Hi, Folks.
The BR 20 is more capable than the CBL in all respects - or should be! I am, therefore surprised at the problems people seem to have with the “head to wind” issue. Four Sisters sits head to wind like a good 'un and does so with little prompting. It has to be something to do with the underwater profile, I suppose, though why I don't know.
All I have to do is let go the mainsheet and rudder, haul in the mizzen flat and , cabin windage or not, she rounds up and sits as comfortable as a duck – until she starts making sternway, that is. When water starts to flow over the rudder it needs to be locked centrally or it'll flip over, one way or the other causing all sorts of grief.
Once head to wind it makes no difference if the rudder or bilge boards are up or down, she'll stay head to wind. (I think this may be because she has a relatively larger mizzen than the BR, BRe or BC.) In fact, with the boards down, let the main run free and she'll round up into the wind from any point of sailing short of a dead run all by herself. (I thought most boats would – that shows MY ignorance!)
This'll do nicely for raising the mainsail and such but making one or two knots of sternway carries the unacceptable penalty of lost windward progress if you keep it up for more than a few minutes.
I presume heaving to in a BRe is straightforward. With no jb to back, the CBL needs a different technique. Keep the mizzen hard in but lock the rudder just a little off central. As she gathers sternway the rudder will steer her off the wind and, if you have the mainsheet hauled in a little she will start to sail forward on a close reach - at which point the rudder will turn her back into the wind – or even tack her if you are not careful! If that happens she cheerfully tacks and gybes herself in every decreasing circles until you are giddy and sick of the whole business. With practice, though, you can have the mainsheet set just enough so that it all balances nicely and she forereaches slowly at a fine angle to the wind and weather. I’m not sure if this constitutes “heaving to” in the accepted sense as it doesn’t produce a slick to windward capable of protecting her from breaking waves (not that I’ve tried it in much of a seaway) but it does stop the boat losing ground quite so fast.