot and heaving to is what I use when putting a reef in the main.


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

It might be more effective to just spill the air from the main and keep the boat sailing under jib alone. I find most boats with a cutaway forefoot wont heave to.


----------



## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

barefootnavigator said:


> It might be more effective to just spill the air from the main and keep the boat sailing under jib alone. I find most boats with a cutaway forefoot wont heave to.


Heaving to works better for me with the stay sail and a deep reefed main, either the 2nd or 3rd reef, depending on wind and wave action. Adjustments to both rudder and mainsail to keep from fore reaching.


----------



## orthomartin (Oct 21, 2006)

Couple points. First wind strength is the secondary issue, it's sea state, sea room that generally drive the decision. Also of course it's what would be the AWA if you continued on course. For example if you are heading downwind and on course you might choose to deploy a drogue first so as to at least continue to make some headway. Only problem is you are in the wx a little bit longer as you are moving with it. Going to weather, forget it and heave to.
A fin keel/spade rudder will not heave to without some forereach, but that's ok, in fact with a possible lee shore making even a knot to weather is good. You don't get the nice windward slick seen with a full keel boat but you are still way better off than beating yourself and your boat going hard to weather.
In general I do not heave to until seas are steady over 20-25ft and force 9 winds forward of 100 AWA
I find heaving to is the best first method of dealing with really big seas and strong wind to rest and allow wx to pass. Also of course very easy to resume sailing as opposed to trying to recover drogue or chute.


----------



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

barefootnavigator said:


> Just a quick note, if the boat is for-reaching you are not hove to you are sailing very poorly.


Or, perhaps sailing very smartly... Fore-reaching can be an extremely effective, less passive tactic, and one that might still permit one to make good some progress towards a destination, or away from a lee shore... As a storm tactic, it can be a very viable one - it's how many of the crews in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart chose to deal with those exceptional conditions, after all...



barefootnavigator said:


> As a storm tactic for-reaching defeats the whole point of being hove to. Main only, my full keeler will heave to very nicely.


There's no One Size Fits All to this stuff, what works fine for you may not necessarily work for the rest of us... It is extremely difficult to get most modern split underbodies to heave-to without at least a bit of fore-reaching, or to maintain a 40-50 degree attitude to the wind/seas without a modicum of forward motion, especially as the wind and seas build... At some point, the only way to attempt to keep the bow up on one of today's boats featuring high freeboard and a shallow/flat underwater profile, might be to employ a clever use of a drogue described by John Harries - that of streaming a Galerider off the bow, to weather...


----------



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

OK, may as well re-post my recent thoughts in a more 'appropriate' thread 



jameswilson29 said:


> This is great information and advice. How about some specifics for us aspiring offshore sailors who might get caught offshore in snotty conditions?
> 
> So, at what angle to the waves should we try to assume?
> 
> ...


Sorry, but the only good answer to all those questions is - _"It depends..."_ 

Every boat, every situation, every crew - they're all different... Sailors simply need to experiment with this stuff, try to assess what works for them, and what doesn't... Even the most seasoned voyagers are likely to learn something new every time they resort to a tactic like heaving-to...

When I refer to heaving-to, I'm not necessarily thinking of it as a storm or survival tactic. Indeed, there will be many times where one might have to resort to something more active, or 'drastic'... My point is to simply highlight the value of parking the boat simply to take a break, have a decent meal, get some rest, settle down an anxious crewmember, whatever... Much as Tom describes in his excellent account above, sometimes you just need to pull off the interstate into a rest stop, for a while...

There's tons of far better advice out there than I can possibly give here... Steve Dashew's writings are among the best, his SURVIVING THE STORM is an awesome resource, probably the single best I've ever found...

