Heaving To Is A Valuable Skill For All Sailors
Heaving to is a technique for stopping the boat almost completely with the sails still up. The boat maintains a steady position relative to wind and waves, in contrast to “lying ahull,” in which sails are dropped and the boat is allowed to drift any which way, usually leading to an uncomfortable and perhaps dangerous boat position. A boat lying ahull is likely to turn the beam onto the waves and may capsize....