Broken Steering

[Don Guillette]

What would you do if your steering broke? Could you steer with your sails?

It has never happened to me but I saw it once in a Catalina30 race in San Diego. I’m short on the details of what broke - probably a cable because the wheel was turning free. They did not have an emergency tiller – DO YOU HAVE ONE AND HAVE YOU TRIED TO USE IT? Probably not!!

Anyway, somehow they managed to secure and center the rudder and amazingly they completed the race and came in next to last and that included tacking the boat 3 or 4 times and using only their sails to steer. These guys were something else and really knew their onions about sail trim.

Do you think you could steer your boat using only the sails? Actually, it is very easy to do when you understand the main and jib. Which way does the main want to steer the boat? Which way does the jib want to steer the boat? The trick is to balance the boat using the main and jib so the boat goes in a straight line and then to use the natural inclinations of both sails to get the boat to go in any direction you want it to go.

So, say you have managed to lock the rudder in the center and you wanted to tack the boat how would you do it?

This subject involves the steering but there are a bunch of other things that could happen such as forestays, backstays and shrouds breaking. Those things are for another day but something to think about.

 

[Dan Hill]

Once while sailing on Sebago lake in Maine, in our H240 with all her sails out, I locked the tiller on a straight course and was able to make course corrections using the main sheet alone. At that time it was a steady 10 knot wind coming from the south. Very interesting how well she responded to minor sheet adjustments. It was one of those days that gave a great boost to my sailing confidence.

 

[Manny]

Hi Don,

I do have and have used my e-tiller when my steering cables popped off the sheaves under the pedestal. Found out I had no steering getting ready for a tack and came within a seconds of running aground by the time I got the tiller in and turned the boat.
I've tried locking the wheel and keeping the boat straight with the main sheet and have been pretty successful on days with pretty constant winds. I've yet to try tacking without using the steering but I think it would be difficult with my setup. Worst case I could use my outboard to steer (I could probably use it as a rudder when it's not running since it has a pretty big profile).

Manny

 

[Don Guillette]

The more comfortable you are controlling your sails and your boat gives you an enormous confidence level which is much higher than the average sailor has. This higher comfort level makes sailing your boat more enjoyable. You know you can handle most of the ordinary situations that come up and could easily get out of control unless quick and proper action is taken.

This is a simple drill and only takes a few minutes to perform.

Try this:
Lock the wheel and center the rudder.
Release the jib sheet and trim in the main sheet. See which way the boat goes.
Release the mainsheet and trim in the jib sheet. See which way the boat goes.
Now work both sheets together to get the boat to go in a straight line.

Now you’re ready to tack the boat which is very easy. Trim in the mainsheet and release the jib sheet. Hold until the boat comes head to wind. Now trim in the jib on the other side to back the jib and have the boat come through the tack. Shortly the boat will sail away on the new tack and then you balance both sheets to get the boat sail in a straight line.

This probably sounds complicated but it isn’t. Try it and see how simple it is.