All I can say is what my boat (with an underbody/sail plan probably not too much different from yours) seems to like, at least in winds and open ocean waves up to about 35 or so. Deep reef in the main, sheeted near centerline, no headsail, _with the tiller not lashed, but steered by the windvane_... technically, she's more forereaching than hove-to, but still making very little headway... The key is having the vane do the 'driving', it prevents her from wanting to tack, or from falling off, and gaining too much speed... As is so often the case, one of those things I discovered 'by accident' in the Stream, beating back up towards Key West from Belize. After furling the headsail, and getting ready to set a backwinded bit of staysail, I realized "Hey, this works fine", and I was able to get 4-5 hours of much needed rest... Sometimes, all you really need to do is basically _slow the boat down_, that alone can make a world of difference...

Without question, one of my biggest concerns about many modern boats I see today, is the potential difficulty of setting them up in such a way _that they will take care of themselves_ - and, the crew - in such situations... Modern designs with flat bottoms, high freeboard, etc... I'm not sure where one begins with setting them up to properly heave-to, and I would guess many such boats can only be made to do so with the assistance of the massive amount of excess windage aft that stern arches, dinghies on davits, and so on, can afford  But I'm afraid that for many of today's boats, the only way to get them to 'behave' properly when trying to park them for a bit in heavy weather, may be to fire up the engine...

So, the only way to figure this stuff out, is to go out and start playing. However, what works fine in 25 knots will not necessarily do so well in 35-40, due to the exponential increase in the force of a rising breeze... The most serious blow I've ever experienced on my own boat, was years ago at the north wall of the Gulf Stream on a trip out to Bermuda... In that instance, amazingly, simply lying ahull worked fine... Of course, that approach is widely considered the most dangerous approach of all, but in that particular situation, and with open ocean waves of a long period, my boat simply slid directly sideways in her own slick for about 6 hours, hardly ever taking a drop of water on deck, it was amazing... But that was a very rare circumstance, indeed...

These are the boats I've had more experience with offshore than any other single design - the Trintella 47 & 50...










Absolutely magnificent sailing machines, but a real challenge to park in a good blow... With their huge rig, and massive amount of windage forward (one real downside of the increasingly popular Solent-style double furling headsails) there's no way to keep the bow up, and maintain a 50 degree angle or thereabouts to the seas... In that instance, I would think a very creative technique described by John Harries on MORGAN'S CLOUD - that of streaming a Galerider from the bow, to windward - might work wonders in keeping the head up, and from forereaching off at too great a speed...

How to Stop Wave Strikes While Heaved-to in a Sailboat Offshore in a Storm










Needless to say, Morgan's Cloud is another superb resource...

Finally, one technique that is widely discussed, but I cannot personally endorse or recommend, is the vaunted Pardey Bridled Para-Anchor... Frankly, I just don't see how any of us mere mortals get that setup to work as they describe...  I'm guessing their success with it has a LOT to do with the Lyle Hess design they sail, and is less applicable to most more modern boats...

Evans Starzinger explains why, far better than I'm able to:

Seamanship FAQ.


----------



## TomMaine (Dec 21, 2010)

lancelot9898 said:


> I have a full keel with a cutaway forefoot and when I "heave to" I tack and back wind the yankee, lock the wheel to steer upwind and adjust the main. No matter what I try I am close to being beam on to the wind whereas I want to be around 50 degrees from the wind. Because of the cutaway forefoot I can probably get closer to the wind with the main only with the rudder over hard and not worry about tacking through. I single hand a lot and heaving to is what I use when putting a reef in the main.


That's exactly my experience with 2 full keel cut away forefoot boats. They'll heave to perfectly with main and backed jib, riding broadside to wind and waves in the center of a big gently boiling slick formed by the hull siliding sideways, at about a knot, dead to leeward.

That works for fair weather heaving to and I use it often. A yawl is particularly handy for this lieing like a duck under sheeted mizzen alone(but the boat is broadside to wind/waves) It's how I often douse my main.

But when winds are in the 30's to 40 knots and seas could be a problem, I've found the only thing that will bring my bow up is to reduce or eliminate any headsail area. Then the boat may fore reach a bit, stall, heave-to, but the bow stays into the wind. The wheel is then the best way to adjust the boats ride.

