{{short description|Way of slowing a sailing vessel's forward progress}} [[File:Hove-to.svg|thumb|right|Plan view of a [[sloop]] hove to. The [[jib]] is backed to [[Windward and leeward|windward]], the [[mainsail]] is slightly eased, and the [[rudder]] is fixed in an attempt to turn into the wind (which is coming from the top of the diagram).]] In [[sailing]], '''heaving to''' (to '''heave to''' and to be '''hove to''') is a way of slowing a sailing vessel's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the vessel does not have to be steered.<ref name="Sail_mag">{{cite news|last1=Schell|first1=Andy|title=Cruising Tips: Heaving-To|url=http://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/cruising-tips/cruising-tips-heaving-to/|access-date=21 June 2017|publisher=Sail Magazine|date=21 January 2013}}</ref> It is commonly used for a "break"; this may be to wait for the tide before proceeding, or to wait out a strong or contrary wind. For a solo or shorthanded sailor it can provide time to go below deck, to attend to issues elsewhere on the boat or to take a meal break.<ref name=sailingusa>[http://www.sailingusa.info/points_of_sail.htm www.sailingusa.info/points_of_sail.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626180932/http://www.sailingusa.info/points_of_sail.htm |date=June 26, 2006 }}</ref><ref name=sailtrain>{{cite web| url=http://www.sailtrain.co.uk/seamanship/weather.htm |title=Heavy weather conditions at sea (pictures and further explanation) |access-date=17 April 2015}}</ref> Heaving to can make reefing a lot easier, especially in traditional vessels with several sails.<ref name="Cunliffe 2016">{{cite book |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Tom |author1-link=Tom Cunliffe|title=Hand, Reef and Steer: Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats|date=2016 |publisher=Adlard Coles |isbn=978-1472925220 |edition=second}}</ref>{{rp|113}} It is also used as a storm tactic.<ref name="HWS">{{cite book|last1=Bruce|first1=Peter|title=Heavy Weather Sailing|year=2016|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=9781472928207|pages=192–195|edition=7th|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/heavy-weather-sailing-7th-edition-9781472928207/|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=3 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603100850/https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/heavy-weather-sailing-7th-edition-9781472928207/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A sailing vessel that is hove to is still, for the purposes of the [[International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea|collision regulations]], on a defined tack. Therefore, unless other considerations dictate differently, it is helpful to heave to on the starboard tack, in order to be a "stand-on vessel", as per the regulations.{{r|Cunliffe 2016|p=327}}
The term is also used in the context of vessels under power and refers to bringing the vessel to a complete stop. For example, in waters over which the United States has jurisdiction the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] may, under [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/14/522 14 U.S.C. §522], demand that a boat "heave to" in order to enforce federal laws.<ref>{{Cite web |title=18 U.S. Code § 2237 - Criminal sanctions for failure to heave to, obstruction of boarding, or providing false information |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2237 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref>
==Hove to== [[File:The opium clipper Lanrick.jpg|thumb|A [[brig]] hove to. The fore and main courses are clewed up (to reduce the amount of load on the rig) and the main topsail is backed to take the way off the vessel.]] A sailing vessel is "hove to" when it is at or nearly at rest because the driving action from one or more sails is approximately balanced by the drive from the other(s). This always involves "backing" one or more sails, so that the wind is pressing against the forward side of the cloth, rather than the aft side as it normally would for the sail to drive the vessel forwards.<ref name="Sail_mag" /> On a [[square rig]]ged vessel with more than one mast, a number of options are available; these generally involve [[Glossary of nautical terms (A–L)#brace|bracing]] round the square topsail on one or more masts to an [[Glossary of nautical terms (A–L)#aback|aback]] position to counterbalance the sails that remain set in their normal position.<ref name="Harland 2015">{{cite book |last1=Harland |first1=John |title=Seamanship in the age of sail : an account of shiphandling of the sailing man-o-war, 1600-1860 |date=2015 |location=London |isbn=978-1-8448-6309-9}}</ref>{{rp|225–230}} On a modern two-sailed [[sloop]], there is only the [[jib]] and the [[mainsail]]. A [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]] may have more than one headsail, and a [[ketch]], [[yawl]] or [[schooner]] may have more than one sail on a [[Boom (sailing)|boom]]. In what follows, the jibs and boomed sails on such craft can either be treated as one of each, or lowered for the purposes of reduced windage, heel or complexity when heaving to for any length of time.<ref name = "Parley">{{Cite book|last= Pardey|first=Lin|title=Storm Tactics Handbook, 3rd Ed., Modern methods of heaving-to for survival in extreme conditions|year=2008 |location= Arcata, California |publisher=Pardey Books|isbn=978-1-92921-447-1|pages=44–48}}</ref>
When a sloop is hove to, the jib is backed. This means that its windward [[Sheet (sailing)|sheet]] is tight holding the sail to windward. The mainsail sheet is often eased, or the mainsail [[Reefing|reefed]], to reduce forward movement, or "fore-reaching". The rudder is placed so that, should the boat make any forward movement, it will be turned ''into'' the wind, so as to prevent forward momentum building up.<ref name="Coastal_boat">{{cite web|title=Heaving To - Parking your boat without anchoring|url=http://cruising.coastalboating.net/Seamanship/Anchoring/Heaving-to/index.html|website=Coastal Boating.net|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=2 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302075735/http://cruising.coastalboating.net/Seamanship/Anchoring/Heaving-to/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a [[centerboard]] boat the centerboard will be partially raised and the tiller held down hard.<ref>{{cite web|title=Heaving to and the centerboard|url=http://forum.trailersailor.com/post.php?id=984963|website=The Trailorsailor|access-date=21 June 2017}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
==Heaving to== For a sloop sailing along normally, either of two maneuvers will render the sailboat to be hove to.
