MacGregorSailors.com

Some boats just won't do it.

Maybe make a jury rig "skin" out of wood and sail cloth to slip over the remains of the rudder (the fiberglass shell carried away)

Or
Sail the boat backwards using storm jibs set on a long bowsprit made from the pole and boom.

Or sail the boat sideways using the spinnaker sheeted to bow and stern.

I weren't there.
Reading the blog of the stricken yacht was interesting however. Boat wasn't taking water. But it was very uncomfortable and scary for their children.

Ill go on record as opining that certainly young children need exposure to character building adventure however that could just as easily be weekends in sheltered water until age 14 or so. Huge difference between 7-8 and teenagers. It was easy to see where moms loyalties were also. Her family. Of course. These boats were well found and more money then I could afford. But they still get into problems.
Ix

Found it. Leaves HI sails 300mi+, breaks rudder, with only sails, does a 360, sails back to the harbor.
Starting Youtube.com post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCzRS9f_pvE

good channel overall, somewhat dry sense of humor. Beats cable TV!

1st Sail wrote:Found it. Leaves HI sails 300mi+, breaks rudder, with only sails, does a 360, sails back to the harbor.
Starting Youtube.com post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCzRS9f_pvE

good channel overall, somewhat dry sense of humor. Beats cable TV!

I guess having a deep water sailboat that is over 40 years old you are taking more risk out there than I would be comfortable with.

Phil M wrote:

1st Sail wrote:Found it. Leaves HI sails 300mi+, breaks rudder, with only sails, does a 360, sails back to the harbor.
Starting Youtube.com post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCzRS9f_pvE

good channel overall, somewhat dry sense of humor. Beats cable TV!

I guess having a deep water sailboat that is over 40 years old you are taking more risk out there than I would be comfortable with.

I met a couple two years ago sailing around the world in a 100 year old wood yawl. It doesn't matter how old he boat is, its how old the maintenance is that really counts

yukonbob wrote:

Phil M wrote:

1st Sail wrote:Found it. Leaves HI sails 300mi+, breaks rudder, with only sails, does a 360, sails back to the harbor.
Starting Youtube.com post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCzRS9f_pvE

good channel overall, somewhat dry sense of humor. Beats cable TV!

I guess having a deep water sailboat that is over 40 years old you are taking more risk out there than I would be comfortable with.

I met a couple two years ago sailing around the world in a 100 year old wood yawl. It doesn't matter how old he boat is, its how old the maintenance is that really counts

I agree 100% I will take a 100 year old maintained yacht over a 10 year old neglected one any day!

We as a human race are realy good a making things but $#itty at maintaining. We are the few that continue to improve things the longer we own them.

Fair enough. We do improve our boats over time. However, my steering and rudders are still the original equipment. So is my standing rigging. After 40 years who knows what might fail. This sailor was 250 nautical miles from Hawaii when his rudder failed. Perhaps there is a way to maintain some of this equipment although most of us don't bother. But then most of us aren't in deep blue water 250nm out.

That said, spade rudders are notorious for failing in deep rough water and shallow hard water. I've read a story about a guy, his son and his father in law I believe that left California for Hawaii. Everything went wrong but the last two straws were the failing of the steering cable then the snapping off of the spade rudder the following day(s) (they may have taken shifts with the emerg tiller for a day or two heading into a storm just off the coast) before they finally abandoned ship via USCG. I'll have to look that up again.

I have always thought that a full length keel with a rudder at the end would be the ideal Blue Water cruising boat. The skeg rudder at least has a skeg in front of it to protect the rudder, while the Spade Rudder is out there all by itself - open to anything in the ocean that happens to be there. I would suppose that spade rudders are predominant in the coastal cruising boats.

darrenj wrote:Good article on how to steer with a drogue.
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2014/ ... nt-tested/

I expect that every boat will behave differently so would not count on it working until having tried it.
It would be fun to try. I am thinking about picking one up.

very interesting. Sounds logic.

Woudl be interesting which model / size would fit for our boats!

The trend is for fast boats loaded with electronics to avoid weather and call for help. Satellite phone? Really?
They didn't have that in the 60s when they made those heavy full keeled boats. Those boats were designed to handle bad weather. The people who sailed them didn't count on outside help either. Read the story about the Tzu Hang if you haven't already.

Forget the drogue on the powersailers. You have the outboard lower unit that will stand in for missing rudders. Or just douse the sails and motor.
Ix

Is the story you refer to about Tzu Hang online?

Phil M wrote:I have always thought that a full length keel with a rudder at the end would be the ideal Blue Water cruising boat.

Agree completely.

Like the Formosa 51 (Captain Ron boat).



Or even the Nor'Sea 27, which is trailerable.