I'll take hove-to as the best ride on my boat. But I would think there's a limit to the slicks effect to calm cresting seas and when they're breaking a bit over the boat, I want the bow more to windward than heaving-to achieves.


----------



## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

Jon , as usual, gives great advise. I'm just learning my new boat and have to agree every boat is different and technique is highly dependent on sea state and wind strength. So far in anything up to 35-40kts just reefing down and sailing the boat at the most comfy angle to the seas seems to be best. Think for most modern boats actively sailing the boat is safest. If the boat is properly reefed and balanced have not had a problem letting the autopilot do the work. Hunker down under the hard dodger with the remote and things are fine. Think one the potential mistakes I see on the way too many modern boats are set up is the absence of a true stormjib. We are fortunate in having had the attachment point for a removable dyneema stay installed when boat was built. Before heading out I can deploy this stay, tension it and leave stormjib hanked but in bag on deck. I have soft shackles for the stormjib it self. Think depending on your rollerfurling head sail (even if its a solent or a staysail on a cutter) may lead to unexpected excitement. The stormjib also moves the center of effort aft. Most modern boats drive on the main. The mast maybe forward of the center of lateral resistance of the boat. Many will sail nicely with just storm jib or jib and triple reefed main. For me the survival technique will be a Jordan series drogue on a bridle aft. The Fastnet was referred too earlier. Boats using this technique all survived.


----------



## drsutton (Aug 6, 2013)

Heaving to with one sail - main or head - works well, depending on your boat. I routinely heave to with just my head sail on my Helms 27.
Bill


----------



## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

From reading this thread, it seems as though I have no idea of what heaving to is all about.
If heaving to is to maintain position in good weather or to survive a storm in bad, then what is fore reaching?. Isn't the idea NOT to make way through the water?
Heaving to is not something I generally do in winds less than 40 to 50 and it is something I have done in 60 to 80 knots with some effectiveness; we were not capsized, nor did we drift ashore or onto a reef!
I have always used the smallest jib available to heave to (reefed staysail or storm jib and a storm main trisail, only if necessary) but never the main, and have never had a problem with getting a boat to do what it should, though I have not tried it on a fin keel/spade rudder boat, I'll admit.
Some cloth set in a particular way, the rudder set in a particular way; boat making as little way as possible. It just isn't rocket science, unless, as I said, I really do not understand something you all are trying to convey here.


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

Saying a boat is hove to while its actually for-reaching is like saying my plane fly's really well it just wont get off the ground  A boat is either hove to or it isn't there is no middle ground. For-reaching is not hove to its for-reaching  They both serve a very specific propose just like a chainsaw and a butter knife but I wouldn't use a chainsaw to butter my bread


----------



## Shinook (Jul 13, 2012)

Barquito said:


> OK. I am motivated. I need to heave-to more! I am going to make a list in my log book. It will start with 5 kt, and go up to 35 kt by 5 kt increments. I am going to try to heave-to in as many conditions as possible next season, making note of what configuration worked.


Yours will probably heave to about the same as ours does (CD27).

I've found it pretty easy in our boat, we basically go from a close haul and tack, but let the main out and don't tack the jib. We heave to before cranking up our motor and dropping the sails, so we do it a fair bit, I've never had an issue with it in our boat.

I have never tried with the main alone. It would be nice if it worked though, that'd be an easy way to make headsail changes. I'll try it next time we go out and see how it does.


----------



## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

To heave to...you need to balance several forces acting on the boat. The first is the main sail adjustment which is trying to force the boat into the wind, the second is the backed foresail which is keeping the boat from tacking and the final adjustment is the rudder which is trying to turn the boat into the wind. Now if hove to is defined such that there is no forereaching then I question why the rudder is even necessary, since there must be movement through the water for the rudder to have any effect. You need the rudder to hold you in the hove to position. That movement through the water is a combination of leeway and forereaching, but there is some forereaching never the less.


