Steering With The Sails

[dooley1]

Engine yaw

A few years back, we were on the Chesapeake in a borrowed Pearson 34. We were running down the bay in about 20 kts of wind and surfing down rolling 8+ foot waves. The rudder post gave out and we had no steerage. The wind was on our starboard quarter, so we easily sailed across the bay to port. When we had to tack, we turned our engine on and the torque of the engine would turn the bow to starboard. We did this for a few hours until we got close to a safe harbor.

 

[Lil Emerald]

This is a great discussion, and it reminds us all to be better sailors for those times when things go wrong. And as we all know, when things go wrong, they go really wrong! A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and I were sailing on our 22' O'Day sloop during a good blow. Bob was on the helm, and I calmly heard him say "We've lost our steering." What?? Looking behind us, I saw half of our fractured rudder floating on the surface 50' away. It was blowing a good 20-25kts, and we were quickly approaching the rocky leeward shore that we'd tacked away from just minutes before. We quickly began to strike the sails and start the engine... and of course this was the one time that our trusty 9.9 outboard did NOT start. At this point I became a bit frantic. Had I taken the time to think about things more calmly, I would not have gone to strike the sails so soon and put all of our faith in the engine as a "get out of jail free" card. Bob and I knew the physics of steering by sail alone, and had even practiced it a little bit, but the engine gave us a false sense of security and let us be lazy sailors. By the time that Bob got the engine started, I was thoroughly agitated with myself for being so hasty. Once we got our rudder repaired, (rudder 2.0 is far superior to the original) we ditched our 9.9 engine and decided that we were going to learn to rely only upon our sailing skills. This connection to problem solving relying solely upon skill is not only more rewarding, but far safer. We have not missed the engine at all since we got rid of it. While it's true that we have to be more flexible with scheduling, our sailing skills have evolved and we all know that sailing and tight schedules mix like oil and water. No more sense of false security, and docking under sail, heaving-to and practicing steering with the sails has greatly enhanced our confidence in ourselves and each other. While I agree that most people aren't going to go out and ditch the engine, maybe we can start to "Sail like you don't have an engine, Love like you've never been hurt, and Dance like no one is watching"
erin & bob aboard the sloop "Emerald"
www.rib-bone.com

Some pictures of our severed rudder here:
http://www.rib-bone.com/Rib-Bone/Photos/Pages/Reconstruction.html#16

 

[Fred T]

Obviously, getting your boat under control is the number one priority, and previous posts offer lots of good advice on how to do this. Next is trouble shooting: is there some way to re-establish normal rudder control? If you have wheel steering, you should have aboard an emergency tiller. If it works, problem solved, for now.

Make a quick visual check of the steering system. If the wheel is turned, does the rudder shaft turn? Look for parted or loose cables, a broken quandrant, rudder post not clamped to quadrant and so on. This all sounds obvious, but the obvious is often overlooked in a tense situation.

I agree with the many comments that we should practice sail-trim steering and other methods before we have a problem.

 

[captmikem]

I have sailed many miles use sheet to tiller, a little bunji and a small block, and some time to experiment and you can usually get her to sail herself. Boats sail much better when they are balanced but it seems a lost art. Many people fight the wheel or tiller because they have not balanced their sails. Object is to help her sail, not force her to sail. Sailing in the Bahamas a while a go I noticed just about every charter boat, (and a few regular boats) had their main in too tight and the luff of their jib flapping. Balance is everything in sailing. When in doubt, ease it out...

Given that, losing steering (not rudder) is not life threatening. One of the reasons I like a "tiller on the rudder shaft" autopilot. a very nice back up especially if you have chain and cable steering.

Losing a rudder is different.
One of the reasons I like Pacific Plus wind vanes. They have their own separate rudder, no control lines to the wheel/tiller and are robust. I like them better than Monitors which are also good vanes.

But as always, balance is everything.

Mike

 

[Tereza]

Wow - great stories here, and more proof that we can always be learning.
Yup - sail a windsurfer, and all you got is steering by sail (and weight)...

@FourPoints - you managed to sail from Stamford to Pt Jeff and NOT hit a barge/tug/trawler/yokel?? Kudos!

Oh - also google "cajun tiller tamer" for a simple solution - though Casey's may be better...

@Joe - thanks for those tidbits.

Great topic.

