How to heave to in a yacht - Skip Novak's Storm Sailing
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- Опубликовано: 2 янв 2014
- 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 
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Skip is a great teacher...perfect explanations
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.
If you look at the body language of his crew you will see they are calm and at ease knowing they are in very safe hands. Master mariner for sure 👍
Or they are scared shitless and in shock.
This reminds me of when I was in college and decided to join the debating team, but someone talked me out of it.
That was excellent! Thanks Yachting World and the crew of Pelagic!
Thank you Skip for these videos. Your like sailing with an encyclopedia.
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.
an animation of this would help greatly I believe I personally did not comprehend any of this
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.
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.
In that situation we just call it a forced beaching.
It is useful even in mild weather, just hove to for a few minutes to make a drink, prepare food and use the heads all on the level.
He makes it look so easy .. great temperament too.
Bertie's doing all the work in this series! :)
Thank you Skip for a great video and for making sure everyone is tethered to the boat. Great seamanship by example.
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
This is level-up sailing... Great share, I hope you are all well.
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
He makes it look so easy and enjoyable which it probably is after you have done it a few times.
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.
Every time I'm on a yacht I heave.
LOL
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.
👍
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
great videos with Skip Novak, best in the internet
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.
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.
That is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!
It would have been nice to see your speed on the chart plotter or some type of GPS both before and after. Thanks!
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.
Yeah, the biggest problem was the boat brand
That’s miraculous. I try to heave to every time I sail a boat with a fore and aft rig. Just good to practice.
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.
The thing is, this weather is always like this here so if you heave to and stop pointed into the wind you will wait forever.
I couldn't see what they boat was doing, I have no idea what he just did
Travis Travis He hit the Cruise-control button👍
Yeah, worst camera work for a heave to I've seen. Plenty of better ones.
Good skipper, crap at story boarding.
@@MrTurtleneckbreath you are overthink it... just put some CREAM in the background
I guess the camera drone was already near NZ when the staysail was done... it happens to the best...
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.
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
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.
totally agree!
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.
He did
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.
Skip, would you consider the same heave to tech in heavy weather in a moderate displacement 30 foot sloop?
You can just tell how many times he has done this.
Who is the interpret of the intromusic?
So the ruther gets actualy blocked by the rope because the angle of the ship against the wind wants to turn the ship to a half wind position?
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
The boat is being held in position by the wind, and will move with the wind.
מאוד מיקצועי ללא טעויות יפה מאוד
What are the reels of green line?
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 :)
Why was the camera not showing the sails???
3:54 You can see the sails.
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 !
@@hereintranzit Like cameramen filming musicians. They focus on the face and not the fingers!
@@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.
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.
You are a good student. I guess the balance can be achieved at any angle. I mean theoretically. At this angle, the upwind slick may be much less.
Dreamr OKelly I hadba Catalina 30 fin and was able to get it to heave to, though never tested in a gale, probably more like 20 knots
with the legs?
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.
What are the two drums with green ropes on the ground for?
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 was said that trim angles are different, depending on the boat. I usually just completely ease the main sheet. That works on my boat.
digimikek , with a huge lump of island to leeward don’t take too long drinking your tea!
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.
@@claywebb8199 sir, it is a video, you are supposed to listen and to watch. This video is perfect at revealing the limitations of words.
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
Great series! Does anybody know the name of the music in the beginning?
It's Mozart a passage from Amadeus
@@gbunton appreciate it
Sailor knowledge is truly incredible, u ither got it or yoer lost
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
Great vid thanks, but what’s with the tragic music?
-With the right equipment and switched on crew this looks like a lot of fun, very encouraging!! 😊
+1 for the cup of tea.
What are the large spools of line used for ?
Anchor line...frequently securef to onjects on shore for added holding
Thanks for that.
Do you heave-to on starboard tack so you are the stand-on vessel?
You can
so moving fwd or drifting backwards into the wind ? trying to learn.
Practically stationary regards to fore/aft but with some sideways drift eg 1 knot.
What’s the use off the 4 drums with the long green lines?
Running lines ashore to resist Catabatic force winds in fjords
Thats with a 'proper' yacht. How would a modern production line boat do it in those or stronger wind conditions.?