----------



## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

barefootnavigator said:


> A boat is either hove to or it isn't there is no isnt


I agree, but thers many degrees of hove to. But hove too where you are drifting dead down wind is a tricky and difficult state to get in. Boats dont want to sit still. They don't want to be drifting sidewards to the current. Ive tried it a few times remembering all the different ideas people had... Small main large jib, no job, no main, etc. to get your boat to drift sideways at no speed forwards is difficult. Last t me i practiced it too me more than an hour to do it.... And then if the wind had come up, or drooped a bit, i would have started all over again.

Probably we should be trying to get the boat moving so slowly,and then go for the magic gold of being stationary.

Life helicopter pilots will tell you, hovering is the most difficult... Where we thing hovering should be easy.

Mark


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

I think it must be a design thing, my boat heaves quite nicely with almost no effort main only. I still prefer to avoid heavy weather as best as I can cause I get scared but its nice knowing I can when I need to.


----------



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

barefootnavigator said:


> Saying a boat is hove to while its actually for-reaching is like saying my plane fly's really well it just wont get off the ground  A boat is either hove to or it isn't there is no middle ground. For-reaching is not hove to its for-reaching  They both serve a very specific propose just like a chainsaw and a butter knife but I wouldn't use a chainsaw to butter my bread


Where has anyone said that fore-reaching is identical to being hove-to?


----------



## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

DO I have to answer this?


----------



## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Not if you don't want to. 

Gary


----------



## SVTatia (May 7, 2007)

barefootnavigator said:


> Saying a boat is hove to while its actually for-reaching is like saying my plane fly's really well it just wont get off the ground  A boat is either hove to or it isn't there is no middle ground. For-reaching is not hove to its for-reaching  They both serve a very specific propose just like a chainsaw and a butter knife but I wouldn't use a chainsaw to butter my bread


Not sure if I understand you but with all that wind the seas, and the boat is staying in the same place!! An experiment for next time when it gets windy: just before you heave-to, get a fix and write it down. Then stay hove-to for at least 12 hours and take another fix. According to you the two positions should be dead on exactly the same, right?



MarkofSeaLife said:


> I agree, but thers many degrees of hove to. But hove too where you are drifting dead down wind is a tricky and difficult state to get in. Boats dont want to sit still. They don't want to be drifting sidewards to the current. Ive tried it a few times remembering all the different ideas people had... Small main large jib, no job, no main, etc. to get your boat to drift sideways at no speed forwards is difficult. Last t me i practiced it too me more than an hour to do it.... And then if the wind had come up, or drooped a bit, i would have started all over again.
> 
> Probably we should be trying to get the boat moving so slowly,and then go for the magic gold of being stationary.
> 
> ...


++ 1


----------



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

SVTatia said:


> Not sure if I understand you but with all that wind the seas, and the boat is staying in the same place!! An experiment for next time when it gets windy: just before you heave-to, get a fix and write it down. Then stay hove-to for at least 12 hours and take another fix. According to you the two positions should be dead on exactly the same, right?


I don't think anyone is suggesting that, either... Most people understand the classic meaning of being properly hove-to as being _the forward motion_ of the boat has been stopped, the result being a slow drift of to leeward, but remaining within the protection of the slick to windward created by the boat's drift...

However, with most modern fin keelers, especially as winds increase, maintaining the desired 45-50 degree heading into the wind/seas, without either moving forward out of the slick, or having the bow fall off and presenting the boat broadside to the seas, can be extremely difficult/impossible to achieve...

I'd like to meet the guy who could get this boat to 'properly' heave-to, in these conditions


----------



## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

> I don't think anyone is suggesting that, either... Most people understand the classic meaning of being properly hove-to as being the forward motion of the boat has been stopped, the result being a slow drift of to leeward, but remaining within the protection of the slick to windward created by the boat's drift...


