Bucket brake?

[pugwash]

April YM's sea-sense competition (best bit of the mag, I think). Yacht is tearing along under full sail when rudder drops off (prop too). Lee shore coming up. It's imperative to tack through the wind and try to edge clear, steering by balancing the sails. What to do? Here is my solution: Fix a mooring warp (ie, slightly longer than boat) to my heavy rubber bucket which has a strong handle. With the bucket at the stern, take the warp outside everything to a bow cleat or windlass. Throw the bucket over the side. It will put substantial drag on the windward bow and drag it through the wind, aided perhaps by backing the jib as you go. Take the warp back to the stern and (if required) the bucket can be used as a drogue to steer.
Question: would it work?

 

[AndrewB]

What emergency system do you have?

Doubt it ... I think it would ride up against hull and exert only a tiny turning moment, increasingly ineffective as boat slows down as it goes into the tack. In a rudderless tack it's not too hard to push the boat up into wind, but getting it though is the difficult bit - it usually stops and flops back.

The bucket method might be more effective in promoting a gibe. Worth a try some time. (VERY strong bucket though!)

I agree it's an interesting question. I'd be most interested to know what emergency system or strategy other forum contributers have for loss of rudder.

 

[andrewhopkins]

Sail trimming

I agree, i dont think the bucket would work at all.

How about trimming the sails, i.e. really tightening in the main and almost back it whilst loosening the headsail. This would bring the stern round and might get it into wind where you can try backing the headsail and get it to tack ?

Never tried it though.

Alternatively, what about dropping the main and get the bow to bear away and loosen the headsail as she turns so she starts to run. Then perhaps use the bucket to gybe ?

 

[pugwash]

Re: What emergency system do you have?

An American sea-survival book I have shows a whisker pole or similar laid athwartships across the cockpit and lashed to the winches. A bucket is trailed from each end by way of a line through a block. This whole thing can be set up quickly. You can steer initially with the lines as if they were reins, and later work out a whipstaff arrangement.
Do you think buckets would work in this context?

 

[jimi]

Re: What emergency system do you have?

what about, drop the main, haul the boom to windward, rig a gybe preventer, and chuck the bucket in attached to the end of the boom. As this would be quite near the boats pivot point I don't see why it should'nt work unless the handle falls off!

 

[Guest]

Re: Sail trimming

The bucket does work to some extent. Heave it out to one side as far as you can and the strain starts to come on at a good enough angle to start the turn. getting through the eye of the wind is another matter.

In the days of berthing big yachts without engines, the use of buckets was common both for stopping her, and for turning without much way on.

The method of steering with two buckets on boom ends really does work.

We have a notch cut in the upper part of the trailing edge of our various boats' rudders and if steering fails I drop over it a length of chain whose links jam in the nothch. I did this with the anchor chain the first time because the rudder stock had been eaten by gribble inside the tube and it carried away.

William Cooper

 

[Guest]

Spinnaker pole and sheet of plywood

I have used a sheet of plywood (part of the cockpit locker) lashed to the spinnaker pole. The spinnaker pole is then lashed to pushpit and the inner end used as a tiller to steer the boat. This worked but not particularly well.

I have also tried using a drogue towed by two ropes, one going out either side of the transon and controlled from cockpit winches. This worked to a limited extent.

The problem with tesing any method for steering rudderless is still having the rudder there while you are experimenting. Either you lash it straight or leave it loose; either way it will still have a big impact on steering the boat. Dropping the rudder out doesn't seem very sensible just to see what happens!

Richard

 

[AndrewB]

Rudderless or rudder locked?

A good strategy should cope with all four possibilities:

i) rudder detached from wheel;
ii) rudder detached from rudder post and flapping about;
iii) rudder jambed in position, either centrally, or worse, on one side;
iv) rudder fallen off.

(i) only applies to wheel steered boats and an emergency tiller is the usual answer.

