sailboat emergency rudder

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Everything you need to know to set up an emergency steering system

• January 5, 2021

Steering issues fall firmly into the ‘things you never want to happen’ list, but they are not unknown, writes Susan Glenny

Around 5% of the ARC fleet reported steering issues over the 2017-2019 rallies, that’s about ten incidents per year. They also tend to occur with little warning, and can be tricky to fix – as I discovered when we had to make emergency repairs to the steering system mid-Atlantic.

In December 2018 I was taking a 43ft monohull across on the ARC. In Gran Canaria I’d made visual checks on the steering system and spares as part of my safety inspection. The vessel’s owners advised me that the cable and bearings had been serviced the previous week. The steering system was a double pedestal system servicing a single rudder.

Nine days out of Las Palmas we were roughly 900 miles from land, it was dark in the early hours of the morning with approximately 18 knots of following wind and a large mid-Atlantic swell. I was helming and I was tired, it being close to the end of the dogwatch of the night.

It’s a messy business: Susan Glenny (right) and crew managed to repair their yacht’s broken steering during an ARC crossing. Photo: Susan Glenny

In the midst of the ‘sway’ motion I develop when helming for long periods downwind in response to push back in the wheel, I suddenly felt a flick and heard a loud ‘ping!’ This was immediately followed by a total loss of pressure in the wheel and the boat steering fiercely into a crash gybe.

“No steerage! Heads, heads, crash gybing!” I shouted, “No steerage!” The boat settled on its new gybe with the preventer taught and then twisted in the next wave to gybe back. As luck would have it we happened to be bare headed at the time: having to deal with a spinnaker or headsail in this scenario would have significantly added to the complication.

“Get the emergency steering gear!” I shouted, then realised I was still clinging to the wheel, which was clearly futile, so I stepped away from the pedestal and collected the emergency tiller myself.

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Emergency tiller

We quickly installed the emergency tiller. To say that it was useless at steering the boat would be an understatement. I quickly realised that our limited capability to steer in the large seaway did not allow us to go the way we wanted to go.

The emergency gear gave us the ability to steer the boat in a stable straight line, as dictated by the seaway, to prevent a further crash gybe, but nothing more. In the particular conditions we were sailing in, that meant our COG was due south, pretty alarming when 900 miles offshore mid-Atlantic!

So if you are heading more than a couple of miles offshore it is absolutely critical that you have the tools and capability on board a boat to fully fix any steering issue should it arise. An emergency tiller is a truly temporary solution to bring the boat under control, not to bring it back to port.

I’m thankful that it began to get light shortly after our incident happened, which allowed a quick diagnosis of what was broken and for us to be able to complete the fix in daylight. As we were expecting, we discovered that the steering cable connecting the drive between the two steering pedestals had broken, detaching the twin wheel cable from the quadrant.

Emergency tiller: check yours provides enough leverage to turn and hold the rudder under way. Photo: World Cruising Club

The crew quickly gathered the replacement steering cables and the tool box. The chains and cables were awkward to get to, inside the pedestals through a hole about the size of a credit card, but after a bit of fiddling I was able to get to the end of the cables attached to the chains.

At this point I realised we had a problem. After extracting them from the pedestal, I found that the original cables were attached to the chains via eyes on the cables that had clearly been made with a machine-pressed clamp. These clamps were neither removable nor reusable, and the new cables had no eyes in them. It was clear the new cables would be impossible to use.

At that point I recalled an old sailor friend had told me it was possible to fashion a steering cable with a length of Dyneema and spice this on to the chain to connect it. I set about making this repair, which took a long time to get to the correct length and tension to be effective. But it worked: after around nine hours we were under way again, much to the relief of everyone on board.

Dyneema line can replace steering cables if necessary. Photo: Samuel Mabey

What causes steering failure?

Several things can influence a loss of steerage. They include:

• Failure of cables or the cabling system, bearings, chains, etc.
• Quadrant failure.
• Damage or breakage to the wheel, pedestal or primary tiller.
• Partial loss of rudder through impact.
• Rudder stock failure, rudder bearing failure and rudder loss.

The first three can all be handled in the first instance by installing a pre-existing emergency tiller directly onto the rudder stock. Bear in mind our experience of actually trying to use the emergency tiller to steer to a course in a seaway. But this should buy you time to fix the problem.

Points 4 and 5 create a more urgent situation that is more difficult to rapidly resolve. In these circumstances it’s really important to have the correct inventory of steering safety equipment on board the boat and be familiar with how to manoeuvre the boat under sail alone.

This short emergency tiller can be rigged with lines to winches for greater purchase. Photo: Samuel Mabey

Regular maintenance

• Annual/regular checking of steering cables, chains and cable bearings goes some way to avoiding steering failure. It’s suggested bearings are replaced every 20,000 miles. Make additional visual checks before any major passage.
• Remove rudder and stock during annual haul out, grease the outer rudder bearing case (with Lanocote grease for the Jefa bearing).
• Annual check of stock/steering quadrant for cracks and progressive failure. Remove and weld repairs if cracks are found.
• Regularly (monthly and prior to any passage) check the cable tensions and tighten if necessary.
• Take your whole steering system apart some time you are in port and not constrained for time. Go through every part of it and be sure you know how it goes back together.

Self steering gear may be pressed into service in the event of main steering gear failure. Photo: Nick Farrell

Emergency steering spares

• Full inventory of replacement cables, bearings, chain, clips, and clamps.
• Drogue of suitable size for the size of the boat.
• Two reinforced rubber-handled buckets, with 2m Dyneema or webbing lanyards, to influence the yacht’s change of direction by drag.
• Emergency tiller.
• A plan and all items to make and install a temporary rudder. My basic plan is to lash the spinnaker pole across the transom of the boat and use an internal door. I carry emergency 10mm x 300mm through-bolts (no heads, double nuts) and a 10mm drill bit, and would use these to secure a spar from the vessel, such as the aluminium bowsprit, to the door. I’d then lash this temporary stock and rudder to the spinnaker pole with Dyneema. I’d use the emergency tiller, through-bolted through the aluminium sprit.
• A skirted rubber sleeve fitted around the opening in the hull for the rudder stock (or stocks if you have twin rudders), to quickly prevent water entry if the rudder and stock were lost.
• Dyneema line twice the length of your cabling system and similar diameter to the cables in case you have to splice a temporary cable.
• All the tools you’ll require to take apart the steering system. A special tool is sometimes required for chain-to-cable connections. Other tools may include Allen keys, spanners, and circlip pliers. Always check you’re equipped with the correct sizes, and carry two sets where possible. Also lubricants and old toothbrushes for cleaning.
• Splicing kit.
• Headtorch and moveable light – repairs will inevitably be in hard-to-see areas, even if not at night.

Vessels with a twin rudder system have a ‘spare’ if steering failure occurs to one. Offshore safety regulations recognise this as both an emergency system and a replacement rudder.

About the author

Commercial Ocean Yachtmaster Susan Glenny is Director of Tigress Racing and is campaigning for the 2024 Olympic offshore sailing class.

First published in the December 2020 issue of Yachting World.

My Cruiser Life Magazine

All About the Rudder on a Sailboat

The rudder on a sailboat is one of those important parts that often gets overlooked. It’s hidden underwater most of the time and usually performs as expected when we ask something of it.

But when was the last time you seriously considered your sailboat rudder? Do you have a plan if it fails? Here’s a look at various designs of sail rudder, along with the basics of how it works and why it’s there.

Table of Contents

How are sailboat rudders different than keels, how does the rudder work, wheel steering vs. tiller steering, full keel rudder sailboat, skeg-hung rudders, spade rudder, variations on designs, emergency outboard rudder options, looking to sail into the sunset grab the wheel, steer your sail boat rudder, and get out there, sail boat rudder faqs.

What Is a Boat Rudder?

The rudder is the underwater part of the boat that helps it turn and change direction. It’s mounted on the rear of the boat. When the wheel or tiller in the cockpit is turned, the rudder moves to one side or another. That, in turn, moves the boat’s bow left or right.

When it comes to sailing, rudders also offer a counterbalance to the underwater resistance caused by the keel. This enables the boat to sail in a straight line instead of just spinning around the keel.

Sailboat hull designs vary widely when you view them out of the water. But while the actual shape and sizes change, they all have two underwater features that enable them to sail–a rudder and a keel.

The rudder is mounted at the back of the boat and controls the boat’s heading or direction as indicated by the compass .

The keel is mounted around the center of the boat. Its job is to provide a counterbalance to the sails. In other words, as the wind presses on the sails, the weight of the ballast in the keel and the water pressure on the sides of the keel keeps the boat upright and stable.

When sailing, the keel makes a dynamic force as water moves over it. This force counters the leeway made by air pressure on the sails and enables the boat to sail windward instead of only blowing downwind like a leaf on the surface.

The rudder is a fundamental feature of all boats. Early sailing vessels used a simple steering oar to get the job done. Over the years, this morphed into the rudder we know today.

However, thinking about a rudder in terms of a steering oar is still useful in understanding its operation. All it is is an underwater panel that the helmsperson can control. You can maintain a course by trailing the oar behind the boat while sailing. You can also change the boat’s heading by moving it to one side or the other.

The rudders on modern sailboats are a little slicker than simple oars, of course. They are permanently mounted and designed for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

But their operating principle is much the same. Rudders work by controlling the way water that flows over them. When they move to one side, the water’s flow rate increases on the side opposite the turn. This faster water makes less pressure and results in a lifting force. That pulls the stern in the direction opposite the turn, moving the bow into the turn.

Nearly all boats have a rudder that works exactly the same. From 1,000-foot-long oil tankers to tiny 8-foot sailing dinghies, a rudder is a rudder. The only boats that don’t need one are powered by oars or have an engine whose thrust serves the same purpose, as is the case with an outboard motor.

Operating the Rudder on a Sailboat

Rudders are operated in one of two ways–with a wheel or a tiller. The position where the rudder is operated is called the helm of a boat .