Very clear Jon, thank you, seems to have been more confusion on this point than I'd expected.


----------



## TomMaine (Dec 21, 2010)

JonEisberg said:


> I don't think anyone is suggesting that, either... Most people understand the classic meaning of being properly hove-to as being _the forward motion_ of the boat has been stopped, the result being a slow drift of to leeward, but remaining within the protection of the slick to windward created by the boat's drift...
> 
> Well said. That's exactly what hove-to means to me. If a little bit of forward motion exists(it often does), that's why the rudder is usually turned to windward, to stop that slight forward motion, turning slightly windward, and continue to drift dead downwind, but with a slight scalloping motion, that will add a few degrees to windward of dead down wind.
> 
> ...


----------



## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

It's become apparent two different lines of thinking are operative
1."traditional" boats vrs. high aspect fin/bulbed keeled-balance spade rudder boats
2.heaving to for rest in mild/moderate conditions vrs. as survival technique

Would be worthwhile to acknowledge these different issues. My prior Tayana (full keel) and PSC 34 ( low aspect fin) were both cutters. Both would hove to by just leaving the jib sheet alone and flipping the wheel over and stay put. In storm force winds/seas both would hove to with wheel lashed ( and all crew below) with stay sail and triple reefed main. My current boat fore reaches a bit even with everything tucked down. However, she is extremely comfortable in all conditions if actively sailed and even tracks very well if any attention paid to sail balance to the point the AP suffices. As alluded to before many "authorities" suggest with "modern" boats heaving to is not a good storm tactic. If rest or conditions require a JSD is the tactic of last resort.


----------



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

TomMaine said:


> But I think this thread was started (from another thread), simply to hear exactly how people do heave-to.
> 
> For someone that has never done it. I think what they want to know is; what sail(s), what rudder angle(s), etc., in the wind conditions that they're likely to try it in.
> 
> ...


Exactly... I feel with more modern boats, heaving-to has far more utility for other purposes than it does solely as a storm tactic - such as standing off a harbor entrance to wait for daylight, or as a _"getting some rest, some decent food prepared, and the boat battened down BEFORE the storm tactic..."_ 

With most boats out there today, once the seas start breaking, all bets are off... Unless one is somehow able to maintain a relative head-to-wind position, and stay within the slick, you can suddenly find yourself in an extremely vulnerable position to a breaking wave strike, and more active measures will have to be taken...

Furthermore, heaving-to is unlikely to remain the preferred tactic _for the entire duration of most storms_... As a low pressure system passes by or over your position, wind speed and direction will change far more rapidly than the wave train, and it is so often that as the breeze begins to diminish, 'the beginning of the end' of a storm offshore becomes the most dangerous time... A wind shift of 30 degrees, for example, can suddenly place a 'properly' hove-to boat in a very dangerous orientation to the wave train. On the other hand, simply tacking might actually far improve your heading into the seas... But, as a general rule, whenever conditions begin to moderate after a real blow, I think you want to try to get the boat moving or sailing again - even if it's only fore-reaching - as soon as possible...


----------



## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

The only time I was able to get my Morgan 33 O.I. to heave to properly I had an 18-inch sea anchor deployed from the stern cleat, which brought the boat to a dead stop in 35 mph winds off Point Look, MD in Chesapeake Bay. The waves at the time were probably about 6 feet, I was bone tired and needed a break, so I decided to heave to. I did everything by the book, but the boat continued to slide forward at .2 to .5 knots. When I deployed the sea anchor, the boat stopped all forward motion, a big slick developed on the port side, the waves began to crumble about 50 feet from the boat, and other than the swells, it was almost like resting in calm seas. It was a really neat experience when everything I read in the Lynn and Larry Pardy book came together and for the first time in five hours I felt comfortable. I haven't had the opportunity to try this offshore, but I'm fairly confident it would work equally as well there.

Cheers,

Gary


----------

