Heaving to is an ideal technique for riding out a storm, but there's an art to it in heavy seas. Skip Novak explains how to go about it. Read more at www.yachtingworld.com/storm-sailing-techniques
This technique saves your life. It was ingrained in me when I was young. I will still watch this video six times and know it by heart before I even ever go out again. They make it look fun and easy, and it's not hard, but it's something you have to be able to do instinctively if you are ever in a position to really need it. I will be sailing a ketch, I will adapt the mizzen to help me with the mail and the stormsail in balance.
😂I find it unbelievable that so many so say sailors I know have not got a clue how to hove too. But then I mostly find them with sails down and running on engines. Lol boater not sailers.
great video. Done exactly that a number of times. One thing was missed - heaving to is not something possible to do when close to a lee shore as the boat will slowly creep across and downwind. It's a open water technique only.
Great instruction on how to heave to. Very simple instructions for each step and he's correct each boat has its own"sweet spot" so have to play with the helm a bit
Use the windward (lazy) jib sheet to pull the jib into the wind. Ease main a little to develop lift. Lash the helm done. Boat should stay in a sort of irons 30 degrees off the wind. He said it will crawl forward at a little over 1 knot. The backwinded jib is pushing the boat down wind, the eased main is lifting the boat upwind. Trick is finding the balance.
Thank you! This is the best description so far. I am most amazed to hear that some boats won't heave to at all! Now I can go out and try again but with a whole new approach to the exercise.
I've worked on boats my whole life I am a captain of a large vessel and new to sailing I've lived on my sailboat 3 years now. I cant imagine leaving the helm tied off and just leaving it unattended for any length of time in adverse conditions
We use this technique on the Viper 640 in between races on heavy wind days to give the crew a break and to stay near the start line waiting for the race sequence to start.
Judging by the look of the sea the wind was not strong enough for heaving to, bug still it was a good demonstration, and the comment were good. No bullshit talk. Thank you. Subscribed. Bloke from Aus.
With a good boat as my old Dockrell is she will keep a trusty course on her own even in strong winds and rough see. And she also heaves too so well. I fell safe in all conditions.
This might as well be a podcast. You've got this obviously skilled sailing crew, a good boat and a good camera and editing crew - why not show what is actually going on with the sails? This is the first time I have seen anything in this series but you definitely need a RIB or fastboat to shoot video from.
A lot of people said the same thing. You have a modest amount of sail up. Just enough to give the forces you want. Then you cross control them, with the head sail being backwinded. The idea is you want to hang. One sail drives a turn one way and the other sail drives a turn the other way. Experiment with the wheel where it help. It usually helps to have the rudder trying to sail toward the wind. It’s very much like crabbing when you’re landing a plane in a severe cross wind.
.can heave to with just the main or the jib...dont have to have them fight each other because you just have to lash the tiller to one side...really varries so much depending on keel/rudder config, sails, hull shape, wetted surface, wind and current...ect ect .. I LMAO @ anyone who thinks all boats heave to the same way.
Awesome ! I kitesurf and do this in strong wind to relax at a snails pace calmly while the water goes crazy Practise this technique so it’s memory when needed
Nice manoeuvre. Yesterday we had a jammed infurling main sail and we reef to in nice way maintaining 1.7kt drift, boat was a Hunter 33, wind 18 to 25kt and waves at 3m. We manage to solve the problem calmly.
Would be nice if you filmed the sails in your videos to give an idea of what the jib and main sails should be like during your "heaving to" demonstration.
The camera person is awful ! Hey, I want to see more of what skip Novak is talking about and less of him ‘cause I know what he looks like and there’s no need to see him while he’s talking about sailing !
It’s irrelevant. Every boat behaves differently so the sail trim/configuration on one won’t necessarily work on another. One has to FIND it by trial and error. He basically said all that in the video - LISTEN.
It wasnt well shown on the video but basically the jib was pulled back the opposite side to the main...its called "backing the sails" and balancing it so you slow right down and almost stop but it settles the boat. Poor camera work though.
Cup of tea, get in! :-) Thanks for sharing your knowledge Skip and crew. I have just added this video to our playlist Essential Sailing Knowledge. Fair winds! Chris & Rossella 👍
In a book I read on heavy-weather sailing, it said the ideal angle to the swell was 50 degrees. That was using a sea-anchor. I don't know if it applies to being hove-to.