First, the jib can be literally ''heaved'' to windward, using the windward sheet and releasing the other.<ref name="HWS"/><ref name="How_to_cruise">{{cite web|title=How to manoeuvre under sail|url=https://howtocruise.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/how-to-manoeuvre-under-sail/|website=How to cruise under sail - Safety and comfort for live-aboard, long-distance sailors|date=23 June 2010 |access-date=21 June 2017}}</ref> Then the rudder would be put across so as to turn gently towards the wind. Without the drive of the jib, and allowing time for momentum to die down, the sailboat will be unable to [[Tacking (sailing)|tack]] and will stop hove to. This method may be preferable when [[Points of sail|broad reaching or running]] before a strong wind in a heavy sea and the prospect of tacking through the wind in order to heave to may not appeal. Bearing away from the wind so that the headsail is blanketed by the mainsail can make it easier to haul in the windward sheet.
Alternatively, the vessel can simply be turned normally to tack through the wind, ''without'' freeing the jibsheet.<ref name="HWS" /><ref name="Sail_mag" /><ref name="How_to_cruise" /> The mainsail should self-tack onto the other side, but the jib is held aback. Finally the rudder is put the other way, as if trying to tack back again. Without the drive of the jib, she cannot do this and will stop hove to. This method is fast to implement and is recommended by sail training bodies such as the [[Royal Yachting Association|RYA]] as a "quick stop" reaction to a [[man overboard]] emergency, for sailing boats that have an engine available for further maneuvers to approach and pick up the casualty.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pearson|first=Malcolm|title=Reeds skipper's handbook: for sail and power |location=London |year=2007 |publisher=Adlard Coles Nautical |isbn=978-0-7136-8338-7 |pages=127}}</ref>
Finally, in either case, the tiller or wheel should be lashed so that the rudder cannot move again, and the mainsheet adjusted so that the boat lies with the wind ahead of the beam with minimal speed forward. Usually this involves easing the sheet slightly compared to a closehauled position, but depending on the relative sizes of the sails, the shape and configuration of the keel and rudder and the state of the wind and sea, each skipper will have to experiment.<ref name="Parley" /><ref name="Sail_mag" /> After this the boat can be left indefinitely, only keeping a lookout for other approaching vessels.
When hove to, the boat will heel, there will be some drift to leeward and some tendency to forereach, so adequate seaway must be allowed for. In rough weather, this leeway can actually leave a "slick" effect to windward, in which the waves are smaller than elsewhere.<ref name="Parley" /> This can make a rest or meal break a little more comfortable at times.
To come out from the hove-to position and get under way again, the tiller or wheel is unlashed and the windward jibsheet is released, hauling in the normal leeward one. Bearing off the wind using the rudder will get the boat moving and then she can be maneuvered onto any desired course.<ref name="Coastal_boat" /> It is important when choosing the tack, heaving to, and remaining hove to, in a confined space that adequate room is allowed for these maneuvers.{{sfn|Pardey|2008|p=116}}
==Heaving to as a storm tactic== Heaving to has been used by a number of yachts to survive storm conditions (winds greater than [[Beaufort scale|Force 10]], 48–55 knots, 89–102{{nbs}}km/h, 55–63{{nbs}}mph).<ref name="HWS" /> During the June 1994 Queen's Birthday Storm,{{sfn|Bruce|2016|pp=241-253}} all yachts that hove to survived the storm.{{sfn|Bruce|2016|p=248}} This included ''Sabre'', a 10.4{{nbs}}m (34{{nbs}}ft) steel cutter with two persons on board, which hove to in wind speeds averaging 80 knots for 6 hours with virtually no damage.<ref name="HWS" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Kim|title=The 1994 Pacific Storm Survey|date=1996|publisher=Captain Teach Press and Quarry Pub|location=Auckland, N.Z.|isbn=1-877197-11-4|page=10|oclc=154204736}}</ref>
During the ill-fated [[1979 Fastnet race]], of 300 yachts, 158 chose to adopt storm tactics; 86 "[[Lying ahull|lay ahull]]", whereby the yacht adopts a "beam on" attitude to the wind and waves; 46 ran before the wind under bare poles or trailing warps/sea anchors, and 26 hove to. 100 yachts suffered knock downs; 77 rolled (that is [[turtling (sailing)|turtled]]) at least once. Not one of the hove to yachts were [[capsizing|capsized]] (knocked down or turtled) or suffered any serious damage.{{sfn|Pardey|2008|p=97}} The "heave to" maneuver is described in the story of the first Golden Globe yacht race of 1968.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nichols|first=Peter|title=A Voyage For Madmen |location=London |year=2002 |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1861974655|pages=320}}</ref>
==See also== *{{annotated link|Anchor}} *{{annotated link|Drogue}} *{{annotated link|Mooring}} *{{annotated link|Sea anchor}} *{{annotated link|Seakeeping}} *{{annotated link|Seamanship}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Sailing manoeuvres}} [[Category:Sailing manoeuvres]]