Ever wonder, “ What is the steering wheel called on a boat ?” Boat wheels come in all shapes and sizes, but they work a lot like the wheel in an automobile. Turn it one way, and the boat turns that way by turning the rudder.

A mechanically simpler method is the tiller. You’ll find tiller steering on small sailboats and dinghies. Some small outboard powerboats also have tiller steering. Instead of a wheel, the tiller is a long pole extending forward from the rudder shaft’s top. The helmsperson moves the tiller to the port or starboard, and the bow moves in the opposite direction. It sounds much more complicated on paper than it is in reality.

Even large sailboats will often be equipped with an emergency tiller. It can be attached quickly to the rudder shaft if any of the fancy linkages that make the wheel work should fail.

Various Sail Boat Rudder Designs

Now, let’s look at the various types of rudders you might see if you took a virtual walk around a boatyard. Since rudders are mostly underwater on the boat’s hull, it’s impossible to compare designs when boats are in the water.

Keep in mind that these rudders work the same way and achieve the same results. Designs may have their pluses and minuses, but from the point of view of the helmsperson, the differences are negligible. The overall controllability and stability of the boat are designed from many factors, and the type of rudder it has is only one of those.

You’ll notice that rudder design is closely tied to keel design. These two underwater features work together to give the boat the sailing characteristics the designer intended.

The classic, robust offshore sailboat is designed with a full keel that runs from stem to stern. With this sort of underwater profile, it only makes sense that the rudder would be attached to the trailing edge of that enormous keel. On inboard-powered sailboats, the propeller is usually mounted inside an opening called the aperture between the keel and rudder.

The advantages of this design are simplicity and robustness. The keel is integrated into the hull and protects the rudder’s entire length. Beyond reversing into an obstacle, anything the boat might strike would hit the keel first and would be highly unlikely to damage the rudder. Not only does the keel protect it, but it also provides a very strong connection point for it to be attached to.

Full keel boats are known for being slow, although there are modern derivatives of these designs that have no slow pokes. Their rudders are often large and effective. They may not be the most efficient design, but they are safe and full keels ride more comfortably offshore than fin-keeled boats.

Plenty of stout offshore designs sport full keel rudders. The Westsail 38s, Lord Nelsons, Cape Georges, Bristol/Falmouth Cutters, or Tayana 37s feature a full keel design.

A modified full keel, like one with a cutaway forefoot, also has a full keel-style rudder. These are more common on newer designs, like the Albergs, Bristols, Cape Dorys, Cabo Ricos, Island Packets, or the older Hallberg-Rassys.

A design progression was made from full keel boats to long-fin keelboats, and the rudder design changed with it. Designers used a skeg as the rudder became more isolated from the keel. The skeg is a fixed structure from which you can mount the rudder. This enables the rudder to look and function like a full keel rudder but is separated from the keel for better performance.

The skeg-hung rudder has a few of the same benefits as a full keel rudder. It is protected well and designed robustly. But, the cutaways in the keel provide a reduced wetted surface area and less drag underwater, resulting in improved sailing performance overall.

Larger boats featuring skeg-mounted rudders include the Valiant 40, Pacific Seacraft 34, 37, and 40, newer Hallberg-Rassys, Amels, or the Passport 40.

It’s worth noting that not all skegs protect the entire rudder. A partial skeg extends approximately half the rudder’s length, allowing designers to make a balanced rudder.

With higher-performance designs, keels have become smaller and thinner. Fin keel boats use more hydrodynamic forces instead of underwater area to counter the sail’s pressure. With the increased performance, skegs have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Nowadays, rudders are sleek, high aspect ratio spade designs that make very little drag. They can be combined with a number of different keel types, including fin, wing keels , swing keels, or bulb keels.

The common argument made against spade rudders is that they are connected to the boat by only the rudder shaft. As a result, an underwater collision can easily bend the shaft or render the rudder unusable. In addition, these rudders put a high load on the steering components, like the bearings, which are also more prone to failure than skeg or full keel designs. For these reasons, long-distance cruisers have traditionally chosen more robust designs for the best bluewater cruising sailboats .

But, on the other hand, spade rudders are very efficient. They turn the boat quickly and easily while contributing little to drag underwater.

Spade rudders are common now on any boat known for performance. All racing boats have a spade rudder, like most production boats used for club racing. Pick any modern fin keel boat from Beneteau, Jeanneau, Catalina, or Hunter, and you will find a spade rudder. Spade rudders are common on all modern cruising catamarans, from the Geminis to the Lagoons, Leopards, and Fountaine Pajots favored by cruisers and charter companies.

Here are two alternative designs you might see out on the water.

Transom-Hung or Outboard Rudders

An outboard rudder is hung off the boat’s transom and visible while the boat is in the water. Most often, this design is controlled by a tiller. They are common on small sailing dingies, where the rudder and tiller are removable for storage and transport. The rudder is mounted with a set of hardware called the pintle and gudgeon.

Most outboard rudders are found on small daysailers and dinghies. There are a few classic big-boat designs that feature a transom-hung rudder, however. For example, the Westsail 38, Alajuela, Bristol/Falmouth Cutters, Cape George 36, and some smaller Pacific Seacrafts (Dana, Flicka) have outboard rudders.

Twin Sailing Rudder Designs

A modern twist that is becoming more common on spade rudder boats is the twin sailboat rudder. Twin rudders feature two separate spade rudders mounted in a vee-shaped arrangement. So instead of having one rudder pointed down, each rudder is mounted at an angle.

Like many things that trickle down to cruising boats, the twin rudder came from high-performance racing boats. By mounting the rudders at an angle, they are more directly aligned in the water’s flow when the boat is healed over for sailing. Plus, two rudders provide some redundancy should one have a problem. The twin rudder design is favored by designers looking to make wide transom boats.

There are other, less obvious benefits of twin rudders as well. These designs are easier to control when maneuvering in reverse. They are also used on boats that can be “dried out” or left standing on their keel at low tide. These boats typically combine the twin rudders with a swing keel, like Southerly or Sirius Yachts do. Finally, twin rudders provide much better control on fast-sailing hulls when surfing downwind.

Unbalanced vs. Balanced Rudders

Rudders can be designed to be unbalanced or balanced. The difference is all in how they feel at the helm. The rudder on a bigger boat can experience a tremendous amount of force. That makes turning the wheel or tiller a big job and puts a lot of strain on the helmsperson and all of the steering components.

A balanced rudder is designed to minimize these effects and make turning easier. To accomplish this, the rudder post is mounted slightly aft of the rudder’s forward edge. As a result, when it turns, a portion of the leading edge of the rudder protrudes on the opposite side of the centerline. Water pressure on that side then helps move the rudder.

Balanced rudders are most common in spade or semi-skeg rudders.

Sail Rudder Failures

Obviously, the rudder is a pretty important part of a sailboat. Without it, the boat cannot counter the forces put into the sails and cannot steer in a straight line. It also cannot control its direction, even under power.

A rudder failure of any kind is a serious emergency at sea. Should the rudder be lost–post and all–there’s a real possibility of sinking. But assuming the leak can be stopped, coming up with a makeshift rudder is the only way you’ll be able to continue to a safe port.

Rudder preventative maintenance is some of the most important maintenance an owner can do. This includes basic things that can be done regularly, like checking for frayed wires or loose bolts in the steering linkage system. It also requires occasionally hauling the boat out of the water to inspect the rudder bearings and fiberglass structure.

Many serious offshore cruisers install systems that can work as an emergency rudder in extreme circumstances. For example, the Hydrovane wind vane system can be used as an emergency rudder. Many other wind vane systems have similar abilities. This is one reason why these systems are so popular with long-distance cruisers.

There are also many ways to jury rig a rudder. Sea stories abound with makeshift rudders from cabinet doors or chopped-up sails. Sail Magazine featured a few great ideas for rigging emergency rudders .

Understanding your sail rudder and its limitations is important in planning for serious cruising. Every experienced sailor will tell you the trick to having a good passage is anticipating problems you might have before you have them. That way, you can be prepared, take preventative measures, and hopefully never deal with those issues on the water.

What is the rudder on a sailboat?

The rudder is an underwater component that both helps the sailboat steer in a straight line when sailing and turn left or right when needed.

What is the difference between a rudder and a keel?

The rudder and the keel are parts of a sailboat mounted underwater on the hull. The rudder is used to turn the boat left or right, while the keel is fixed in place and counters the effects of the wind on the sails.

What is a rudder used for on a boat?

The rudder is the part of the boat that turns it left or right

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

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• Comments: 2

2 Comments Comment on Facebook

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Jury steering, preparing for and dealing with a steering mechanism failure

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Jury Steering

• Chris Beeson
• April 21, 2015

How would you get back to safety if your rudder was carried away? Chris Beeson tests three jury steering techniques on the water

As well as the jury rudder seen here, we tested sail and boat trim, and drag steering Credit: Graham Snook/YM

Losing your rudder at sea can be a terrifying business. The trusty little ship in which you’ve invested love, time and money, and which has kept you safe and protected from the sea, is suddenly at its mercy. Unable to hold a course in any direction, she lurches blindly and ever deeper into danger. What happens next is down to you.

Will you, like the two-man crew of the Sadler 25 Star Fire II , in 2009, improvise a successful jury steering system and safely sail on another 1,700 miles to St Lucia? Or will you, like the crew of F2 , a Hunter Legend 450, in 2002, be forced not only to abandon your yacht, but also to scuttle her, to prevent her being a danger to shipping?

In this situation, you’re probably aware that there are certain strategies designed to get you home, but how many have you tried? Which, if any, is best for your boat? We put to the test various methods recommended by the textbooks.

Simon Judge volunteered his Westerly GK29, Growling Kougar, which has a transom-hung rudder. Before setting off from her home in Cowes, Simon (left) and his crew Andy Buchanan, both police officers on the Isle of Wight, unshipped the rudder

The jury steering methods we wanted to look at were:

• Sail only – trimming the sails and using crew weight to steer the boat by trimming the hull
• Jury rudder – fabricating a jury rudder from materials that would be found aboard most modern cruising yachts
• Drag steering – using a drogue, or a bucket, off the stern to steer

We decided that a successful system would be one that allowed the yacht to sail straight courses at 50° and 120° to the apparent wind. If successful on those points of sail, we would then find out how well the system performed at other, more challenging wind angles.

