Heaving to is the closest thing a sailboat has to a parking brake. With the jib backed, the mainsail eased and the helm lashed, the boat stops sailing forward and lies quietly at an angle to the wind, drifting slowly sideways. It is one of the most useful skills in seamanship, and one of the least practised.

Quick answer: to heave to, sail close-hauled, then tack without releasing the jib sheet so the jib is backed against the wind. Once through the wind, ease the mainsheet and put the helm hard to leeward (tiller to leeward, or wheel turned to windward) and lash it there. The backed jib pushes the bow away from the wind while the main and rudder try to turn it back up, and the boat settles with the wind forward of the beam, making little or no headway.

What Does Heave To Mean?

To heave to is to set the sails and rudder so they work against each other. The backed jib tries to push the bow downwind; the mainsail and rudder try to turn the boat into the wind. When the forces are balanced, the boat stays roughly in one place relative to the water, typically lying somewhere around 45 to 60 degrees off the wind, and drifts slowly to leeward. A boat in that state is said to be hove to.

Because the hull is moving sideways, it leaves a band of disturbed, smoother water to windward, often called the slick. In bigger seas this slick can help break up waves before they reach the boat, which is why heaving to has long been used as a heavy-weather tactic.

Why Heave To: Rest, Reefing, Repairs and Heavy Weather

• Reefing. A hove-to boat is stable and quiet, which makes it much easier to reef the mainsail or change a headsail.
• Rest and meals. Short-handed crews heave to so they can eat, cook or sleep without the boat crashing to windward. See our guide to sleep deprivation while sailing.
• Repairs and checks. Fixing a jammed line, checking the engine or sorting out a problem below is safer when the boat is stopped.
• Waiting. Arriving at a harbor entrance before dawn or waiting for the tide is easier hove to than motoring in circles.
• Heavy weather. In moderate gales, many boats ride comfortably hove to, with the crew below. In very large breaking seas other tactics, such as running with a drogue, may be safer.
• Man overboard. Some sailing schools teach heaving to as a way to stop the boat quickly close to a person in the water. Follow the recovery method your crew has practised.

How to Heave To Step by Step

Practise on a sloop in 10 to 15 knots of wind with plenty of sea room.

1. Sail close-hauled with the sails trimmed normally. In stronger winds, reef the main and roll some headsail first.
2. Tack slowly, but don’t touch the jib sheets. Push the helm over as you would for a normal tack. The jib stays sheeted on the old side and fills from the wrong side (backed).
3. Let the boat slow down. As the bow passes through the wind, the backed jib pushes it further off. The boat will lose most of its speed.
4. Ease the mainsheet until the main is partly luffing. Lowering the traveler to leeward also helps.
5. Put the helm to leeward and lash it. With a tiller, push it to leeward and tie it there. With a wheel, turn it fully to windward and lock it. The rudder now tries to turn the boat into the wind.
6. Watch and adjust. After a minute or two the boat should settle, rising and falling with the waves, the bow pointing roughly 45 to 60 degrees off the wind, drifting slowly to leeward.

You can also heave to without tacking: haul the jib across to the windward side with the windward sheet, then ease the main and lash the helm. Tacking into it is usually easier and is the method most courses teach. For the basic tack itself, see sailing maneuver techniques: tacking, gybing and docking.

Fine-Tuning the Hove-To Position

Every boat heaves to differently, so experiment until you find the right balance. The goal is very little forward motion and a steady angle to the wind.

What the boat does	Likely cause	Fix
Sails forward too fast (forereaching)	Main pulling too much or jib too small	Ease or reef the main further; roll out a little more jib; lash the helm harder to leeward
Tacks itself back through the wind	Main too powerful, jib too small	Ease the main more or drop it; let the jib backing push harder
Falls off and starts sailing downwind	Backed jib too large or main too eased	Roll some jib in; sheet the main in a little
Lies beam-on and rolls heavily	Not enough main to hold the bow up	Trim the main slightly or use a small reefed main

In heavier weather, a deep-reefed main plus a small, backed headsail or staysail usually works better than a large genoa, which can chafe on the shrouds and spreaders when backed. Check for chafe on the jib sheet and the sail where it rests against the rig. Once hove to, use your telltales again when you get back under way to re-trim quickly.

Drift rate and sea room

Even when well balanced, a hove-to boat drifts. Traditional heavy boats may make well under a knot of leeway; lighter boats often drift and forereach 1 to 2 knots. Before you heave to for any length of time, plot your position, check where your drift will take you, and make sure there are no hazards or shipping lanes downwind. Keep a lookout and show the correct navigation lights.

How Fin Keels, Full Keels and Catamarans Behave

Full keel and long keel boats

Long-keeled boats are the classic hove-to boats. Their deep forefoot and large lateral area resist being pushed around, so they lie steadily with little forereaching. See full keel vs fin keel for more on how keel shape changes handling.

Modern fin-keel boats

Fin-keel boats with spade rudders can heave to, but they tend to forereach more and may sail out of the position. Tips that often help:

• Reef the main heavily or drop it and lie under a backed staysail or small jib alone, or under main alone.
• Use a smaller, flatter headsail rather than a large genoa.
• Lash the helm firmly; a spade rudder needs plenty of angle.
• Accept some forereaching: the boat will still be far calmer than sailing.

Catamarans

Multihulls have little keel grip and don’t heave to as reliably as monohulls. Some catamarans lie well with a backed jib and the main well eased or reefed, especially with daggerboards partly raised; others prefer lying to a sea anchor or simply slowing down under bare poles. Check the builder’s advice for your model and practise in moderate conditions.

Getting Out of Hove-To

1. Unlash the helm.
2. Release the windward (backed) jib sheet and pull in the leeward sheet.
3. Bear away to get the boat moving, then trim the main.
4. Check that nothing has chafed and that all lines are clear before sailing on.

Coming out of hove-to is simply a matter of letting the jib across and sailing off on the same tack. You don’t need to tack or gybe.

Practise Before You Need It

Heaving to is easy in 12 knots and difficult to learn for the first time in 35. Try it on every boat you sail, with different sail combinations, and note what works. Time how long it takes to stop, how fast the boat drifts and what angle it lies at. If you plan longer passages, our guide to offshore sailing for beginners explains how heaving to fits into a heavy-weather plan.

How to Heave To: Summary

To heave to, tack without releasing the jib, ease the main and lash the helm to leeward. The backed jib and the rudder balance each other, the boat slows almost to a stop and lies quietly 45 to 60 degrees off the wind, drifting slowly to leeward. Use it to reef, rest, eat, make repairs or wait out weather, adjust the main and headsail size until your boat stops forereaching, and always leave plenty of sea room downwind.