Acknowledging your sailing prowess, you spent entirely too much time watching the skipper Novak 'explain what is happening' WITHOUT showing the mainsail trim angle and the results on the boat. Someone should have picked up on that before posting the video in my humble opinion.
It’s irrelevant. Every boat behaves differently so the sail trim/configuration on one won’t necessarily work on another. One has to FIND it by trial and error. He basically said all that in the video - LISTEN.
You don't tack to back the stay sail because you want the boat a certain direction to the waves first to make things more comfortable...ive done it 3 times now in the Biscay for 15 hrs each time,,,,can make it really nice if done right
What about boat direction? L&L Pardey say that to heave to effectively, the boat should move directly downwind, leaving a protective turbulent slick upwind.
Because whoever is behind the camera is completely clueless ! He/she almost never films what Skip is talking about and gets that camera stuck on his face. Almost useless videos !
@@TheDesertSailor, a music video is about entertainment, right ? And in that case showing what the fingers are doing on the keyboard is completely irrelevant, while in a technical training video focusing on the object of the training is a must, or is it ?
@@hereintranzit This is a technical video. An instructional video. An instructional video on how to play the piano would not just focus on the pianist's face explaining what their fingers were doing, but on the fingers and the keyboard. So, are you saying this sailing video is for entertainment only? Novak, I am sure would not concur.
Thank you, so much -- I was wondering how to do that! Tacking is useful when its needed and done on purpose -- not when it messes up whatcha got going on perfectly. I REALLY LOVE THE TIE OFF OF THE HELM TRICK, I CANT WAIT NOW!!!!! JUST FOUND YOUR CHAN -- SUBBING NOW, FAIR WINDS :)
From a perspective of someone with zero experience trying to learn more, this video didn't show much. The explanation is heat if you're explaining it to oskeone who already knows how to do it...
How will the Staysail Sheets last working on the starboard shrouds? Seems like they'd be sawed through after a time wouldn't they? Wouldn't want have the sheet part in a blow.
Id Love to sail up that far yet, Whirl Pools give me the Creeps LOL Saw lots up of them all was well just creepy LMAO :) Video has very nice footage of what Im missing Thanks for Sharing
A newbie here, wondering what happens if the boat goes into a tack without any human intervention , will the boat end up trying to do a complete 360 turn in a circle if just left in that set up ? With tied steering wheel etc ? And is that dangerous ? 🙂
Depends on so many factors!! There is inherit risk in all aspects of sailing...especially if rough enough to need to heave to...but heaving to is a recommended storm tactic so safer than contiuing sailing....unless perhaps you heave to way too long and a hurricane hits you
Tacking will temporarily put the boat beam on to the breaking sea. The back headsail kills the boat sped and it will drop down to over 60 degrees off the wind / sea until it rounds back up. Also bringing across the HS means you're roughly going in the same direction as before as the boat fore-reaches.
+Jasper Stinissen You postion the boat in the sea and its waves for the most comfortable position then back the jib and adjust the steering to slow the boat down,,,,not letting it bare up or bare away
+colin rat I see your point. Maybe I'm not practiced enough in heaving to in heavy conditions. Only tried it with full HS and not with a staysail jib. With full sails it seems like a lot of sheet winching / grinding action to back the jib. Maybe it's easier with only a staysail. But still: the point of heaving to is to lay still in the waves. Theoretically it doesn't matter which tack it is (starboard or port). So a quick tack without touching the sheets would also suffice? Maybe Tim Good has a point that you would momentarily expose your boat to dangerous wave angles. Anyway, I will practice some more in more open sea.
But in a big sea and wind there is normally 1 tack that is smoother than the other,,,,they are never the same, so skips chosen tack was the one he was on all ready I think, and backing a small jib is a problem, you don't want to lie still either so 1 or 2 knots forward will maintain steerage as well, other wise it leaves you mercy to the sea more.
Great video I’m a new sailor. My question is if you ease the main, how do you not accidentally jibe if boat gets tossed around in the waves or if the wind changes direction
So, I get the part about giving the crew a break but he also used the chance of breaking something as a reason to heave to. How does this lessen the stresses on the rigging?
