While traditional heavy displacement long keeled yachts are perfectly set up to ride out a storm by heaving-to (lying passively across the seas with the headsail backed – thereby stalling the boat) modern fin keeled yachts often do not have enough grip to use this method. It may therefore be necessary to take positive as opposed to passive measures if you, your crew and your boat are to survive a blow unscathed. If the boat is constitutionally unable to look after herself all passive techniques must be discounted, but even when a vessel is well suited to passive methods, circumstances may dictate a preference for some active effort by her crew. Once again, we’ll look at the recognised techniques and place each in the context of how suitable it may be for a particular type of yacht.
Running with the storm
The most obvious advantage of running off in heavy wind and seas is that the force of both is lessened. If you are trying to sail to windward in an apparent wind of Force 10 and you turn and run off at even a sensible speed, your apparent wind drops to a friendly Force 8, while the
