Carrying way

A yacht has no brakes. In neutral she carries on under her own momentum, and she only steers while water is flowing past her rudder. Every harbour manoeuvre sits between those two limits: enough way to steer, not so much that you can’t stop.

What happens

Way is the speed a boat keeps once her propulsion has stopped. When you shift into neutral, the boat carries her way for a while; she is only said to have “no way on” once she has stopped completely. Spanish sailors call it arrancada: a boat with no arrancada is a stopped boat, and so one that cannot steer.

The boat slows gradually against the resistance of the water and the wind. The heavier she is and the faster she is going, the longer she takes to stop. Way also depends on wind, current and waves: heading into the wind, it runs out faster; with the wind behind, it lasts longer.

No way, no steerage

The rudder only works when water flows over it. With no way on, there is not enough flow and the boat becomes all but unsteerable. Steerage way is the lowest speed at which the boat still answers the helm. A boat with no way on won’t hold her heading: the wind turns her beam-on. See Wind and windage.

Going ahead, on a boat with a single rudder behind the propeller, a burst of throttle throws water over the rudder: it works even before the boat has picked up speed. On a boat with twin rudders, it doesn’t: steering depends on way alone. See What the boat changes.
Going astern, you only get steerage by having way on and moving positively through the water. There is often a long time-lag between putting the helm over and the boat responding. In one set of trials, two yachts had to reach around 2 knots astern before the rudder took over. Once the boat is moving, you can ease the throttle: the rudder steers and prop walk drops off.

Stopping

Plan ahead. Don’t leave slowing down to the last moment. Reducing power gradually keeps your way under control.
Taking the way off. You brake with the engine, with a burst astern; with the wind behind you, it takes a little more power to take the way off. Going astern, prop walk pushes the stern sideways while you brake: see Prop walk.
Carrying your way in. For example: engage astern early, clear of the pontoons, keeping steerage without too much speed, then take the power off for roughly the last boat length.
No big bursts astern. They risk breaking the flow of water over the keel and rudder: you slow down, but you can no longer steer.

How to use it

Know your boat. There is no typical stopping distance for a yacht: it depends on weight, speed, wind and current. Try your boat in open water to learn how she behaves, before you need it in harbour.
Judge it. Too little way makes the rudder ineffective, too much makes the manoeuvre harder; in a harbour or channel, match it to the space you have.
Into the wind, way runs out faster. Into the tide, you keep steerage with little speed over the ground; with the tide behind you, you need a lot more. See Current.

Pitfalls

Cutting the power too early: the boat stops short of the berth, loses steerage, and the wind or current turns her beam-on.
Coming in too fast: in a harbour, way that isn’t under control soon causes trouble, especially in a heavy boat.
Relying on the crew’s bodies to stop the boat: control the distance with your boat handling, lines and fenders, never with feet, knees or hands.