18 – Storm Conditions 143 Section 18 Storm Conditions Batten Down. To secure all hatches and ports in preparation for Pitchpole. Capsize end over end. heavy weather. Sea Anchor. A parachute-like device deployed off the bow to hold Drogue. Drag deployed off the stern of a boat to create resistance a boat head-to-head with minimum steerageway; often used in and slow the boat's speed in heavy weather, but still allow steer- heavy weather to keep the bow into the wind and seas. Compare ageway. Often conical or a series of conical shapes. Compare sea drogue. anchor. Under Bare Poles. Sailing (underway) with no sail set and being Heave To. To bring a boat into a position where there is little or driven only by force of the wind on the hull, spars, and rigging; no headway, usually with the bow into the wind or current. usually a heavy weather precaution. Lay To. To lie without headway either to a sea anchor or to lines streamed over the side, or merely drifting (lying ahull). 1 Storm conditions exist when the weather becomes bad 3 With more experience and longer journeys, there is an enough to threaten the survival of a boat and its crew. increasing likelihood that difficult weather conditions What constitutes storm conditions depends to a great will be encountered. If wind and sea conditions build extent upon the size and design of the boat and the ex- to the point that normal progress under sail is no longer perience of the crew. An inexperienced crew could find possible, action must be taken. Because boats, crews, a 20-knot breeze frightening and dangerous, while an and conditions vary widely, specific prescriptions can- experienced crew would be reveling in the same weather. not be made. Several options are available that will be Whether experienced or inexperienced, the same safety described in this section. and comfort precautions apply as in heavy weather sailing. Secure loose gear. Stow, tie down, or otherwise 4 The description of rough-weather sailing procedures that prevent any articles from becoming airborne as a result follows is necessarily brief. Interested students should of the boat’s motion. Dress warmly, stay dry, and wear read Heavy Weather Sailing by K. Adlard Coles. The a life jackets. Use a safety harness. third edition contains several appendices in which the 1979 Fastnet Race storm is discussed. This storm caught 2 Do not sail too far from the safety of a harbor until the fleet by surprise. It lasted for some nine hours and gaining experience in sailing in heavy winds. Staying attained winds of 55 knots, with higher gusts. Only 85 close will usually ensure time to find a safe haven when boats finished out of the 303 that started. There were 19 weather deteriorates. VHF weather stations cover most boats abandoned and five sunk, and 15 lives were lost. of the prime sailing areas and transmit continually. Sail- Lessons can be learned from reports written following ors should always be well advised of imminent weather a thorough investigation of this disaster. changes. Sail 144 18 – Storm Conditions Track of Boat Wind Storm Jib, Backed Storm Trysail Helm Down Figure 18–1 Heaving To Heaving To on a boat, the factors that must be balanced are: reefed 5 Consider heaving to when conditions continue to worsen; mainsail size, jib size, and position of the lashed tiller. sail has already been reduced, and boat and crew are tak- ing a beating. This is particularly true when the present 8 Practice balancing these factors before heaving to is position is believed to be safer than the area for which actually required. This will make the job easier the first the boat is headed. In heaving to, the jib is sheeted to time it becomes necessary. windward, the main is tightly sheeted, and the tiller is lashed to leeward, Figure 18-1. Lying Ahull 9 In some conditions, it may be necessary to furl all sails 6 The jib works against the main. As the wind catches the on the boat, lash the helm amidships, batten down all backed jib, the boat’s bow is forced to leeward. As the hatches, and go below to ride out the worst of the storm. bow falls off the wind, the sheeted mainsail begins to The boat will lie across the wind, rolling to the seas. draw. The force on the mainsail causes the boat to begin This is relatively more comfortable than continuing to moving forward slowly. As it begins to move, the rud- sail. This maneuver, called lying ahull, has a number of der causes the boat to round up into the wind where the advocates, and many boats have weathered storms lying backed jib once again causes the head to fall off. This ahull. Lying ahull may not be the technique for use in process continues indefinitely, causing the boat to scal- the most demanding of situations. As K. Adlard Coles lop along very slowly. Essentially, the boat maintains points out in Heavy Weather Sailing: “It is difficult to its position, moving only slightly forward and leeward draw the line between what is safe and what is dangerous, (disregarding any movement caused by currents, of but countless yachts have weathered ordinary gales by course). lying ahull.” During the 1979 Fastnet Race, a number of yachts hove to for varying lengths of time, and others 7 While lying hove to, a boat’s motion is less violent. lay ahull. Many of these boats succeeded in surviving, It rides up and down the waves without the slamming but post-race analysis suggested that those who carried associated with forward motion. To practice heaving to a small amount of sail and continued making headway were the most successful in that particular storm. Sail 18 – Storm Conditions 145 13 Running Off Drogues are smaller, sometimes porous, drag-producing 10 At some point the wind becomes so strong and the seas so devices trailed behind boats to slow them when running large, heaving to or lying ahull is no longer comfortable, off under bare poles and the risk of high boat speeds and or safe. Running off before the wind under bare poles pitchpoling is a concern. The boat must continue to be may become the only alternative. Ensure that sufficient steered. The devices are generally six feet or under in sea room is available to prevent running aground. diameter. Some life rafts and other emergency devices are equipped with small sea anchors or drogues to reduce 11 In running before the wind, the boat may develop high their drift. speeds while running down wave faces. The helmsman must always be alert to keep the boat from broaching. Summary A major danger in running before the wind is having 14 Storm conditions exist when the weather becomes bad the boat bury its bow, and pitchpole or broach. To help enough to threaten the survival of a boat and its crew. reduce this possibility, sailors trail long lengths of line Do not sail too far from the safety of a harbor until aft when running before the wind. This is known as experience is gained in sailing in heavy winds. Various streaming warps and helps to reduce the boat’s speed and techniques are used to ride out storms at sea. In heaving prevent pitchpoling or broaching. A drogue will provide to, the jib is sheeted to windward, the main is sheeted in, a more positive and consistent restraint on excessive and the tiller is lashed to leeward. To lie ahull, furl all speed when running. sails on the boat, lash the helm amidships, batten down all hatches, and go below. Running off before the wind Sea Anchors or Drogues is sailing downwind under bare poles. Sea anchors are 12 An alternative to lying ahull is the use of a sea anchor. designed to be used to hold a boat head-to-wind and to Sea anchors hold a boat head-to-wind and slow its slow its drift. Drogues are smaller devices that are trailed drift to the range of one-half knot to two knots. They behind boats to slow them when running off. figuratively anchor the boat to the ocean’s surface. Sea anchors are used when a vessel’s speed must be an absolute minimum as when trying to maintain position off a lee shore. They are a parachute-like structure made of nylon, connected to an anchor rode by nylon webbing, and are relatively large ranging in size from six feet/1.8 meters to over twenty feet/6 meters in diameter. The anchor rode used should also be made of nylon, have the same diameter as the anchor line used with ground tackle, and be long; a minimum of 300 feet, preferably ex- tendible to 600 feet. These characteristics reduce loads on the boat and on the sea anchor. There are numerous reports in the literature of the successful use of sea anchors. Figure 18–2 Stormy Weather Sail 146 18 – Storm Conditions Sail 18 – Storm Conditions 147 Homework: Section 18: Storm Conditions Name _____________________________________ 1. In running off, the worst fear is: a) blowing out a sail. b) going too fast down a wave front. c) going too slow for the wave action. d) getting too much water in the boat. 2. Heaving to is: a) having a drogue off the bow. b) reducing sail and maintaining course. c) closing all hatches, lashing the tiller, and going below. d) sheeting the jib to windward, to work against the mainsail, and lashing the tiller to leeward.