For our test, just west of Cowes in the Solent, we had a 10 to 12-knot north-northeasterly breeze and a slight sea state. These were relatively benign conditions and suited our purpose perfectly.

We brought along a spare spinnaker pole, loaned to us by The Rig Shop ( www.rigshop.com ), so that we didn’t risk damaging Growling Kougar ’s pole during testing. We also brought a section of marine plywood, pre-drilled, so there was no need to remove any of the yacht’s panels, lockers or doors.

We brought 100m of nylon three-strand mooring warp, courtesy of English Braids ( www.englishbraids.com ), to use for lashings and bridles, and a yacht drogue by Para Anchor, supplied by Ocean Safety ( www.oceansafety.com ).

The bucket we used was the ship’s own, bought from a builders’ merchant.

This is something most youngsters will have tried out on their dinghy courses, when the instructor whips off the rudder and leaves you to it, but does the theory still apply on yachts two, three or four times the size? To begin with, we thought not.

To balance the sailplan and keep the centre of effort directly above the centre of lateral resistance, Growling Kougar ’s owner, Simon Judge, had bent on the No3 jib and tucked a reef into the main – we toyed with a second reef or bending on the No2 for better balance, but opted not to do so.

Our initial attempts at steering the boat using sail alone proved unsuccessful. It was possible to hold her on a straight track using sails alone but the slightest chop or any change in wind direction and strength would have her careering around the compass

We based our first attempt on the principle that trimming on the jib and easing the main would bring her head down, and easing the jib and trimming on the mainsheet would steer her to windward.

We soon realised the importance of trim – using weight to heel the boat one way or another so that the hull’s waterline profile was changed to suit our purpose. Weight to leeward brings the head up, weight to windward brings it down and weight along the centreline keeps her steady

We spent 30 seconds pirouetting from beat to reach to run and back before those childhood lessons came flooding back and we started moving our weight about to trim the boat, to alter her waterline profile to improve directional control. This involved moving weight to leeward to luff up (as you would to ‘roll-tack’ a dinghy in light airs), moving weight to windward to bear away and keeping her on an even keel to maintain a course.

We managed to hold steady courses, though not always the ones we planned. On a heavier cruising yacht, it’s unlikely that an average couple would be able to trim the boat to windward and leeward. Unless you have a very directionally stable long-keeler, this method, while fairly effective, is a non-starter

After five minutes we felt quite well tuned in and we were maintaining courses – not always ones of our choice – but the level of concentration needed to keep her on track would soon become exhausting, so it’s not a choice for long distances in a fin-keeler. A few larger waves would also have made the task more difficult, knocking the boat off course. It’s also worth adding that, on any course below 120° apparent wind angle, the jib is overpowered, and eventually shadowed completely, by the main, so it won’t work downwind.

Jury rudder

This method takes the most obvious approach of replacing the rudder in some temporary way. Generally, this means turning a spinnaker pole into a huge oar by tying a flat panel to the outboard end and using this ersatz oar as a sweep to steer the yacht.

We tied the pole to the board securely and tightened it all up with plenty of frapping

We used mooring line to fasten the board to the pole, but you could use any cordage. We have used hose clips in a previous test. If you don’t have a large enough board, smaller ones can be fastened together. To attach the board, we used a lace lashing on a pre-drilled board, and heavily frapped to make sure the board wouldn’t work loose.

A jury rudder is the most obvious way of dealing with a lost rudder, and it felt like the natural solution. The principles were very familiar and moving the sweep was less arduous than I’d imagined

The pole was attached to the yacht in five ways. First, a safety line, attached to one of the bases of the split backstay, made sure we didn’t lose our contraption over the side. A second pair of lines, each fastened at one end to one of the split backstay tangs, was clove-hitched tightly around the pole, both tied in opposite directions to limit the chance of the pole rotating in its lashings, and then secured on the backstay base opposite. We also rigged a fender to prevent the pole chafing on the transom but this did work loose, so needs more thought. In real life, you’ll have no qualms about using anything from towels to bunk cushions to protect the yacht and the system.

We used opposing clove hitches and a Spanish windlass, as shown, to tighten the lashings. The Spanish windlass is a useful way of tightening your control lines, but be wary. The Royal Navy banned its use after injuries suffered when a windlass unwound

Then we used a winch handle to create a Spanish windlass to tighten these lines on the starboard side. The second pair of lines, from the midships blocks aft to the board, were intended to prevent the board from lifting clear of the water. The working ends were lashed to the pole and run under the board’s leading edge, which tended to turn the pole, but two holes with stopper knots either side would have improved that.

It was surprising how little of the board needed to be immersed to maintain steerage. Changes of direction needed a bit more muscle, but there’s no doubt I overestimated the size of the board required to steer our test yacht. Something half the size would have been just as effective

This method proved remarkably effective. We could sail upwind at 40° apparent wind angle, right down to 150°, and hold our heading easily. It was surprising how little effort was required. To maintain direction, very little of the board needed to be in the water. This significantly reduced the load on the oar and reduced its drag, allowing speeds upwind of 4 knots.

We had so much control that we even threw in a few tacks. This method is fast, effective and there’s plenty of scope to improve it as a steering system

When changing direction, the helmsman, in ‘gondolier’ style, was required to dig the board in and exert a fair amount of force. This and the Spanish windlass gradually unwinding itself caused the pole to turn in its lashings, making steering more difficult.

Two tweaks: (left) Tying the pole to the wheel and using the autopilot could aid steering, and (right) moving the pole with a block and tackle

As well as reducing the size of the board, we identified several tweaks to the system, improving efficiency and reducing chafe in the rig. It was obvious where improvements were needed, but making it work tested our ingenuity!

Drag steering

Deploying the drogue over the stern on its bridle

We were using a drogue as our drag device, tied to a long line, again nylon three-strand. As most yachts won’t carry a drogue, we also tested the ship’s bucket, too. We didn’t have a swivel but we would have included one to prevent the drag device twisting the three-strand line.

Using the bridle

As soon as the bridle pulled up, we had directional stability and a sense of calm descended. Though slow, this method buys you plenty of thinking time

The long line and bridle arm were rigged through midships blocks so we could turn the yacht on her keel.

Using midships blocks means the drogue is turning the yacht about its centre of lateral resistance – the keel. A pole would increase the turning moment

The drogue’s instructions specified 80m (260ft) of line with an extra 15m (50ft) for the bridle, rolling hitched as far down the line as possible. We followed those instructions as far as our resources would allow, with around 150ft of long line and 30ft of bridle.

With the drogue, the effect was remarkable and instant. She would hold any heading, showing great directional stability, and give you plenty of time to balance the sails. Suddenly, for the first time, we had complete control.

In directional terms, the drogue is the best option, but speed upwind was reduced to 1.5 knots at best and even fetching at 50°, we never managed more than 2 knots. This may affect its suitability for longer distances but it’s certainly the most relaxing of the three methods tried.

This stout builder’s bucket proved an adequate substitute for the drogue, in the very short term at least

When we replaced the drogue with a bucket, I was expecting the handle to bend and the bucket to be lost almost instantly. I nearly suggested bracing its mouth open with a wooden batten to prevent its collapse. In the event, it worked well and was retrieved intact. It was some bucket! Sadly, it had no markings so we can’t tell you the brand, but it was a builder’s bucket rather than one bought in a chandler’s.

Making a hole in the bucket, to promote some flow, would reduce the amount of drag. That said, with the bucket intact we were already making 3.5 knots at 50° to the apparent wind – good progress and on a steady heading.

Using the pole

We secured the spinnaker pole to secondary winches, obvious strongpoints in the cockpit

Next, we tried using the spinnaker pole strapped to strong points in the cockpit – secondary winches in this instance – with the long line and bridle arm running through each end.

We tested the pole even though we had perfect control without it. It made little performance difference but reduced chafe

Mounted in this way, the pole had several advantages: it increased the drag device’s performance by creating extra leverage; reduced chafing; and kept the control lines safely out of the cockpit. The only downside was that the secondary winches were no longer available for use.

The drogue manufacturer recommends an 80m tow with the bridle 15m off the stern. We got as close to that as the Solent’s depth and popularity allowed

The rolling hitch is the perfect knot for a drogue bridle

It is based on the clove hitch but adds an extra turn for much greater security

The primary benefit over the clove hitch is that the rolling hitch grips the line in one direction. The knot above won’t slide to the right

What we learned

Sail and boat trim

Sail and boat trim was the quickest, actually reducing drag, but holding course was very demanding and rarely sustainable

If you have a long keel, or to a lesser extent a long fin, the sail and boat trim method might prove successful in the longer run. If you can get her going in the right direction, it is certainly the quickest method. But if there is a sea running, she’ll be knocked off her heading every 30 seconds and need retrimming. For this reason, it doesn’t seem to be a practical solution to the problem even for long-keelers, and it’s certainly not for fin-keelers unless you find yourself on a plate glass sea with a steady breeze.

Pole and board

The jury rudder method offered a decent combination of speed and control, and also had the most options for customisation

The pole-and-board jury rudder method has the advantage of being intuitively the right answer. In practice, it’s very effective without reducing boat speed too severely. This method is also the easiest to refine and customise to your yacht’s needs and could, given time and thought, become a system almost as easy to manage as the original steering system itself. Like all the systems, it is best used in conjunction with sail and boat trim.

Deploying the drogue switched off the crisis instantly, returning control and calm. It is very slow but for an easy life, it’s the best choice

The drag steering method was far and away the most relaxing, requiring very little input from the crew other than hauling the drogue or bucket from side to side to change direction. The downside was the speed, which rarely exceeded 1.5 knots using the drogue, in 10-12 knots of wind. For longer passages, the time taken to reach safety could cause other problems, such as running out of food and water.

