You've tacked to heave-to but forget to touch the tiller. The backed jib pushes the bow off the wind and — with the rudder centered — the boat slowly bears away and starts sailing off on the new tack instead of parking. What single correction restores the balance?

Turn the tiller to leeward and lash it there

Ease the mainsheet to spill wind from the main

Turn the tiller to leeward and lash it there

⛵ Heaving-To: Parking a Sailboat at Sea

Sometimes you need the boat to just stop — to reef in peace, tend a seasick crew, wait out a squall, or eat lunch without a fight. Heaving-to is a self-balancing configuration that nearly parks the boat, leaving it drifting slowly to leeward with the motion calmed. Recall from earlier cards how the sails and rudder normally work together to drive the boat forward; heaving-to deliberately sets them against each other so the forces cancel.

The classic maneuver from a close-hauled course: tack the boat but don't release the jib sheet. The jib ends up backed (filled on the wrong side), trying to push the bow away from the wind. You leave the mainsail sheeted in, and then turn the tiller to leeward (wheel to windward) and lash it there so the rudder tries to steer the bow back up into the wind. The backed jib and the rudder now fight to a standstill, and the boat settles at roughly 50–60° off the wind, forereaching slowly.

Why it matters beyond comfort: as the boat slips sideways it leaves a slick of flattened water to windward, which knocks down breaking crests — a real tactic in heavy weather. Every boat is different, so practice in moderate wind first: adjust how much main you carry and rudder angle until she sits quietly. A fin-keel boat may fore-reach faster and lie less steadily than a long-keeled cruiser, so find your boat's sweet spot before you need it.