When you are bashing your way to windward through decent seas the stresses on the rigging are great and they vary with the boat action, ie burying the bow slows boat speed and forces mast forward (tensions mainstays / aft stays, loosens forestays) and then lifting the bow and accelerating pushes mast to rear and loosens aft stay tension and increases forestay tension. That constant tension increase / decrease cycle particularly to greater extremes both ways is much more likely to snap a stay or rip a mounting point, or rip a sail etc. The heave to process stops forward speed through the water so instead of say making 6 or 8 knots into big seas you are now practically stationary, perhaps with a 1 knot drift sideways. Therefore much less stress on everything, rigging, sails, rudders (and auto-helm if you have it / use it). It really does allow the crew to have a good breather and get some rest, the relentless pounding into 50 or 60 knots and big seas of a big storm wears you out. 40 knots is pretty mild really and not worth heaving to in, but it's good to practice and demonstrate it with cameras etc - gets a bit much to ask them to do it in 60 knots + 20-30 foot seas and film it lol.
I was surprised that the boat would point up as close as 30 degrees, as the small boats I have experienced tend to lie 60 degrees or more off. The technique is still effective, however.
Maryland School of Sailing has a video on storm sailing. The guy there says that if you are lieing off the wind too much, you likely have too much foresail up. He says many times you don't even need to have a foresail up for a sloop rigged boat. The rigging will give enough force to keep the bow down wind. I haven't tried it myself, so I can't say
That is exactly what I noticed myself and thought... but it seems that there are different concepts and practices of heaving to according to the kind of boat and the strength of wind/waves. Traditionally, with long or nearly long keel boats, heave to meant to drift leeward. Some modern boats can't heave to that way so like in this case the boat has still a slight forward motion. I guess the purpose is to have stable situation which can allow a rest to the crew and take the waves on the bow. Not a real heave to in my opinion.
Michael Byrne , agreed, long keel yachts do heave to better, ideally no forward motion or very little gives a reasonable slick to Windward which calms the sea surface.
Exactly. The slick only forms when the boat is being pushed sideways by the wind. The slick itself is what causes waves to break on it, rather than over the boat. Showing a video of the waves hitting the bow is massively confusing.
I don't think this video actually shows how to heave to. I'm a rookie- so maybe a guy at the helm talking and then another guy on a winch is a good way to show rudder and sail positions vis a vis the wind. And even though I'm a noob, I've hove too many times. What's curious it almost teaches itself - of course you don't want to 'figure it out' near Cape Horn. I learned the basics. Then on a close reach in 3-4 feet seas I needed to use the head. That wasn't going to work. So let's try heaving to.... couldn't have been simpler.
I had the same question regarding green coil lines- just to embarrassed to ask, lol.. Still have not ever seen "shore lines used before".. much to learn and I love these instructional videos :) Thanks a great deal!
+40cleco Shore lines of floating polypropylene rope. Normal rope could be coiled in a bag but it would sink and make it hard to manage. Imagine pulling 100m of wet sinking rope. So they use floating rope but the downside is that is horrible to handle and it doesn't coil easily. So they stick it on big drums to wind in or out, doing away with the problems of twists. Plus polyprop rope is cheap as hell.
Thanks for the explanation. What are the 4 coils of what looks like 500ft of 1/2" 3 strand poly rope in green just aft of the mast used for? I use to sail on the east coast and have never seen a boat equipped with it on deck.
Why back the staysail? Why not simply tack and let the staysail back itself? Doesn't make sense unless the staysail is too complicated to tack. Oh well...and why bother with all the trouble of rigging a staysail with all that complicated rigging? Why not put a storm jib up, which would achieve the same thing, or even furl the jib that was up in the first place? Looks to me like everything is deliberately complicated and labour intensive for no purpose.
I guess the idea here is preciselly NOT to tack.. In heavy weather you do not really want to tack if you don't need to (easier on the rigging and sails)
definitely no tacking. Your gear will take a heavy hit from all the strain. I saw one video where a dude across from an Oyster, snap jibbed in a gale, was pretty gruesome.
@@michaelrandold4656, what's an "Oyster snap?" In my experience (dinghies), tacking in a very heavy weather is difficult (but not dangerous), and jibing in very heavy weather is dangerous (but not difficult, if you don't mind breaking your boat and swimming).