After the test, the general feeling was that, if the rudder carried away, deploying the drogue would allow you to regain control and consider the options available to you, buying you vital time. Once you have perfected your pole-and-board method, take in the drogue and you’ll be sailing three times as fast.

Adapting equipment

In times of crisis, everything on board needs two uses. What would make the best jury rudder? A cabin door, locker door, under-bunk panel or sole section? How about a dinghy oar? Would the teak grate in the cockpit work? If there’s no spinnaker pole, would a boathook and broomstick tied together suffice? Could we use the main boom? If the bucket is broken, what can we use as a drogue – a storm sail? A long bight of warp? What about the spinnaker snuffer?

Once you’ve improvised your solution, wait for a quiet summer day, tie off the tiller and try it out. Make sure you’ve got plenty of anti-chafe material – cushions, fenders and old blankets – to make sure you don’t cause any damage. It will pay to have had a rehearsal.

Rudder loss incidents

2009: Auliana II

A salvage company installed this system to recover Auliana II after her rudder carried away

Auliana II lost her rudder less than 24 hours after the start of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The crew of the German one-off 53-footer did not report any collision, so there is no explanation of why the loss occurred. After trying and failing to make steerage back to Gran Canaria, skipper Christian Potthoff-Sewing, from Bielefeld, took a tow. However, deck cleats kept pulling out and a tow could not be secured on the deck-stepped mast, so Auliana II was cast off and the crew abandoned her. The yacht was salvaged 11 days later after being located using her GPS tracker. A jury rudder was fitted and the yacht safely made Tenerife.

2009: Star Fire II

Improvising steering is much easier if you have useful remnants of the previous system

This Sadler 25, sailed by Alan Harris and Tom Borsay, was a third of the way into her Atlantic crossing – not with the ARC – when she struck debris and lost her rudder.

Star Fire II had intact cheeks, pintles, gudgeons and a tiller to work with, and used spare shelving to make rudder blades

Under the generous escort of Ray Lawry’s Najad 361 Silver Bear , an ARC yacht, and using some old wooden shelves Alan’s father had insisted they take along, the crew made several jury rudders and completed the last 1,700 miles of the crossing.

Despite five days spent trying out various jury steering systems, Zouk was abandoned and scuttled in mid-Atlantic

This Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43, owned by a French sailing school, was on delivery to Antigua with seven on board. The skipper, Caroline Nicol, reported hearing a crack and then watching the rudder float out from below the transom. For the next five days, the crew tried to improvise steerage to complete the last 650 miles of the voyage, but failed.

A distress call brought the assistance of the tall ship Tenancious, but even this system made by her engineers, failed to save Zouk

After a distress call, Tenacious , the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s 177ft Tall Ship, stood by and assisted, eventually taking Zouk in tow. Despite using their anchor and chain as a drogue, Zouk ’s shearing motion chafed through the tow lines and eventually her owner gave the order to abandon ship and scuttle the yacht.

Heya used two steering guys on a spinnaker pole clipped onto a bathing platform. This simple method took the crew 325 miles to their destination with very few problems

This Swiss yacht lost steerage in strong winds and heavy seas during the 2001 ARC. The crew improvised a rudder by clipping one end of her spinnaker pole to her bathing platform and steering with guys attached to the pole. In this way, they completed the final 325 miles to St Lucia without assistance. However, they did need to reduce sail early or heave-to in stronger winds, suggesting that a larger steering blade would have been more effective.

Emergency steering systems

Self-steering specialists Scanmar and Windpilot both make emergency rudders that deploy on transom fittings to restore complete control.

Scanmar’s SOS Rudder stows in a bag until you need it, then attaches to fittings pre-installed on the transom. The result is a stainless steel rudder, stock and tiller that will see you home

www.selfsteer.com

Windpilot’s SOS Rudder Pacific Emergency is for boats already fitted with Pacific self-steering. The SOS Rudder Solo Emergency has its own dedicated transom fittings

www.windpilot.com

Auxiliary rudder systems

An auxiliary rudder system is a discrete steering unit which steers the boat independently of the main rudder. The windvane turns a rudder blade on a rigid shaft directly via a linkage, maintaining the corrective rudder movement until the boat returns to the desired course.

The main rudder is fixed in place and used to fine tune the gear. It counters weather helm, allowing the auxiliary rudder to concentrate just on actual course corrections. Auxiliary rudder systems are only effective if the ratio of the area of the main rudder blade to that of the auxiliary rudder blade is no greater than 3:1. This ratio is easily calculated for any known main rudder dimensions using the auxiliary rudder blade dimensions given in the specifications of the individual systems.

The steering force produced by auxiliary rudder systems is limited by the lack of any servo-assistance, and they are unable to provide effective steering on larger boats. Windpilot auxiliary rudder systems of the NORDSEE and ATLANTIK ranges were used successfully on boats of up to 11 m / 36 ft, but beyond this they could function only as an aid to steering. For this reason Windpilot retired them in 1985 and moved on to other systems.

Hydrovane auxiliary rudder systems were recommended for steering boats of up to 15 m / 50 ft. The cut-off point with respect to 'effective steering' was probably somewhat lower than this though, because the systems were not servo-assisted and the ratio of auxiliary rudder area to main rudder area on a larger boat would have been rather unfavourable.

V vane only, on board a 5m/16ft Van de H vane only, QME windvane. This acts Stadt design more as a steering aid than a full selfsteering system

This Windpilot auxiliary rudder The Hydrovane auxiliary rudder system is suitable for boats up to system: the H vane generates 11 m/36ft in length. more power than Atlantik V vane

Effective steering

We referred to this term briefly in the previous chapter. It is used here to express whether a windvane gear is capable of reliably steering a boat of a particular length in virtually all sailing conditions or is just an aid to steering up to a certain wind strength, sea state and range of apparent wind angles. As a rating of the capabilities of a windvane steering system it is of fundamental importance; a steering gear which cannot do its job properly is no good to anybody.

Any rating of a steering gear should of course be considered in the context of the type of sailing the gear is likely to be used for. A system which is only reliable for upwind sailing, for instance, might be perfectly acceptable to the weekend and holiday sailor. The priorities aboard blue water yachts are rather different: steering by hand for days on end will often exhaust a small crew and bring a premature end to the voyage.

Categories of auxiliary rudder system

Auxiliary rudder with V vane

The vane in a V vane operated auxiliary rudder system (e.g. ATLANTIK) turns the rudder directly via opposed toothed gears in a ratio of 1:1. The damping characteristics are good. Systems of this type are suitable for boats of up to 11 m / 36 ft.

Auxiliary rudder with H vane

These systems (e.g. Hydrovane) have less effective damping than V vane operated auxiliary rudder systems. To resolve this, they have a reduction gear which provides three options for the amount of turn transmitted to the rudder. They do, however, produce rather more effective steering force than a V vane and can therefore be used on larger boats.

The Hydrovane linkage has step-down gearing for better damping

The advantages of auxiliary rudder systems

Because the auxiliary rudder functions completely independently of the main rudder it makes an effective emergency rudder. This is a useful safety feature, particularly on modern fin keel yachts where the balanced rudder has no skeg to protect it. The additional lateral area of the auxiliary rudder right at the very back of the boat not only helps to calm the motion of the boat in heavy seas but also reduces weather helm.

The simple, solid construction of auxiliary rudder gears gives them a long working life. They can only really suffer serious damage if the boat is rammed hard from astern - and even then there is the consolation that steering gears cost much less to repair than the transoms they are mounted on!

Operating procedure:

• bring the boat onto course,

• fix the tiller in position,

• turn the windvane to face into the wind,

• connect the windvane to the auxiliary rudder,

• fine tune the course using the main rudder.

The disadvantages of auxiliary rudder systems

Nobody ever stood up on the harbour wall and proclaimed the beauty of their auxiliary rudder gear. The systems are tall, bulky and heavy, and the extreme end of a boat, particularly a small one, is not the ideal place to add 30 - 45 kg / 66 - 100 lb of extra weight.

The limited steering force obtainable without any servo-assistance means that this type of system is unable in practice to provide effective steering for longer boats (see above).

The auxiliary rudder is generally fixed amidships when not in use. Here it impairs the vessel's manoeuvrability and increases its turning circle. Curiously this apparent drawback is actually a bonus for some: the additional lateral area behind the main rudder makes boats with long keels more obedient to the helm when reversing because it partially offsets propeller throw which tries to push the stern sideways.

The large windvanes of auxiliary rudder systems makes them awkward to operate on ketch or yawl rigged boats when the mizzen is in use.

Installation

Auxiliary rudder systems can be mounted either on the centre of the transom or offset to one side, for example to avoid a swim ladder. As the Vikings discovered a long time ago, mounting the rudder to one side has only a very minor effect on steering performance. The rudders on their longships were always mounted on the starboard side and the helmsman steered with his back facing to port.

Considerable lateral forces act on the auxiliary rudder in certain sea conditions so its attachment to the transom must be strong and solid. Traditional overhanging transoms will require the gear to be supported at the bottom by a V-shaped bracket. An angle flange at the bottom is sufficient for modern forward-raked transoms.

The auxiliary rudder should be at least 20 - 30 cm / 8 - 12 in behind the main rudder (this can be a problem on modern open-transom boats where the rudder is positioned far aft). Any less than this and the auxiliary rudder blade will be in the turbulent wash of the main rudder, which prevents it from bringing its full force to bear and consequently impairs the efficiency of the system.

Offset mounting next to a swim ladder. The Viking ships also had their steering system positioned to one side.

Off-centre mounting on boats with an outboard main rudder is only practical if the lateral distance between the main and auxiliary rudders is at least 30 cm / 12 in. Such a large offset reduces the efficiency of the system going to weather because some of the auxiliary rudder area will lift out of the water on one tack when the boat heels.

This BWS-Taurus system would better with a V-shaped bracket at the bottom

Offset mounting next to an outboard rudder. The minimum distance to the main rudder is 30cm/12in.

