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Heaving to

mgruning

Member I
I have a 1978 Ericson MK II with the following modification of a new rudder: "Carl Shoemaker of Express fame and other great designs has designed a new rudder for the Cal 40 that is perfect for the Ericsson 35MKII"

I'm having some difficulty in "heaving to" and I was wondering what the collective experience was with the best method for this boat.

Thanks so much for your help,

Mike Gruning 310-741-1713

mgruning@gmail.com

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Rocinante33

Contributing Partner
Mike,

It don’t think I can answer your question, but from reading I have heard it said that fin keeled boats, in general, do not heave to nearly as well as full keeled boats. Perhaps your boat will slowly drift to leeward as she slowly makes way forward. Your big rudder should be helpful in the execution of the heave-to action, though.

You are tacking without releasing the lazy sheet so the jib backwinds, right? I would also presume that it would be best to have both the main and the jib reefed. You would have to find the “sweet spot” for the rudder angle by experimentation.

I look forward to hearing others thoughts on this.
 

mgruning

Member I
Heaving to with mainsail only

Hi Keith thanks so much for your quick response. I did find this in the archives which involves heaving to with the mainsail only as described below. It sounds like a good idea but the proof of course will be in the putting.

Mike

Benefit of main-only versus heaving to with backed jib the benefits include considerably less chafe, more simple maneuver (assuming you will need to partially furl a genoa prior to backing it), far less leeway, better “motion” of the boat, and especially a much better angle after the boat settles in relation to the wind. We find our E38 hove to with a backed jib sits with the bows too far off the wind, almost beam-to in heavier wind/seas, even as she does the typical “scallop” path. In rough conditions we find that heaving to under deeply reefed main only (or even better under trysail) more or less “parks” our E38 with the bow about 40-45 degrees off the wind thus presenting the strongest/safest part of the deck to the weather (the forward corner of the cabin) and allowing a more of a gentle “pitching” motion instead of a roll. Most importantly it places the all-important “slick” in a better position to knock down seas (as well described in the Pardey’s excellent book “Storm Tactics”).


The move is simple. Just gently turn into the wind as you trim your main to about the position it would be for a close reach (remember to reef it first). The main will luff and your speed with drop. At some point you will have no forward momentum and the bow will gently drop off to one side. At that point turn the helm as though you were trying to turn into the wind and lash it in place (we use the wheel brake and a sail tie lead to the cleat near the primary winches.) If you timed it right the boat will gently bear away until the main starts to fill then gently turn up as the center of effort shifts aft (with the partially filled main) and the slight forward motion engages the rudder. This causes the main to luff and your speed to drop which causes the bow to bear away and so on. When you get it “right” the boat balances well and there is not much heading up/bearing away unless waves move you around. You can easily see the “slick” caused by your boat sliding sideways. Ideally you want that slick between you and the oncoming seas.


Be careful about going completely head-to-weather to stop your progress in rough seas as they can push you back and put tremendous loads on your rudder, especially if it’s turned to the side. It’s enough to pinch into the wind to slow to the point that the bow falls off and you will not tack when you turn the helm hard over.
 

mgruning

Member I
Answer to your initial question

Hi Keith,

I neglected to answer your initial question about keeping the jib sheeted over to the opposite side and yes I do do that with an abbreviated jib however I had not reefed the main so perhaps I should try that as well.

Thanks again,

Mike
 

nquigley

Sustaining Member
I have a 1978 Ericson MK II with the following modification of a new rudder: "Carl Shoemaker of Express fame and other great designs has designed a new rudder for the Cal 40 that is perfect for the Ericsson 35MKII"
I'm having some difficulty in "heaving to" and I was wondering what the collective experience was with the best method for this boat.

What size is your genoa? (%overlap?)

What's happening instead?
> Does the genoa win, and the boat turns down wind instead of slowly fore-reaching? or
> Does the main win, and slowly turn you up into the wind?

If the genoa is winning (common when you have a large %overlap), try either rolling some of it up, and/or easing the genoa a bit after starting with it fully a-back.

If the main is winning, you may have to ease it way down the traveler, and to the point of luffing (and lock the wheel turned about 3/4 to leeward)

Some fin-keel boats don't heave-to very stably, but that's mostly a problem with very high-aspect keels - more extreme than Ericsons have.
 

mgruning

Member I
Thanks so much for your response. My jib is a 135% and yes I do furl a significant chunk of it before I attempt to heave to. To answer your question, yes the jib seems to win and give a significant amount of leeway and also it is almost as though I am lying ahull (the boat turns down wind instead of slowly fore-reaching).
 

nquigley

Sustaining Member
Thanks so much for your response. My jib is a 135% and yes I do furl a significant chunk of it before I attempt to heave to. To answer your question, yes the jib seems to win and give a significant amount of leeway and also it is almost as though I am lying a hull (the boat turns down wind instead of slowly fore-reaching).
If your (reduced) jib is still driving the bow down, reefing the main will make that result worse, not better - you're trying to almost balance to upwind turn generated by the main and the downwind turn the jib is trying to do (the keel is the pivot-point). You may want to further reduce your jib area and/or sheet a little of the main in, to tip the net balance of effects a little more toward a turn upwind. Locking the rudder for a slight upwind turn might help too.
It seems that each finkeel boat needs a different combo of jib, main and rudder - and even then, some of these boats may not remain hove-to for extended periods (large-ish wave from odd angle, or significant wind speed change, could upset the whole balancing act).
 

p.gazibara

Member III
I also have a similar rudder on Cinderella. But I also have an Express 34 rig.

In short it’s hard to truely heave to. She will always forereach. Which is nearly the same, but instead of sliding off downwind, there is a forward component.

The more canvas we have up, the more she will forereach. We spent a night “hove-to” in some snotty weather off the coast of Nicaragua with our storm jib and a really deeply reefed main. The effect was nearly the same as being hive to, but as I said you do make a kt or so of lateral progress. I haven’t been able to get her to heave to under main alone, she simply sails right through and off we go on the other tack. We always either have a jib to balance the main, or continue sailing rather slowly under the main alone.

Maybe that helps?

-P
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Hove to means slowly fore-reaching.

The wheel should be lashed hard, turned all the way "heading up" (max turn). Jib is backed. Mainsail is eased or reefed or allowed to luff, that's what balances the rig for slow fore-reaching and alleged "riding like a duck.".

Ryan Levinson reports that he can heave to on his 38 under main alone, which saves chafe.

I've tried that, not much luck. Traditional heaving to seemed to work on both Ericsons I've had, but I've only tried it for an hour or two, making repairs.
 
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HerbertFriedman

Member III
The mistake I made trying to heave to on my E34 was not sheeting in the jib tightly before tacking. I had too much belly in the jib and and the boat just sailed down wind. So now aside from rolling up the jib about halfway, I sheet it in as tight as possible before tacking.
 

G Kiba

Sustaining Member
I agree with HerbertFriedman. Sheet the jib tight! it will de-power it if it seems to win. Hard over with tiller lashed too.
 

steven

Sustaining Member
works fine on the E35-2 under either 130 genny or 110 working jib. If the backed 130, has to in flat.
Also works with either headsail and a single reefed main (have not tried with double reef).

In a trafficed area, if possible start on port tack and then tack (without tacking the jib) to heave-to on starb.
Even though you are not going anywhere, you have right of way.


--Steve
 
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