David Burton Hmm that was a year or so ago. Someone was crossing the Atlantic and they hit like 50 knot winds and there was an Oyster out to the side of them that did an accidental jib and the mainmast swung around in a hard snap. Full sized yacht, no dinghy.
No the head sail is backed, pushing the head away from the wind and the helm is steering up into the wind, hence these two forces counter each other; the main is eased to further fine tune the balance
+DragonBorn Not very long, given there's a giant rocky island to windward I wouldn't think they'd be dwelling on their tea for too long! If they were out at sea, they could stay like this all night and get some rest below, which is what makes this such a great survival tactic compared to trying to sail the storm.
I'd make my rope to the wheel easier to take off. The wheel on Jazza is pretty easy to deal with (skegged and un balanced). That looks like a probable catastrophe in a jive. Maybe should have checked the other comments first. Triggered.
Just spent 2 days flopping around at the end of a sea anchor. Was decidedly less comfortable than heaving too. Perhaps a combination of techniques is the way.
I disagree it's easier to drop sea anchor - today's furling foresails can be left out a few square metres and backed, the main can be completely dropped, in relatively safety compared to going forward with a sea anchor to throw off bow. The hove to attitude is quite nice for a boat too compared to sea anchor imho. I prefer hove to.
I have the sea anchor pre rigged if there is any.posability of a Storm. So I am in no danger. You could simply drop your anchor . It's just to slow drift and maintain some control as you drift backwards if yoururclose to land it will give you our anchor to stop your drift
I have done it for real 3 times and only once with a sea anchor. You need the trisail up to keep the boat steady.I would not do it your way ever. Each to his own and both my boats have been full keels with cut away forefoot which makes things more comfortable..
Anybody that understands your technical jargon I'm sure already knows everything there is to know about heaving to. Why don't you explain it in plain English so you can get your message across to the people who really need this information.
***** With todays technology,there's no need to be in heavy seas , unless you're looking to be in them. If you're in heavy seas ,your jargon won't save your ass , experience will. When you''re single handed and hanging on for dear life the only jargon that you're going to need is how to say some prayers. I've sailed since 1975 in waters at my doorstep that rank in the top three most dangerous waters in the world with Cape Horn and the Tasmanian Sea being the other two, and I'm still here, even without your precious "Jargon"
***** You're absolutely wrong, this video is for "newbies". Ask Skip Novak who he's trying to teach, on behalf of his Insurance Co. who sponsors him and his videos.
What do you think of hanging from a sea anchor or a drag drifting a bit aft but always eyes to the wind? Oh! I see you have a video on that so I'm watching it next. Students look here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UsRxwg0yTS4.html
I'm no expert and never sailed in Cape Horn type seas, but I can't imagine someone dragging anything in that weather. I've never seen or heard of it being done- why would you when heaving to works?
Heaving to under jib/staysail? This is your "heavy weather" technique? Really? With all due respect, putting a headsail broadside to a storm force blow will usually result in the headsail blowing up or the sheet parting, perhaps even rig failure. The boat will feel like it's being stomped on, the rigging screaming for mercy, and the ride will be rough. The trick to heaving to is to sheet as much of the leech over to the weather side as possible (I usually oversheet the jib and then tack over to starboard). This settles the boat lest you have a lazily sheeted jib not knowing whether to keep on sailing or not. The result, although fairly steady, puts the headsail up against the wind like a barn door. The catch here is that you can't use a storm jib or spitfire jib because the leech won't be able to backwind enough. In this video, the staysail barely backwinded enough to make it work (near the center of the mast). I doubt they took off much forward way. But even with a staysail, she's not going to hold up very well to 40+ kts. Heaving to in my book is NOT a heavy weather strategy unless it's done with a trysail. The video title is "Heavy Weather Tactics" but the only choice, apparently, is heaving to.
I'm sorry, but this doesn't explain anything. I feel like he's just showing off his captain prowess. Now, I know I'm probably wrong about that... but me being somewhat on the novice side of the spectrum, this doesn't explain anything. This is probably an instructional video for someone who already has 80%+ idea already of what "heaving to" is.
Another Skip's wasting our fucking time. by an insurance company.... Drop the main, wheel or tiller to windward, and back wind the jib, end of story....