Heaving-To in a Catboat  Family Cat  Marshall Sanderling  Horizon Cat  24 This past weekend I carried full sail into winds starting to kick up whitecaps, sailing at well over 5 knots closehauled and  pointing high. With the centerboard retracted about a foot's worth of line, I had moderate weather helm. When a heavy  With the centerboard properly adjusted, I can leave the helm, go below, and grab a nicely chilled soft drink from the ice  chest, and when I return to the helm at my leisure the boat is still on approximately the same point of sail. Then I discovered that pulling up the centerboard pendant just a few inches took the weather helm right off. With the centerboard all the way down, the boat quickly develops a quite pronounced weather helm. When I first got the  boat, I couldn't sail a straight and true course - it was always s-bends as I pushed away from the wind, eventually slowing  the boat to a crawl by dragging the rudder sideways. he centerboard has great influence on the boat's balance. This is my favorite evangelical topic, so pardon me if I run on  a bit. T  Posted By: CarlHaddick, Horizon Cat, Central Texas n my Sanderling I heave to with a little bit simpler method. While on a reach, I let the sail out all the way, pull up the  centerboard, and as the boat loses speed or tries to turn downwind, I tie the tiller over to the lee side. I don't touch the  gaff or the topping lift. I then can go below and make coffee or have lunch. I set a table up in the cockpit and sit and relax.  Nice thing about it is that the boom is away from the cockpit giving a lot of room. I  Posted By: Howard Toft  To get going again, follow the steps in reverse order. It's really simple and easy. If you get the hang of it in lighter air,  you'll feel more comfortable employing it when you find yourself in the heavy stuff. When you do this, the boat will try to tack, but without the centerboard and peaked gaff, won't make it. She then falls off a  bit until the rudder tells her to head up again. The boat will basically sit still (maybe making a knot or so), calm as can be,  even in the stiffest of winds. I've gotten so I can do all these steps without really thinking – 15 seconds or so. Once in  “park” as the late Bill Menger used to describe this maneuver, the boat is as docile as can be. Go forward to tie in a reef,  straighten up things on the boom, make a sandwich, whatever. You'll swear the wind dropped in half as soon as you do  this (but don't be fooled!). Posted By: Bob Breen  ingle line reefing is probably the way to go, though it adds more lines and complexity. And one thing single-line reefing  doesn't accomplish is tying up the excess sail around the boom which on my boat catches on my stove pipe during tacks  if left unattended. So I'm a huge fan of heaving-to on a catboat for reefing (or serving lunch, or making sure my little three  year old makes it in time to the potty!). S  If you haven't ever tried to heave-to your cat, you should. I'm sure it's been described before on this board, so forgive me if  I'm repeating things, but here's what I do to heave-to my Family Cat: 1. Head up so you're sailing close to the wind. Ease the sail out to depower and slow down. 2. Tighten up the topping lift so the boom doesn't come crashing down on your head. 3. Lower the peak of the gaff two or three feet (might take more or less on your boat). 4. Raise the centerboard. 5. Trim in the main and head up into the wind as if to do a slow tack. 6. Tie off the tiller or wheel with it hard-over.