Bill Cooper's strategy with the notch is neat, but won't help with situation (iii) or (iv). Mine is an elaboration of your spinnaker pole idea, using a ladder we carry aboard. It is of course combined with sail shortening and balancing, using mainly the foresails. The ladder, with a plywood blade, has to be used partly as a sweep to be effective, and the loads are quite high so I'm not surprised the often recommended spinnaker pole doesn't work too well.

I've never tested situation (iv) though. I believe that without a rudder altogether, yachts are usually very much less directionally stable.

Its good to hear that most people seem to have thought this through and tried something or other. Shouldn't the RYA Yachtmaster course include something on improvising a rudder in the practical?

 

[Guest]

Re: Rudderless or rudder locked?

My yacht is tiller steered so the wheel coming detached isn't an option, though the tiller breaking is, so I do have an emergency tiller. A while ago, I spent 6 days crossing Biscay on a yacht with an emergency tiller after a sheeve broke and the wire broke as well. The tiller wasn't long enough so we had to devise a setup of blocks, rope and winches to steer with.

The design of the rudder on my SIgma is such that the rudder disintegrating or falling off seems most likely (hence what I have thought about), though the rudder could possibly get jammed.

>>Its good to hear that most people seem to have thought this through and tried something or other.<<

If you are extrapolating the views of the few people who have responded to this thread out to the whole population of yachties, I think you might be mistaken! I would be surprised if more than 5% of yachtowners have seriously thought about or tried it.

>>Shouldn't the RYA Yachtmaster course include something on improvising a rudder in the practical?<<

Good idea, but I'm not sure that it is the greatest priority. I would start with putting sailing alongside back in to the exam; after all, engines fail much more often than rudders fall off.

Regards

Richard

 

[Joe_Cole]

I'm lucky, I have an outboard mounted in a well. I would simply start the engine, loosen the steering lock and I'm away.

I've never seen this quoted as a benefit of outboard over inboard engines.


Joe Cole

PS. And if the engine doesn't start?!

PPS I'ld still prefer an inboard engine.......one of these days!

 

[peterb]

Re: Rudderless or rudder locked?

You can get a surprisingly high turning moment by just holding the dinghy oar vertically in the water over the stern. Steer by twisting the blade. It certainly works sufficiently well to give that little bit extra required to tack the boat when using the sails as well. But it won't give enough moment to override a rudder that's jammed off centre.

We tried this method when playing with a locked rudder on a completely calm night. We tried the usual things like trailing buckets, spinnaker poles, etc., but none worked. It took us less than two minutes to get a dinghy oar out, and it worked a dream.

We've also got a plank on board, primarily for mooring against rough walls, etc. But judicious siting of holes allows the plank to be tied on to the fixings for the boarding ladder, with some 3ft (0.9m) of plank sticking out beneath the hull. The dinghy oar lashed to the top makes a good tiller.

 

[AndrewB]

Re: Rudderless or rudder locked?

I'm quite surprised that a dinghy oar is effective. Years ago I lost the rudder on my Wayfarer when cruising singlehanded in the Solent, and even with a dinghy couldn't get a steering oar to work satisfactorily. Sailing rudderless is far too slow against Solent currents, but with oars I was at least able to row the 5 miles home.

Mounting the emergency tiller vertically is most efficient in that you get greatest turning moment for a given angle of deflection, but a deep narrow rudder stalls out at small angles - so I can only imagine a dinghy oar working in a very well-balanced and sensitive yacht where just the slightest rudder adjustment is sufficient. That's why we use our ladder more as a sweep.

 

[incognito]

Verrry interesting....

With a lee shore coming up, and no certainty of the effectiveness of some of your ideas - I am surprised nobody is getting down to it with their anchor.... it will make a very effective brake if you dump it to windward - just enough scope to be able to haul it back in quickly - bear away slightly, then snub it off - your bow will come round as if a motor boat is dragging it - immediately haul back in - you have the anchor in hand if things don't go exactly as planned and the lee shore is getting closer !!

That's my five pen'orth.