Auxiliary rudder systems function best on traditional boats with long keels and big overhanging transoms. The auxiliary rudder is so far behind the main rudder in boats of this design that it encounters hardly any turbulent wash, allowing it to achieve maximum efficiency. The large distance from the main rudder also gives it considerable leverage.

Auxiliary rudder system manufacturers:

Windpilot and Hydrovane.

Continue reading here: Trimtabonauxiliaryrudder systems How they work

Was this article helpful?

Related Posts

• Damping - Wind Steering Systems
• Using the rudder - Sailing Techniques
• Building a new boat - Wind Steering Systems
• The first windvane steering system
• Aries Standard ATLAS - Wind Steering Systems
• Combining autopilot and windvane steering systems

Readers' Questions

Does aries wind vane have an auxiliary rudder?

No, the Aires wind vane (also known as the Aries self-steering system) does not have an auxiliary rudder. It consists of a vertical pendulum that uses wind power to steer the boat, without the need for an additional rudder.

How far behind main rudder should aries self steering be fitted?

Aries self steering should be fitted approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) behind the main rudder.

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emergency rudder advice

• Thread starter msmith10
• Start date Nov 8, 2018
• Forums for All Owners
• Ask All Sailors

I want to build an emergency rudder. I have a C&C30, Mk 1. I singlehand most of the time on the Great Lakes, including racing, and race with the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society, which are about 300 miles long. I didn't really take the thought of losing a rudder seriously until I saw it happen twice in these races. I have a below decks autopilot so I don't worry about breaking a steering cable- just losing the rudder (bending the rudderpost so that it's jammed is another issue). I've given it some thought and want to build a "cassette" style rudder for easy installation- you don't lose your rudder when conditions make installation easy. I would need to beef up the transom for reinforcement. I think glassing in some preformed fiberglass beams could do this. I am wondering if 3/4" plywood, with or without a metal framework for reinforcement, would be strong enough to withstand the forces involved. The rudder design would have to sweep back some to avoid the existing rudder if it's still attached. I am thinking a small rudder would minimize forces but still allow steering with a balanced rig, although certainly not like the real rudder would, but it would at least allow control of the boat. Use of plywood like this would enable me to store the rudder on the settee below. Opinions?  

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

• Communication. Have several radios or phones, even a satellite phone would work for the Great Lakes. Call for help. Stay afloat till help arrives.
• Adjustable drag. Move a drogue from side to side to steer the boat. Watched the owner of a 40 foot Swan steer his boat using a drogue attached to two lines steer by pulling in port or starboard line on the drogue.
• Buy a strong wind vane (ie Monitor) that comes with an emergency rudder.

garymalmgren

Any spare/replacement rudder would need to be as strong and as useful the original. Ponder that. Then do more than the proper maintenance on your original rudder (make sure it doesn't get waterlogged, check the shaft for corrosion, ensure bearings are lubricated and in good condition, etc) and you should be fine. Oh, and try not to hit any submerged logs. Just thought I would throw that in for fun. gary  

Another good article on the subject: https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/sailing-skills/jury-steering-30065  

Plan C: Hydrovane. https://hydrovane.com/features/#emergency-steering  

Should you be attempting a circumnavigation, your concerns might be warranted (though honestly, I wouldn't choose a boat for that where I had any doubt about my rudder), but sailing within the range of several subscription towing services it seems a bit over the top to me. To build an emergency rudder, as you propose, would surely cost the equivalent of many years of a towing subscription. I might be inclined to beef up my current rudder if I was seriously concerned, as you seem to be, but I just can't see going any farther.  

capta said: Should you be attempting a circumnavigation, your concerns might be warranted (though honestly, I wouldn't choose a boat for that where I had any doubt about my rudder), but sailing within the range of several subscription towing services it seems a bit over the top to me. To build an emergency rudder, as you propose, would surely cost the equivalent of many years of a towing subscription. I might be inclined to beef up my current rudder if I was seriously concerned, as you seem to be, but I just can't see going any farther. Click to expand

good post and as always great info shared. this topic is of special interest to me since I lost my rudder a few weeks back in a race in Galveston Bay. We were a few miles out into the bay near the shipping lane. Apparently we hit something or something hit us that broke the rudder completely off (pic attached of remaining stub). Weather conditions were breezy (~15 miles) with a chop/slop from an approaching cold front. I have TowBoat US so for bay sailing/racing , this was sufficient to get us back to the marina but like other posts above, I am concerned when I do go offshore Gulf of Mexico (cruise from Tx to Fla panhandle in the spring) and what would I do if this were to happen again. Lessons learned from this recent experience is to have some sort of drogue onboard. While under tow, the boat was swinging wildly. To mitigate this, we towed a 5 gal bucket from about 30 feet from the stern. this did help somewhat but a proper drogue would have been safer. I've read the posts above and agree that a drogue such as a Gale Rider (got kudos from Practical Sailor) is a benefit to have onboard if offshore sailing and I do plan to invest in one as part of my safetey gear for offshore. That said, out of curiosity, I will investigate if I can make some sort of jury rig for a stern mounted rudder consisting of Sch 80 PVC piping, angled fittings, marine plywood and SS bolts for attaching similar to a wind vane type of rig. I would like to develop something that is easily stowable and can be taken apart so that is why I will investigate PVC and fittings. Still in the "minds eye" stage and I'm not sure what I will use as an attachment to the boat but if it works, will post pics. If others have any "design" suggestions, let me know.  

Attachments

jmce1587 said: That said, out of curiosity, I will investigate if I can make some sort of jury rig for a stern mounted rudder consisting of Sch 80 PVC piping, Click to expand

Thanks. Never knew anything about them and Just looked them up. Appears this will be a better experiment. Once again, good forum info.  

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Practical Boat Owner

• Digital edition

Oceansteer emergency rudder tested

• Ben Meakins
• October 27, 2015

PBO assesses the effectiveness of the ‘one size fits all’ Oceansteer emergency rudder with a trial run on the PBO Project Boat

Product Overview

• Quick-to-fit, flat pack solution to rudder loss
• Works effectively
• Speed must be kept down to avoid unit 'capsizing' and becoming ineffective

Price as reviewed:

Losing your rudder can seriously spoil your day. That’s why two sailors have developed a ‘one size fits all’ solution that can be quickly and easily fitted to any boat between 20ft and 80ft long and which should, they say, enable you to keep control of your boat should she lose her rudder. Surveyor Nick Vass and his colleague Roger Powell of Silky cleaning products have developed the Oceansteer emergency rudder as an easy-to-fit way to maintain steerage after the loss of a rudder.

Rudder loss is a major cause of abandonment and damage to yachts sailing offshore – a German yacht had to be rescued in the Fastnet race this year after losing her rudder, and barely a year goes by in the ARC without yachts having some sort of steering issue. Most of these are resolved, but there have been a few cases recently where yachts have been abandoned, only to be discovered – still afloat – months later.

RORC regulations state that racing yachts must have a tried-and-tested method of steering should a boat suffer rudder loss, and most RORC racing boats carry a small drogue for this purpose. We tried out five methods of lashing up makeshift steering oars, skegs and drogues in PBO’s August 2011 issue.

The best was the ‘Viking oar’, a spinnaker pole with a blade (made from a locker lid) lashed to the end, but it was time-consuming to set up and hard to steer with for any great distance. A drogue was another good way to steer the boat, but slowed us significantly and made precision steering tricky. Would the Oceansteer make it any easier?

Deploying the Oceansteer The Oceansteer comes packed in two fabric bags, one containing two thick pieces of HDPE plastic and the other the system of brackets that will fix the Oceansteer to your transom.

Oceansteer’s Nick Vass assembles the two parts of the rudder

The brackets consist of two U-shaped steel channels with nesting inserts which can be used to extend the bracket if necessary. The whole thing is attached to the pushpit using a set of clamps of the type normally used for lighting rigs in the theatre industry. At the other end of the bracket, the two arms are joined by an eye bolt and nut, to which the rudder is shackled. These brackets come packed in tape with the rudder lines coiled inside, ready to be deployed.

The bracket was clamped to the traveller and deployed over the stern

The rudder itself consists of two pieces of HDPE plastic which slot together in the same way that you assemble an anchor ball. This done, they shackle to the apex of the bracket so that one piece is in the vertical plane and the other is horizontal. The horizontal piece has two holes drilled to take the control lines. The horizontal plane is designed to act like a paravane, as used to catch mackerel. The faster the boat goes, the more the Oceansteer sinks, the geometry of which moves the bracket as far forward and snugly against the transom as possible.

That’s the principle, but how well does it work in practice? We tried out the Oceansteer on Hantu Biru, the PBO Project Boat. Motoring out from a marina berth onto a vacant swinging mooring, we removed her rudder and stowed it down below. This done, Nick Vass, one of the product’s designers, hauled the two bags out of the cabin and set to work.

We don’t have an aft pushpit on Hantu Biru but a hefty main traveller horse runs across the aft cockpit coaming, so we bolted the two legs of the bracket to this. The brackets, secured with wing nuts, were effective and easy to use, even with the boat moving around. A spanner is included in the kit, and we used this to bolt  the extensions to the legs of the bracket with the included fixings. We used some pipe lagging to protect Hantu Biru’s rubbing strake from damage, although in an emergency you’d likely be less precious in order to save your boat – nonetheless, keeping some lagging in the bag is not a bad idea.

With the bracket ready to go, we attached the rudder part of the design to the apex of the bracket and handed the whole thing over the transom. With the bracket secured to the traveller, we led the two control lines forward from the rudder to Hantu Biru’s cockpit winches. This done, we were good to go, so we hoisted the main and cast off the mooring.

It’s a simple idea: here, we are pulling on the starboard control line, which turns the rudder and the boat steers to starboard

It was important to keep both lines tight when altering course, easing one and pulling the other in unison to stop the Oceansteer ‘capsizing’ like this

We used the cockpit sheet winches for the control lines, which made it intuitive to use – pull port to go to port!

