07-07-2012, 08:58 AM
A fellow gaff rig fan told me that if I haul in on my self tending jib as far as it will go and mess around with the main with the tiller locked to counter the jib, I should be able to heave to. I tried this and yup, it worked. I can't say that it was as effective as backing the jib, but I was definitately jogging between rounding up and falling off while making some slow headway. I did this in some light to medium wind because this was the first time I tried anything like this, but it seemed to fill the bill. This was done with the stock weekender sail set up. I'm going to try it in some stronger winds next. The thing I like best about it is I can do it from either tack without backing the jib or tacking. I was making some headway,so I wouldn't do it without a good bit of space, but the boat was sailing herself.
Al
Al