 

[scottthardin]

I have a Beneteau 343 and enjoy using the traveler only for steering. I set the wheel to counter just a bit of weather helm (but I don't lock it down in any way) and sheet the headsail slightly tighter than perfect. Then I can travel up to go to windward and travel down to go the other way. Matching the amount of sail area to the wind conditions is a critical prerequisite.

I have never lost steering and my technique has been more about experimentation than anything else. I am not sure how well it would work if the rudder was 100% out of commission but I think it would work ok. I hope I never have to use this technique.

 

[FourPoints]

The permenant solution is on the market already, for if I remember correctly about $20. It is called a tiller tamer.

I am familiar with the tiller tamer, as well as its more modern cousin with a flip lever that I suddenly forget the name of, however due to the design of my cockpit they would be impractical. The forespar tiller extensions coupled with the tiller lock box might work, but still I'm trying to work up a solution that wont block one of the seats in the cockpit when it is used...

 

[Barnacle Bill]

'Happened to me back in the mid 70's as I was coming up to a finish line with a spinnaker up after a long distance race. The bronze rudder post broke due to fatigue and it was quite a surprise. I still had to get back to the marina which was several miles away and I did so by motoring back and using a bucket towed with two lines - eone line going to the port primary winch and the other to the starboard primary winch. When I wanted to turn left, I cranked in the port line and when I wanted to go right, I cranked in the starboard line. Obviously when the bucket was directly behind the boat we went in a straight line. One has to have a bucked that will pull behind the boat that is strong enough so the handle doesn't pop off, or the bucket doesn't break apart. Lots of drag and not very fast, but it worked.

 

[RichH]

This is a great thread!

There are other benefits, other than 'losing ones steering' that apply by 'steering with the sails':

1. Weather Helm / lee helm. A boat with adverse weather helm is going to go nowhere fast and will be heeled over excessively. Lee helm ... just flat out dangerous. How does one get a 'gentle helm'? ... you essentially steer the boat by using the sails (trim and shape)

2. Autopilots ... if the helm pressure is 'adverse', the autopilot will have to 'overwork', the boat will be 'cranky' (and the autopilot may soon wear out!!!).

So if you can steer your boat with your sails (practice, practice, practice), the ultimate result will be that .... Don's "Sail Trim Users Guide" will very soon be found to be MOST CORRECT way to actually sail a boat !!!!!!! Can be simpler than that !!!!!!!!!

Being able to actually steer with the sails (trim and 'shape') was advice given long ago to me by several of the leading racing sailors of their day (all major AC and Olympic competitors) ... "Rich, if you can leave that damn rudder alone, and trim/shape 'so perfectly' that you only use the rudder for MAJOR corrections, your 'boatspeed' will be at its maximum and you will quickly advance up through the pack".
How do you do this? ... you essentially steer the boat by trim and sail shape. It works in all wind and seastate conditions, ... when racing, long distance passages, and just having fun.

Nothing is more pleasurable than sailing a finely trimmed and 'well behaving' boat .... sail trim (and sail shaping) is how you get there.

;-)

 

[FourPoints]

I was helping on a delivery of a brand new Beneteau 40 last fall from the Newport boat show, the helmsman was having lost of problems keeping the boat from rounding up, so I took the helm and called out trim adjustments until the helm was almost neutral. Not only did we pick up about a knot of additional speed, we were heeling less and it was easy to steer, without it rounding up all the time.

That extra speed got us into port a few hours earlier than the captain expected, which meant a few hours of shut-eye before heading out to breakfast.

 

[OldCat]

I am familiar with the tiller tamer, as well as its more modern cousin with a flip lever that I suddenly forget the name of, however due to the design of my cockpit they would be impractical. The forespar tiller extensions coupled with the tiller lock box might work, but still I'm trying to work up a solution that wont block one of the seats in the cockpit when it is used...

My tiller tamer lines run back from the middle of the tiller at about a 45 deg angle. PO installed it and works well for me. Running the lines partially aft keeps lost cockpit space to a minimum, near zero for my boat.

I may talk a friend into trying this "lost rudder" thing on his boat. No, I am not evil, just that he has a kick up rudder. Balancing with the sails has to be a lot harder when there is a major change in the center of resistance under water, it seems the CE would have to move forward a lot.

OC

 

[FourPoints]

My tiller tamer lines run back from the middle of the tiller at about a 45 deg angle. PO installed it and works well for me. Running the lines partially aft keeps lost cockpit space to a minimum, near zero for my boat.

I have a walk through transom, so that would still get in the way...