It was intuitive to steer with, using a line on each side of the boat: simply pull the port line to go to port and the starboard line to go to starboard. Hantu Biru tracked nicely, sailing down a narrow channel with ease under mainsail alone. The rudder became more effective once the boat’s speed exceeded 2 knots, as the ‘hydroplane’ effect took hold and the rudder sank more deeply in the water, increasing its ‘bite’.

What quickly became evident was that you needed to keep tension in both lines at the same time when altering course, or else the rudder would ‘capsize’ and become less effective. This meant pulling the relevant line (in this case, starboard) tight initially, before gently easing the port line and pulling on the starboard line constantly to ensure the rudder was kept in its correct orientation. Keeping tension on the lines also meant that the rudder stayed submerged, which was important.

Beating We managed to beat up a narrow channel under main and jib, surrounded by moored yachts. The Oceansteer, as its name suggests, isn’t designed for this level of accuracy, but we wanted to see just how controllable it was in comparison to the boat’s real, now-removed rudder. What became clear was that the rudder was fine when everything was in equilibrium, but once it began to load up in the gusts and the boat tried to round up, it became hard to maintain enough pressure on the leeward line to counteract this without the rudder capsizing. Judicious trimming of the mainsheet, and indeed early reefing, would keep this in check, and once we had furled away the jib she became much more manageable. Tacks were not a problem, but it is wise to keep as much speed through them as possible – the rudder isn’t designed to work in astern, and while it did work with the boat in irons, more speed was the key to easier steering.

Reaching On a reach, the boat felt very controllable. The only issue arose when the wash from the Condor ferry came from the quarter, and the lines weren’t tight enough to keep the rudder tight into the hull. Here it slopped around a little in the waves. Slowing down and tightening the lines regained control.

Running Running presented few problems. The only setback occurred when the boat powered up between a run and a broad reach, when the loads on the rudder increased to the point where it was hard to adjust. But reducing sail and speed to a point where it was easy to control was simple enough.

This represented a good, easily-stowed solution to emergency steering that required much less experimentation than setting up a Viking oar as we tried back in 2011. It’s not designed for the sort of close-quarters manoeuvring we put it through – instead it’s intended for open-water sailing where there’s plenty of sea room. However, it’s good to know that it will enable you to have enough control to make some ground to windward, for instance off a lee shore, if required.

The key to stopping the Oceansteer loading up was in selecting a slightly under-canvased and balanced sail plan. With a suitable sail selection we found it gave us better than expected control. Deployment was easy, but it’s worth owners spending a little time in a dry fitting before it’s needed in anger to ensure the brackets are the correct length and to work out a fitting solution that works on their boat.

It’s not quite perfect – the interface between bracket and rudder is a shackle which allows some articulation and thus lets the rudder capsize, but this is a better alternative to a fixed pivot, which would transfer the loads up the bracket’s arms and risk damaging the pushpit. Using two winches meant that the loads weren’t too bad and could be easily adjusted. On a long passage you should be able to cleat off both lines and balance the rig to let the boat sail herself.

Hantu Biru’s diminutive 23ft length worked well with the Oceansteer. The makers claim that it will work on boats up to 80ft – and it would be interesting to try on a larger rudderless boat to see if the ‘one size fits all’ design works in that context.

On Hantu Biru we became so confident using the system that we managed to beat up to and pick up a mooring buoy under sail – not bad for an emergency system.

A useful as a 'one size fits all' solution to rudder loss

Matt & Jessica's Sailing Page

Experiencing the world while it's still large

Emergency Rudder: Phase I

Monday November 18, 2013

As I’ve mentioned, Matt has a million different projects going on right now to spruce up Serendipity and get her ready for cruising.  Most of them have been for more along the lines of comfort features while at anchor, a sliding board that covers the stove for more counter space; reconfiguring our dining table to give more room to move around the salon; things like that.  But after doing much research online, we’ve taken on a new project that will improve the actual performance of Serendipity. Or, possibly save us from disaster.  However you want to look at it.

Our plans this coming summer are to take the ‘Dip from St. Martin in the Eastern Caribbean over to the Mediterranean, which includes crossing approximately 3,200 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean.  We’re hoping that this will be a very uneventful crossing for us, but you know what they say, ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst’.

As you’ve probably been able to guess, Matt has spent many a night here in the Rio while we have internet access, scouring to see what are the biggest issues boats run into on ocean crossings, and making sure that we can do our best to prevent them.  What he ended up finding, is that the most common cause for distress while passaging is rudder failure.  For my non-nautical friends, the rudder is a vertically hinged plate of metal, fiberglass, or wood, placed at the stern of the ship and is used to steer the boat through the water.  Now I don’t know about you, but I consider steering a pretty frickin’ important necessity to get from Point A to Point B, and that is probably one of the last things I want to fail on me out in the middle of an ocean.

Throughout the summer and into the fall we toyed with the idea of building an emergency rudder, considered  the condition of our current rudder, and what options we would have if it did fail on us out at sea without having a backup.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still little things you can do to control steering a little bit without a rudder, such as trailing a drogue on one side of the boat to get it to turn that direction, or attaching boards to a spinnaker pole and using that as a replacement rudder.  It’s actually part of the reason we bought ours (with the added bonus that it could be used as an emergency mast should we ever be de-masted).  We were very back and forth on the issue if we wanted to put in the time and money, and take away precious storage space, to build and have mountings for a second, albeit, smaller rudder.  As if we were waiting for a sign to be sent to us, Matt came across this article of a relatively new Beneteau Oceanis 50 that was traveling between islands in the Eastern Caribbean this summer when their rudder sheared right off.  They ended up putting in a distress call and were towed through 6-8 ft seas for nearly 30 hours until they arrived on the island of Martinique. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone.  That cemented our decision.  We wanted an emergency rudder.  We’d both be much happier having it and hopefully never having to use it, than falling into a situation where we needed it and were only able to rely on the other backups listed above.

Since we’ve made this decision, we’ve been in talks with an American named Thomas that runs a welding shop in the Rio.  With his help, and some very detailed instructions from Matt, he’s spent the past few weeks making the mountings for the rudder and was able to bring all the pieces over this afternoon to install them.  The parts we had Thomas make/weld for us are: three stainless steel mounts to be attached to the transom; a rudder mount, and a gudgeon.  Here’s a rough sketch Matt made of how it will all fit on the boat.

We’ve set it up so that the three transom mounts will be permanent and always visible, but the rudder mount, gudgeon, and rudder will be stored away.  Should our current rudder ever shear off (let’s hope not), we’d assemble the rudder mount to the transom mounts, slip in the the new rudder, and hopefully be able to maintain decent steerage.  Not enough to be a permanent fix if the original rudder was gone, but enough to get us to land and someplace we can do repairs.

After Thomas brought all of the pieces over, all we can say is that we are thrilled with his work and we’re so happy that we were able to find him here in the Rio.  Thanks for introducing us to him Luis!  Just yet another advantage of our little dinner club.

This is a two part project for us, Matt and I will be making the rudder ourselves once we get to a place where we can get the supplies necessary, probably Mexico or the US.  The rudder will be 48″ long, 12″ wide, and made from foam, fiberglass, and epoxy.  Consider phase one checked off the list though!

Lining up and installing the transom mounts.

Placing it all together.

Phase one complete.

The gudgeon, which will eventually be attached to the emergency rudder.

5 Responses

Looks great! Does the mount make using the ladder difficult? Did you ever really even use the ladder anyway?

Jackie, the big part (rudder mount) doesn’t stay on there, so we’re usually just left with the three little pieces of stainless steal that they attach to. We placed them so that the caps on the ladder miss them when we put it down, and are able to use the ladder just fine. It gets used every time we go in the water, and since we tend to do that for bathing now, yeah, I guess it gets used a lot. 🙂

Hey guys! Big fans of your blog. Always entertaining. This post was quite interesting. Curious as with all the effort and custom fabrication required for this emergency rudder why you didn’t just go with a self steering wind vane like a Hydrovane that basically leaves you with an autopilot AND a backup rudder. Would love your insight on this. Thanks!

Hey Matt! There’s two reason we went through all the work of custom fabrication for a emergency rudder, and they are cost and compatibility. The emergency rudder was cheaper for us to do, and because of our davits which hold one of our 205 watt solar panels, it does not leave us the room to switch to a Hydrovane. It is certainly a possibility for others, but for us, that route would have ended up being more work overall.

[…] issues last summer and lost their rudder, the same exact boat that made us go through and put an emergency rudder in after hearing what happened to them.  I won’t go too far into it, but it may be […]

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Sailboat Review: Dufour 41

• By Herb McCormick
• September 17, 2024

When it comes to a discussion of the great European naval architects of contemporary times—and it’s a long list, indeed—certain names immediately pop to mind. Many are French. Philippe Briand made his mark creating boats for a roster of production builders (Baltic, Jeanneau, CNB) before pivoting to the superyacht set (Perini Navi, Royal Huisman). Jean-Marie Finot was more or less the father of an era of the best Vendée Globe solo round-the-world racers ever to compete in that grueling contest. Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost (VPLP Design) are the current masters of offshore multihulls. The talented tandem of Jean Berret and Olivier Racoupeau are ubiquitous as the creators of many French brands, and sit at the forefront of their profession. 

To me, however, one of the more underrated European ­design mavens, and one who definitely belongs in that rarefied grouping, is Umberto Felci. While Felci was born in Milan and still operates from his base in Italy, I’ve always considered him a huge influence in French ­boatbuilding­—largely because of his longtime association with Dufour Yachts, where he’s been the principal designer for some 15 years. 

During that time, I’ve sailed many a Felci boat, as he’s been a consistent presence in Cruising World ’s annual Boat of the Year contest . He has won multiple times with his Dufour entries, including the 560 Grand Large (2014), the 382 Grand Large (2015), and the 520 Grand Large (2018). All of these Grand Large boats shared a similar DNA, and the Dufour booths at the major boat shows were easily ­recognizable for their similar lines and matching beige canvas dodgers and sail covers. The only huge difference across the fleet was their respective sizes.