Can you repeat this with proper storm conditions and really big waves. Then we can see how to heave to.
You want them to endanger their lives so you dont have to fgure thr most simple thing in sailing out
@@norml.hugh-mann no i want them to find out how hard it is to do in real conditions.
More courage than I got.
So you're pretty much close hulled but with the mail sail out ?
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
@@andrewbrown2063 right , thanks
How long is it safe to leave it in this position? If its sea condisions like in this video
+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.
If no danger of collision or worse weather one can stay like this as ling as your supplies, weather,boat, or rigging lasta
Sl
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...
What does windward mean?
"the direction the wind is coming from"
you forgot helm locked full to windward on the summary at the end
Not always full lock. Depends on boat and conditions and balance of sail. I had to do this just once and it was magical. Beneteauv46 foot sloop
That cup of tea scene was soo cheesy! :) Great video though
I think the cups were empty.
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
+oirvine Yep that's right. My boat will heave to without and foresail or only a tiny sliver. Any more and it sits too far off the wind.
@@oirvine Maryland school shows in more detail what to do and is far more informative and realistic about the issues.
Are we having fun yet ????
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.
I think they were going to demonstrate drogues and such. Maybe decided not to.
He uses them to tie the boat off on a shore bank.
When anchoring in the fjords which are very deep you sometimes have to tie to the shore with no anchor or anchor and lines.
what is the purpose of all the green rope on the coils....on the foredeck?
In the tour of the boat video, he said they are shore lines.
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
+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.
That is a great answer, thanks...
I wonder why you didn't just tack without touching the jib sheet? Saves a lot of hassle and energy.
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.
excellent reply, I didn't understand a word of it but it sure sounds like you know your stuff!
+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.
And guess what? Have a cup of tea!!!!
Looks like you still have way on, waves are hitting the bow, so you're not heaving too.
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.
Am I the only one who sees a carcass hanging from the backstay?
+bikerfry Who needs a fridge when the outdoors is ya fridge/freezer
+bikerfry Is that a dead cat?
It is a goat from what I could find. The conditions of weather make it ideal for curing meat with the natural salt in the water and the temperatures.
Michael Kindell "Skipper, where did my Kitty Cat go"?
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: ruclips.net/video/UsRxwg0yTS4/видео.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?
I respect your sailing experience but not sure I would heave to at 40 plus storm prefer not to risk sails and rig when it easier to drop a sea anchor.
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..
@@anguspure is the sea anchor was tied short off the bow its not fun at all. need a good distance and a little off the port or starboard
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.
many other commenters had a similar take. the camera work and the storyboarding were criticized. so you are not wrong.
All I saw was a bunch of people working winches and Skip standing and talking. Love Skip Novak, but this video had little to no educational value.
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.
I actually saw nothing ! Missed opportunity, had the crew, weather and boat
Next episode: skip novak has a strong opinion on why the only good lamb is a dead lamb.
There wasn't anything in those cups! :)
C brake
There was nothing in those mugs.
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.
really.. do you understand what the final outcome is supposed it be?
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.
After 30,000 miles on yachts and 300,000 miles in the Merchant Marine, I can tell you these are NOT BIG SEAS.
They know... it is a series of videos for technique demonstration... not the real situation
Especially for where they are.
You just can't fake drinking from an empty cup
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.
Bubblytubebob Probably don't want to be in heavy seas on a yacht if you don't even know the Jargon.
Bubblytubebob Probably don't want to be in heavy seas on a yacht if you don't even know the Jargon.
***** 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.
MotoBoy my sentiments exactly! Lololol. I actually watched it again to see if maybe I missed something.
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.
No, this is just a badly made video that shows the final result incorrectly. Waves should NOT be breaking over the bow if you are hove to.
@@marcbrutschy7566 appreciate your input.
How to heave to into a bag.
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.
That was so fake! There was no Tea in those cups! Am I right?! Am I right?! D:
Yup. All go down stairs and...puke.
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....
A bad example to learn from.
Only if you’re the type of person that looks at the pictures in books instead of reading them.
This is not a heave-to.