How to Back Up a Sailboat

[Roger Long]

I've just been sitting out here at anchor where it's cooler and fooling around with my animation tools again.

Here is how to back up a sailboat:

It may be easier to view with the link at the bottom.

http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/Reverse.htm

 

[Buck420]

Rodger,

you might want to start backing up now...
Invest 95 has got that look like it might b heading your way ..
http://spaghettimodels.com/ ..

​

 

[Roger Long]

you might want to start backing up now...

I'm doing better than that. I'm hauling tomorrow and heading to see family in upstate NY.

On return, after any meteorological excitement abates, I'll paint the bottom, clean and wax the topsides, an then should be heading downeast.

 

[Bill Roosa]

???????
I thought you where going to be showing how to do it with sails Roger.
Perhaps I'm missing the point but backing up under power is a whole lot like going forward is it not?

 

[Buck420]

I'm doing better than that. I'm hauling tomorrow and heading to see family in upstate NY.

Nice job of anticipation ... you're way ahead of the game...
Hopefully by the time you get back, Down East will be warm and fuzzy .
But, weren't we supposed to get a cruising report form Nova Scotia ??

 

[Roger Long]

But, weren't we supposed to get a cruising report form Nova Scotia ??

The best laid plans of mice and men are a lot more reliable than those of cruisers.

 

[25yearslater]

Thanks for that one Roger. I am stuffed in next to a behemoth Homeland Security boat with a foot between us. Despite my best efforts the prop walk gobbles up that foot real quick when backing out especially since I'm upstream of them. This visualization is going to help with future departures. Even the guys on the HS boat say this is very tight and uncomfortable for them as well.

 

[Jim Seamans]

I don't need a video. I let my wife park the boat....

 

[Buck 100]

Roger. Are you headed way down east, Eastport ? If so, what's your ETA? Meet you at the break water. Buck...

 

[capt_clyde]

Backing

???????
I thought you where going to be showing how to do it with sails Roger.
Perhaps I'm missing the point but backing up under power is a whole lot like going forward is it not?

That depends in large part on what kind of prop you have.

It can be much like going forward IF you have a reversing (folding/feathering) prop. This type of prop tends to have very little "prop walk", so backing can be accomplished with the tranny in reverse using the rudder for steering. Note: In all cases, when backing, keep a firm grip on the wheel or tiller so as not to slam the rudder hard over.

With a fixed prop there is likely to be moderate to severe prop walk which must be accounted for. Backing with a fixed blade prop can be quite involved and once one understands the basics one will need to experiment with the particular vessel they are sailing. A good explanation can be found in Chapman's Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling under the heading "single screw inboard maneuvering".

One tip I have found very useful is, if you have enough room available, put the boat in reverse with rudder a midships and goose the throttle until you have enough speed for steerage, then put the transmission in neutral, thus eliminating prop walk and steer the boat as you would driving your car in reverse.

 

[Ken Palmer]

I was taught at a Hunter Rendezvous that you need a long head start first. Then you switch sides at the wheel, looking aft instead of towards the bow. With rudder going straight back, give it some throttle until you have water passing the rudder. You then steer it like a car. Slow down near the slip, aiming at the farthest corner. Slowly glide in, and stop the boat with a little throttle in (forward). It also helps if there is somebody to help you tie up and stop the boat if necessary. My wife learned this procedure, and she never failed to get a group of male sailors helping her in. Oh yes, if you have a walk-through transom. and your ladder is up and in the way of walking through, make sure to drop the ladder down before entering the slip.

 

[JonnyQuest]

I am impressed with the people that can use combination of forward and reverse thrusts to See saw back and forth, essentially moving the boat Sideways within their slip.

I guess one could practice at the dock either with with loosened dock lines or a person holding some for control and recovery.

 

[25yearslater]

Does your 27 have a folding prop Jonny? YOT has one and the prop walk is staggering. I have run tugs with single engines that didn't go sideways like this. I have been trying everything to get this thing to back up without having to fend off.

 

[Chris Patterson]

I thought those Odays had a saildrive in them. The last one I worked on, you could back figure eights with it.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Does your 27 have a folding prop Jonny? YOT has one and the prop walk is staggering. I have run tugs with single engines that didn't go sideways like this. I have been trying everything to get this thing to back up without having to fend off.

Joe--No, its a standard 2 blade prop. I don't have any other inboard driven experience to compare it with, only 20-ish years ago when I had an outboard on a smaller boat. So I'm probably just being a cry baby about it. I'm getting better at reverse, but backing out of my slip involves committing to either one or the other side of a piling that is about one boat length behind my slip--- I barely back out of my slip and am passing by the piling in reverse. I'm committed to a port side pass in reverse (lining the pole up to me in the cockpit), followed by a starboard pivot while heading forward into the thoroughfare. It's not difficult, but it has by necessity prevented me from truly practicing anything other than this single reverse maneuver.

Ken-- You painted a very funny picture of men frantically responding to a woman driving a sailboat into dock while facing the "wrong way" at the wheel. Whether she needed their help or not, it was truly a funny thing to imagine.

 

[Roger Long]

I was taught at a Hunter Rendezvous that you need a long head start first.

Did you note that first bit of forward thrust in the animation? It's a quick burst with the rudder hard over after which you wait for the boat to turn. You can do the same thing in a slip by pulling bow as far to port and the stern to starboard with the lines. Working the boat as far back in the slip with the lines as possible also helps.

The idea is to bias the boat so that the prop walk brings you back into line letting you build up more speed before the prop walk takes over and you have to take the engine out of gear to coast against the rudder.

My boat has a big rudder so I can actually reduce the angle and almost center it during the coast phase but I didn't show it that way in the animation since most rudders are smaller. Every boat will be different but I'm trying to show the basic principles.

Putting the rudder hard over again at the sail end of the coasting phase, if done right, will slew the boat again into the starting position for another application of reverse thrust.

It takes practice and is never going to work in any significant wind or current.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Hi Roger. Thanks for pointing that out about your animation--

I went back and looked at the animation and see your initial "setup." I also noted your starboard steering while coasting in reverse, and then periodic prop walk bursts to bring the end back in line (to port).

Hopefully the weather lets up down here to putt around backwards through the harbor one evening.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Guys & girls, you might want to simply go out and practice moving your boat around its keel. If you have a full keel, ignore that suggestion.

 

[Terry2821]

I have a cherubini 33..I learned to back it up by using the method of getting in front of the wheel...look back and drive that much boat...when you have enough room to get steerage on the rudder. But alas I had to move to a very tight slip approach so I learned to use the massive prop walk in my favor....rudder amidship...hit reverse hard...she will twist to port...back in forward will twist the bow to starboard....back in rev. etc...the trick is how hard ya bust it off in reverse...go just above idle not much twist... with that she will just spin on the keel...providing the wind gods dont hate you.

 

[lakepirate]

One thing to remember is always back into the wind. If the wind is coming from the bow it will blow the bow around more than you can offset with the rudder.