All that changed in a big way in 2019, after the Fountaine Pajot group acquired Dufour and decided to make each new offering a singular model in form and styling. Which brings us to Felci’s newest design, the Dufour 41. 

Aesthetically, it’s safe to say that the bright-blue Dufour 41 at this past year’s Annapolis Sailboat Show in Maryland was one of the more distinctive-looking yachts on display. It has a rounded bow, ample beam, and not one but two chines, both carried almost the entire length of the boat—one just above the waterline, another just below the reverse sheer line, which is accentuated by prominent molded bulwarks. This boat looks and feels much larger than its 41 feet length overall. Forward, an integrated bowsprit for the ground tackle and the tack point for the asymmetric kite heightens the futuristic vibe. As does the series of three sleek windows in the hull (along with the additional pair of windows overhead in the coachroof). There is not a stick of timber to be found anywhere. 

Topsides, the ­combination of wide side decks and outboard shrouds makes for easy egress when moving forward or aft. The emphasis on “outdoor living” is underscored by a generous cockpit with twin wheels (but, as with all Dufours, a single rudder, which makes backing down easier and with more control). There’s also wraparound seating, including a cushioned daybed, as well as a drop-down transom, which doubles as the porch/platform for the barbecue well aft. All this is revolved around a table—a pretty sweet, comfortable layout that lends the impression of lounging aboard a much bigger boat. 

All the related equipment is first-rate. There’s B&G instrumentation, including the chart plotter and autopilot; a Quick vertical windlass with helm controls for the Delta anchor; and a Side-Power (Sleipner) bow thruster, which I reckon is a luxurious touch on a 41-footer. Our test boat was set up with a nice set of Elvstrøm sails, including a traditional mainsail (an in-mast furling mainsail is available) with a cool stack-pack arrangement that tucks into itself and is secured with shock cords. For our Boat of the Year trials, we test all the emergency rudders, and the one on the 41 was exceptional. 

Construction is straightforward and robust. The hull is vacuum-infused with solid glass below the waterline and a foam core above. There are a pair of molded-in channels for the plumbing and electrical wiring. The plywood bulkheads are laminated to the hull. The keel is cast iron. And, as with every Dufour going back to the company’s origins, a wine rack is stashed under the floorboards. 

Ardizio Design is ­responsible for the belowdecks accoutrements, accommodations and floor plan. Its team used those aforementioned chines and, more specifically, the voluminous interior that the chines created, to wide advantage. As with Dufour’s other models, there are three packages of features, trim and equipment—on the 41, these are labeled Adventure, Ocean and Performance—depending on how the boat will be used (basic sailing, dedicated cruising or racing). With the 41, there are also two interior options: either three or four staterooms. Both have a straight-line galley to starboard, with the dining table and wraparound settee to port.

Our test boat had the three-stateroom layout, with a spacious master forward and a pair of double-berth staterooms aft. It also had three heads, which, to be honest, seems like a bit of overkill on a 41-foot boat. The second head, in the center of the boat, can be replaced with stowage, which is the setup I’d prefer. 

The 41 sports a double-­spreader rig with swept-back spreaders and a self-­tacking jib. The double-ended German-style mainsheet, anchored at midboom, is easily trimmed with a pair of electric winches (an optional electric winch for the mainsail is ­available). There’s no traveler; after all, this is a cruising boat. 

Under power, the 50 hp Volvo Penta with a saildrive configuration had us zipping along at better than 6 knots. This was one of the quieter boats, decibel-wise, in the 2024 fleet. But we were all itching to hoist the sails, and we were not disappointed. At first, in a fitful breeze that was just filling in, we still made over 5 knots in 6 to 8 knots of wind. Soon enough, the pressure built into the 10- to 12-knot range, just in time to hoist the boat’s big asymmetric kite. On a tight reach, we made an effortless 7.5 knots, and the helm was just delightful, with only a light three-finger touch required for full control. 

Those Grand Large prizewinners from years past were, of course, all Felci designs. While this new Dufour looks absolutely nothing like its older siblings, it sails just as well, if not better. Felci may have changed the recipe under the company’s new regime, but he hasn’t forgotten that what we really want is pretty simple: We want to go for a fine sail.

Dufour 41 Specifications

Did You Know?

French boatbuilders were pioneers in fiberglass-sailboat manufacturing. Naval architect/engineer Michel Dufour joined their ranks in 1964 with the launching of the Sylphe, a radical (for its time) 21-foot pocket cruiser with a masthead rig and fin keel with attached ballast bulb. More than 400 were built in a 10-year production run.

Dufour has ramped up its introduction of new models in the past five years, and now has nine in production ranging from 37 to 61 feet, with a 44-footer on tap to be introduced in the United States this fall. Of that collection, the company’s 41, 470 and 530 are all available with electric auxiliary-propulsion options.

Dufour has laid out an aggressive growth strategy, planning to introduce two models each year for the next several years, and replacing its entire fleet within four years. As for the 41, a company representative said that about a third of the run will go to private owners, a third will be purchased by charter operators, and a third will go into charter-management programs.

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

• More: Boat of the Year , dufour yachts , Print September 2024 , Sailboat Reviews , Sailboats
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• Safety & Seamanship

Sailing Without a Rudder

Drogues offset helm to get you home again..

Loss of steering may well be the most common cause of rescue for boats sailing offshore, but the problem is even more common inshore where there is more debris to hit. An emergency rudder is always possible, but for most of us, extra gear to rig, cost, and strength concerns most often render the option impractical. Wrestling an emergency rudder into position will be physical and possibly dangerous in rough conditions. In the case of a catamaran it is simple to disconnect a rudder that is jammed straight, but what if it is jammed hard over, as in the loss of the Alpha 42 Catamaran Be Good Too in 2014? Tests have been published using drogues for steering with the rudder either removed or locked in position, showing that in moderate weather even sailing to windward is practical as long as sails were adjusted in concert and the drogue position was adjustable. Our questions go further. What if the rudder has jammed an angle? Are all drogues appropriate for this purpose? How do you choose the best size?

Our goal was not only to test rigging methods and drogues, but also to quantify how it sailed under drogue steering control. What rigging works best, what size drogue is required, what courses can we sail, how stable are they, and how quickly will we get home? In H ow Much Drag? ( Practical Sailor September 2016) we collected data for a range of commercial drogues. That information will help you translate out findings into a steering drogue that will work for your boat.

What We Tested

For steering, a relatively low-drag device is required. While parachute-type sea anchors and high-resistance or stopping drogues may be good for surviving a severe storm, they arent useful for getting to port with no steering. As we will learn, if the drogue produces too little drag, we can’t control the boat in all circumstances; too much drag slows us down and prevents progress to windward. Thus, we tested the Seabrake GP24L, Galerider 30, Delta Drogue 72, and a towed warp.

We tested using a 32-foot PDQ catamaran with the rudders still in place, either locked straight or at 60 percent to one side to simulate a single rudder jammed hard-over. Each of these simulates an actual occurrence, and even on monohulls, bent and jammed rudders are more common than lost rudders. Of course, losing the rudder entirely presents a slightly different case, since the rudder provides some portion of the lateral plane as well as steering control. Much depends on the underwater profile of the boat and the sail plan, so you will need to practice and amend our findings to fit your boat.

How We Tested

We deployed each device on 100 feet of polyester double braid rope, weighted with 8 feet of 5/16-inch chain, and towed them at two speeds (3 knots and about 4-5 knots) to develop a speed-versus-drag relationship.

We then deployed each device from our test boat using a bridle formed by a pair of spinnaker sheets (see Improve Steering Efficiency, on right) and sailed a variety of courses in a variety of wind speeds up to 30 knots sustained in semi-protected waters, building a rough speed polar for each device. We also compared performance with different the bridle attachment points and rode lengths. For initial testing we deployed the drogues from a bridle consisting of spinnaker sheets led to turning blocks at the toe rail about 8 feet forward of the transom, varying both bridle position and sail trim until the best speed and course were attained. We then sailed each course for at least 10 minutes, collecting averages and judging stability. The result is an overall picture of how the boat sailed around the course with each drogue. We then practiced with several of the drogues, deploying them on longer rodes in stronger conditions, using both the genoa sheet bridle and a bridle formed by deploying with a single line from one winch, and then deflecting it to one side using a snatch block and pendant led to a winch on the other side.

Drogue Selection

How to pick the best size drogue for emergency steering? In snubber testing we found our 34-foot catamaran test boat to be roughly equivalent to the ABYC 40-foot monohull in terms of windage, which gave a lunch hook anchor load of 300 pounds. Our recommendations for winds up to 20 knots is to pick a drogue that produces about 60 percent of the ABYC lunch hook load when towed at 4.2 knots. For stronger conditions, up to gale force, go up 100 percent of the AYBC lunch hook load; the larger size can be de-powered by using on very short scope, within limits.

Following this logic and our on-water experience, the Seabrake 24 and Delta Drogue 72 were well sized for our 34-foot test boat in moderate to fresh conditions. The Galerider 30 was wonderfully smooth and fun to use, but it was over powered in winds above 15 knots (the Galerider 36 is the correct size for the test boat).

Since all products were tested in moderate conditions on a single boat (34-foot catamaran), our recommendations should be adjusted to reflect the boat you have and conditions you anticipate. In How Much Drag is a Drogue? we presented drag data and more detailed reviews.

Delta Drogue 72, Paratech Engineering

Based on an equilateral triangle of fabric, the Delta Drogue 72 is dimensionally similar to the other units in the test (the size designation is related to the side of the triangle and not the inflated diameter). It did have the occasional bad habit of skipping out of the water when overloaded at short scope, but not fully, and it very quickly re-engaged, always before any effect on course was noticed. The elegantly simple design is functional, well-proven, and strong.

Bottom line: Though a simple cone drogue may be cheaper, this represents the Best Buy in a real offshore drogue.

