Why Heave To in Rough Weather

Heaving to is the closest thing a small yacht has to an off switch. Done properly, it parks the boat at around fifty to sixty degrees off the wind, making perhaps a knot or two of slow forward drift, while the backed headsail and the hull create a slick of calmer water to windward that takes the sting out of approaching crests. The motion changes from violent to merely uncomfortable, and that difference is everything when you have a tired crew, a hot meal going cold, or a fitting that needs attention.

For UK coastal sailors this matters more than it does offshore. Our weather arrives fast, our seas are short and steep, and there is often a headland, a tidal gate or a shipping lane within a few miles. Heaving to gives you time to think, reef properly, brew tea and wait for a squall line to pass without simply running downwind towards a lee shore.

What the Boat Is Doing When Hove To

The mechanics are simple enough. The helm is lashed to leeward so the rudder is trying to turn the bow through the wind. The headsail is sheeted to windward, backed against the mast, pushing the bow off. The mainsail, sheeted in but with the traveller down and the mainsheet eased, pushes the bow back up. The two forces cancel, and the boat sits almost still, crabbing slowly sideways and forward.

Crucially, the boat is not stationary. She drifts to leeward and down tide, and in the Bristol Channel or around the Channel Islands a spring tide can carry you further in an hour than you would believe. Treat heaving to as a slow, controlled passage, not an anchor.

Preparing Before It Gets Rough

The time to prepare is while you can still stand upright on deck. Once the boat is hove to in a proper blow, working forward is exhausting and dangerous.

• Reef early and deeply. A third reef or a trysail, not a second reef and hope.
• Change down the headsail. A roller-furled genoa rolled to handkerchief size has a dreadful shape and can unroll. A small, hanked-on storm jib or a heavy working jib is far better.
• Rig jackstays and clip on. Harnesses on before anyone needs them, not after.
• Clear the decks. Lash the dinghy, stow the cockpit cushions, check the washboards and the cockpit drains.
• Plan the plot. Note your position, the tidal stream, the nearest safe deep water, and any traffic separation scheme nearby.

The Manoeuvre, Step by Step

Ideally you heave to by tacking, but stopping short of completing it.

• Bear away slightly to build a little speed, then tack as normal.
• As the bow comes through the wind, do not release the backed jib sheet. Let the headsail fill on the wrong side and stay there.
• As soon as the mainsail has come across, ease the mainsheet well out and drop the traveller to leeward.
• Lash the tiller to leeward, or hold the wheel hard over to leeward and lash it. This is the opposite of what feels natural, and it is the step most people get wrong.
• Leave the backed jib sheeted firmly. Trim it so the sail is flat and drawing, not flogging.

Within a minute or two the boat should settle, bow perhaps forty-five to sixty degrees off the wind, forereaching gently. If you are already running under bare poles in a gale and cannot tack, you can also heave to by backing the headsail from a reach and lashing the helm, but it takes longer to settle.

Tuning the Balance

A boat that will not sit quietly is telling you something.

• If she forereaches too fast, she is mainsail-heavy. Ease the mainsheet further, drop the traveller right down, or reduce the main.
• If she keeps falling off and the jib flogs, the backed headsail is winning. Sheet it in harder, move the lead forward, or add a little more mainsail.
• If she tacks herself out of it, check the helm lashing and the rudder angle. Small adjustments, then wait five minutes before changing anything else.

Heaving to is not always the right answer. In a strong tidal race such as the Portland Race, off the Skerries, or in the Pentland Firth, standing still in breaking water is miserable and can be dangerous. In shallow water with a lee shore close by, running off under control may be safer. And if you are drifting towards a harbour wall, a heave-to is only buying you time.

Standing Watch and Getting Going Again

Once she is settled, set a routine. One person on deck at all times, clipped on, keeping a proper lookout for shipping and a running plot on the chart. Keep the echo sounder on. Log your position every half hour. Below, the rest of the crew should eat something hot, get out of wet oilskins, and sleep in watches.

To get underway, the simplest method is to sheet the backed headsail across to leeward as you release the helm. She will bear away onto a reach, then you can sheet in the main and steer where you want to go. If you intend to tack out of it instead, release the jib sheet and let it fly across while the helm comes up.

Practise heaving to in a moderate breeze on a quiet day, so that when the forecast goes wrong off Start Point or the Mull of Galloway, you can do it in the dark, one-handed, without thinking.