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My friend Julie is out sailing near Honduras and so forth. She's left the group because her email system is too slow to absorb all the chatter. She's asked me to post a question about heaving to – namely any suggestions?
This was my response, but I've only got theoretical knowledge for this boat. A sloop is easy. I suspect this is, too, but haven't tried it.
“But heaving to depends on your rig – if you've got a staysail then that and the mizzen will do the job nicely. Backwind the staysail and head up with the mizzen, adjust the wheel so that the boat doesn't head up or fall off too much – generally, the boat will scallop – head up a little then fall off a little.
“If you don't have a staysail, then do the same with the jib. If the wind is too high, use a smaller jib.
“The mizzen alone will keep your bow to the wind, but you'll be tacking back and forth – very uncomfortable. The key is to balance the boat on one tack.”
Thanks for any and all help. I'll distill it down for her and send it back.
Bob
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Hull #8Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
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Bob,
I haven’t hove-to in this boat yet, either, but in the past I have owned a ketch and 2 yawls. What you say may be perfectly correct, though only live practice will tell you what works best for your boat. However, in the kind of blow you’d usually decide to heave-to, the windage of the boat’s bow may be all the balance you need to the (reefed) mizzen sail.
I have a video by the Pardy’s discussing their method of heaving-to with a sea anchor to weather. It’s very good and right on, if a bit complicated. The goal is to stop the boat so that it drifts slowly to leeward without a lot of fore-reaching. This and the effect of the sea anchor create a slick to windward that discourages seas from breaking onto the boat. In extreme conditions they may also deploy a little oil.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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Hi Tor,
Thanks for that – I hadn't thought about the bow as a sail, but you're perfectly correct. I think they are more thinking of stopping the boat for a bit of a rest rather than extreme weather conditions, but am not sure. I'll pass this on – let them do what they will….
Bob
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Hull #8Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
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Bob,
Many years ago I used to skipper charters, both bareboat and fully crewed, in the VI. Since the bareboat guests often possessed little experience on a sailboat that size, I taught them a neat little trick the very first hour of the very first day out sailing. I called it The Tor Overboard Drill – what to do if I fall off the boat while we’re sailing. Rather than trying to teach them the classic figure 8 pickup, which they’d never remember in an emergency, I taught them to heave-to instantly. All you do is turn the boat hard over as if you’re trying to tack, but DO NOT TOUCH ANY LINES. Just turn. When the jib/genoa backwinds, try to turn the boat back the other way, securing the helm hard over. This locks the boat, stops her nearly dead in the water with her beam or even her quarter to the wind. (This is not for heavy weather, but for fair weather only.) She’ll then drift very slowly back the way she came so that I could easily regain the vessel. I made several of the guests actually do this, and then ran a surprise drill once or twice during the week’s charter. They enjoyed it and I felt safer.
Happy to report, though, that I never did fall overboard during a charter. But I had a couple of guests who did, and we retrieved them in this manner.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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Excellent advice! With smaller sails, it should work in heavier weather, tho, right?
Bob
On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Silver Heels < ([email][/email])> wrote:
Quote:Bob,
Many years ago I used to skipper charters, both bareboat and fully crewed, in the VI. Since the bareboat guests often possessed little experience on a sailboat that size, I taught them a neat little trick the very first hour of the very first day out sailing. I called it The Tor Overboard Drill – what to do if I fall off the boat while we're sailing. Rather than trying to teach them the classic figure 8 pickup, which they'd never remember in an emergency, I taught them to heave-to instantly. All you do is turn the boat hard over as if you're trying to tack, but DO NOT TOUCH ANY LINES. Just turn. When the jib/genoa backwinds, try to turn the boat back the other way, securing the helm hard over. This locks the boat, stops her nearly dead in the water with her beam or even her quarter to the wind. (This is not for heavy weather, but for fair weather only.) She'll then drift very slowly back the way she came so that I could easily regain the vessel. I made several of the guests actually do this, and then ran a surprise drill once or twice during the week's charter. They enjoyed it and I felt safer.
Happy to report, though, that I never did fall overboard during a charter. But I had a couple of guests who did, and we retrieved them in this manner.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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It is a neat trick because it’s quick and easy to learn. I still teach it first thing to anyone who sails with me, although on any kind of passage I still rig Capt’n Tor’s Last Chance Trip Line (http://www.tor.cc/articles/last.htmhttp://www.tor.cc/atricles/last.htm). Yes, I believe you could heave-to this way with smaller sails in a blow for an emergency stop (though I haven’t tried it), but it’s not ideal for riding out heavy weather. For that it’s generally preferable that the bow face 40°-60° off the wind. The Tor Overboard maneuver tends to leave most boats beam on or quarter to the wind, at least in the moderate conditions I’ve used it and with a full genoa flying.
Again, a little experimentation with your own boat is the best way to find out what she’ll do.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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