Galerider 30, Hathaway, Reiser & Raymond

Providing by far the most consistent drag at varying rode length and in waves, it was the tester favorite. While other drogues produced wildly fluctuating drag forces both under water and when near the surface, the Galerider was remarkably stable under water and by far the least affected by surfacing. Our sample drogue was a 30-inch diameter size, and a 36-inch diameter was prescribed for our test boat. As a result, the we had trouble maintaining control with the undersized drogue in higher wind speeds. While added weight is not required for speed limiting use in storms, Galerider does recommend a short length of chain for steering use, primarily to allow it to be pulled very close behind the boat and still stay in the water. Considering the long service history of the unit (over 1000 units over 20 years), durability has generally been very good.

Bottom line: In all but the windiest conditions, the Galerider excelled. We have no doubt a larger diameter would have fared better. It is our Best Choice for emergency steering.

Seabrake 24

Although a little too large for light wind emergency steering, the extra drag was appreciated with the wind over 20 knots and when the rudder was locked to one side. Compared to the Galerider it was less stable when towed on extremely short rode to reduce drag, but still functional and quite stable with 50-100 feet of rode. Seabrake: The reduction in speed near beam reach is due to dropping the mainsail.

Below 10 knots we were able to fly the chute at angles below 150 degrees true. Speeds in stronger winds include wave effects but not surfing. The Seabrake may have been faster in light winds if we had hauled it to very short scope, but that was not what we were testing. We did observe this, however; drogues pulled in close were faster, but less stable. We believe the Gale Rider would be more stable, since it does not skip.

Bottom line: Recommended for larger boats and for stronger conditions in smaller boats.

Small Shark, Fiorentino

Perhaps the easiest to deploy, it is compact for the drag produced, packs very small, does not require chain in front of the attachment (it does require a tail weight, typically a small mushroom anchor), and is easiest to get in the water. The Small Shark, with the mushroom anchor at the base, gets strong marks for ease of deployment; just heave it off the back.

Bottom line: Durability, easy deployment, and small size earn a Recommended rating.

Warps and Chain

Boats have sailed impressive distances with rope, chain, anchors, and fenders linked together to make a jury-rigged drogue. We tested just two 100-foot x -inch lines with 30 feet of 3/8-inch chain between them.

Bottom line: Not enough drag to do anything worthwhile unless a lot more stuff is added.

Conclusions

We always thought drogues were only for ocean passages and dangerous storms, until we struck a log and felt the helplessness of no steering and the closeness of a lee shore. We learned that loss of steering is a coastal sailing risk as well. Fortunately, a drogue and the knowledge to use it can restore a useful level of control in minutes.

Steering is more limited and laborious than plain sailing, and you wont point as high, but you can stabilize the boat to hold a course on most points of sail. With even low engine RPMs as a boost, you can sail most courses in moderate weather. Drogues can also temporarily replace a failed autohelm on downwind courses, although speeds are reduced; setting an retrieving a drogue in moderate conditions for this purpose is not difficult, and could be well worth the effort to gain a rest period. We were happy with spinnaker sheets for controls, though we suspect a turning block location at the point of maximum beam would better suit monohulls.

We strongly suggest practicing with the boat you have; you may find different rigging works better and re-rigging once the drogue is in the water can be very difficult. Our testing was limited to sustained winds 30-35 knots and wont pretend to know how emergency steering works beyond our experience. However, steering problems can also occur in moderate conditions, either the result of a collision, or in the aftermath of a storm, where a boat that has otherwise come through with minimal damage is prevented from heading to shore by one damaged appendage. We think steering drogues address these problems, and thus make sense for all sailors.

• Ideal Drogue setup will require experiments

The above table lists drogues recommended by their manufacturers for boats that generally fit in the 30- to 45-foot range. This is an estimated size, and the broad range of boats in this category—stretching between a Catalina 30 to a William Garden Vagabond 47—illustrates the importance of consulting manufacturers and researching other reports when matching a drogue size to a boat. PS tested five of the above drogues. The source of other data is noted in the table.

Occasionally, so-called “expert” advice on seamanship and boat-handling doesn’t play out in the real world. Sometimes it is nautical lore passed down through generations but never tested. In other cases, the advice is simply outdated and is no longer useful to owners of contemporary boat designs, especially those that have unique sailing characteristics. One example of this came up in this test when we tested a commonly promoted practice—using a snatch block to join the bridle lines on a catamaran

• Our test drogues came in a range of styles. The weblike Galerider (yellow) clearly stood out for its appearance.
• In an attempt to keep the boat on a reach in moderate breeze, we positioned the Sea Brake on the quarter.
• We tried deploying the drogues on a single line from a starboard stern cleat, deflecting it to port with a snatch block and a pendant. When the wind and waves increased, though, the snatch block slipped down the line and was pinned against the hull—immobilized.

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U.S. sues Dali ship owner and operator for $100 million over Baltimore bridge collapse

Bill Chappell

A tug boat travels toward the Port of Baltimore as salvage crews continue to clean up wreckage from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Patapsco River on June 11 in Baltimore. The city's Fort McHenry Federal Channel opened for shipping traffic months after the cargo ship Dali collided with the bridge, causing it to collapse. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption

The Department of Justice is suing the owner and operator of the container ship Dali, saying negligence and dangerous cost-cutting decisions led to the ship ramming into — and destroying — Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March .

The catastrophe killed six construction workers and shut down a busy port for months; it also obliterated a segment of Interstate 695 carried by the bridge.

“The ship’s owner and manager … sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States’ waterways,” the Justice Department alleges in a civil claim that was filed on Wednesday in a federal court in Maryland.

Companies, not taxpayers, should pay, DOJ says

The government is suing two Singapore-based corporations, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, seeking more than $100 million in costs the U.S. incurred in responding to the disaster.

Salvage crews remove wreckage from the Dali on May 8, six weeks after the cargo ship Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Six people died in the March 26 collapse. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which resulted in the tragic deaths of six people and disrupted our country’s transportation and defense infrastructure,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release.

The civil claim cites costs such as the emergency response to the disaster and the clearing of some 50,000 tons of steel and other materials to create a temporary channel for ships to navigate to and from the port.

Those costs, Garland said, should be “borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer.”

Who will pay to replace Baltimore's Key Bridge? The legal battle has already begun

According to court filings, the ship’s owner, Grace Ocean, and its operator, Synergy, had sought to cap their liability at less than $44 million. 

The federal claim does not include the cost of rebuilding the bridge: Because Maryland built and owned the bridge, the state will pursue its own compensation, according to the Justice Department.

The Army Corps of Engineers sets off a controlled demolition to remove wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge off of the cargo ship Dali in the Patapsco River on May 13 in Baltimore. An estimated 500-foot section of the bridge weighing 8-12 million pounds was removed by controlled demolition in the final stage of wreckage removal for the ship to be moved into port. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption

The U.S. says the calamity was “entirely avoidable” and was caused by a sequence of failures that resulted in the ship losing power — and thus, its ability to steer.

NPR’s requests for comment from Grace Ocean and Synergy were not answered before this story published.

The claim lays out a sequence of failures, stating that as the ship went into crisis mode with a qualified local pilot at the helm, “none of the four means available to help control the DALI — her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster — worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster.”

Bridge projects across U.S. offer clues to what may replace Baltimore's fallen span

The u.s. alleges a string of failures in crucial moments.

An image from a Justice Department court filing shows a cargo chain turnbuckle welded to an angled piece of metal wedged between a transformer (left) and a steel beam (right) aboard the Dali, in an apparent attempt to dampen vibrations that can damage electrical equipment. hide caption

It all started, the U.S. says, when the Dali’s number 1 step-down transformer — a massive device that converts high-voltage power from diesel generators into usable lower-voltage power — failed as the cargo ship approached the Key Bridge.

The transformer had long been known to suffer from heavy vibrations that raised the risk of an eventual failure, according to the claim. But rather than fix the problem, the Justice Department alleges, the Dali’s owner and operator “jury-rigged their ship,” including welding a large hook into a space in an attempt to brace the transformer.

Here’s how the U.S. claim describes what happened next:

“With the failure at the number 1 step-down transformer, all power stopped flowing to the ship’s 440-volt electrical panel. The bridge and engine room went completely dark, the crew could not steer, and the main engine stopped, which caused the propeller to stop turning. At that point, the power should have transferred automatically to the backup number 2 step-down transformer within just a few seconds, while there was still ample time to steer away from the bridge. But this automation, a safety feature tailor made for the occasion at hand, had been recklessly disabled. The engineers were left struggling in the dark to manually reset the tripped circuit breakers for the number 1 step-down transformer. This took them a full minute, wasting critical time to regain control of the ship.”

Over the next several minutes, none of the backup systems could bring enough power back to the ship to avoid striking the bridge, the Justice Department says.

Under maritime regulations, a container ship that has lost power must be able to tap into an emergency generator within 45 seconds, according to the claim. But, it adds, the Dali drifted onward without power for “well over a minute” after the original blackout.

When power was restored to the helm, the Maryland-based pilot issued orders to steer the ship through the bridge’s central span. But the Dali’s power went out again roughly a minute later. The cause, the claim alleges, was the ship operators’ decision — “made to save money and for their own convenience” — to get fuel to the diesel generators by using a “flushing” pump rather than a standard fuel pump. That arrangement starved the generators, the U.S. says, because the flushing pump on the Dali wasn’t designed with a safety feature requiring it to turn back on automatically after a power outage. As a result, the ship never had its main engine and propeller restored to working order.

With the emergency deepening, the pilot called for the Dali to release an anchor, hoping to pull the ship away from its collision course. But the anchor wasn’t ready to fall. 

“By the time the ship finally dropped anchor, less than half a ship’s length from the bridge, it was too late to have any effect,” according to the claim.

A construction barge moves past salvage crews as they continue to clean up the wreckage from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Patapsco River on June 11 in Baltimore. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption

Another last-minute emergency order, to send full power to a bow thruster to try to turn the ship, brought the reply that the thruster was “unavailable,” according to an image of the ship’s log in the court document.

The Dali then slammed into a support pier, and sections of the Francis Scott Key Bridge crashed onto the ship and into the Patapsco River.