Staying in the Irons

Often when single handed, I have needed to turn into the wind in order to raise/drop sails, fix some rigging, dig into the forward compartment, and so forth.  How do I keep my dinghy in the irons when I need both hands for some other task?

Even with the sheets loose, the instant that my hands leave the tiller, the boat starts to spin, boom starts flying, and things get ugly.

What's the trick to keeping the boat stalled and pointed to the wind?  Do you use a drogue?

The simple answer is that unless you are dropping sails, head to wind is not the best position to be in.  You're far better off to assume a position called lying to, where the sail is streaming downwind, but the boat is positioned across the wind.  To get there, sail on a close reach and then ease the sails until they are flapping and you have stopped moving forward.  If you find yourself starting to power up and move again, simply steer the boat towards the wind just a little to depower the sail again.  If you really can't get to the tiller, move your weight slightly to leeward and this will cause the boat to point up a little.  The advantage of this is that when you want to sail away again you simply sheet in.

If you have to raise and lower sails while afloat the simplest thing to do is to moor up to something.  Otherwise, put the jib in the hove to position - back it and cleat it on the 'wrong' side - which should gove you more stability.

It's probably worth going out in your boat and playing around with how your movements around the boat affect it - notice how it heads up if you move to leeward, and how it bears off if you sit well aft and to windward.  Practise things like approaching a mark or a buoy, and take out a float so you can practise man overboard recovery.  All these skills are well worth having, not just for their own sake, but because they'll make a marked improvement in your overall sailing.

Good luck!

Heaving to / hove to:

" The advantage of this is that when you want to sail away again you simply sheet in."

Edited by GK.LaserII - 23 Sep 10 at 12:24pm

Personally I would just hove to. Release the mainsheet, back the jib (In other words, pull it in on the wrong side of the boat) and push the tiller right away. You will then stay in that position, moving slowly backwards.