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A decent Emergency Rudder?


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Not sure making them compulsory would make them cheaper, the best option of course would be to keep the original rudders attached to the boat but some times stuff happens. Most systems are just to get the boat near enough to a port so a tow can be organised and wouldn't be expected to be terribly accurate.

 

There has, I believe been a spate of Euro boats with Alloy ruder stocks getting electrolysis and having issues. Not so common in this part of the world but could happen here with all the imports coming in. 

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Interesting. Sweet Disorder is a local boat to Gulf Harbour, and is in good order - but no longer new of course. The rudder shaft is not 2 inch - I'm not sure of the exact measurement, but IIRC it is WAY more that 2 inch (more like 4 +)

For it to break off, without hitting something solid, it must have had some unseen issue. Be really interesting to see the failure point close up.

Steering a fin keeler without a rudder over long distance is very difficult. I've never been a believer in a bit of ply and some U bolts... due to the loads unless virtually calm.

Oh, and virtually no sailboat is built with a Sampson post any more, but you don't need one for a parachute. In my experience the loads are similar to an anchor, and my bow cleat has held fine.

I'm not so sure Id be happy to have the tow line be so large - little give/stretch at the loads given, and therefore more brutal on the yacht and her fittings - but here I must admit I have never been towed in a seaway.

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Rehab, you seem to have missed the point of my post. I was in no way advocating towing as a solution at sea quite the opposite. I believe an emergency steering solution needs to be robust but not necessarily very accurate. It needs to get the boat close enough to the harbour entrance or marina where towing makes sense towing in a rough sea would be a nightmare I'd rather heave to and wait.

A solution good for getting a boat up the harbour and into the marina would probably be quite different to one that would stand up to a very rough sea.

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Sweet Disorder would be a 1980's boat IIRC. I'd be surprised if it had a crap quality rudder stock. Unless the rudder was dropped for inspection, it could have had damage inside the lower bearing, making it not possible to see??

 

I was talking about a 40 ft  boat breaking wave hitting a vessel with a parachute anchor set.

 

OC

 

I fully understand that. My parachute has been on the anchor cleat in those conditions.(With a bridle back to a sheet winch for angle adjustment). Its really important that the setup is working and the bow is into, or at a small angle  (

 

I would NEVER use the anchor winch for holding the rode in anything other a lunch stop. They are not designed for that, and it states this in all the manuals I have seen for the winches.

 

If the loading on a parachute warp is so extreme it can remove a section of the bow (that is what would happen if it ripped off my bow cleat), then IMO the parachute is too large, and/or the rode is too heavy. There should be quite a bit of give in the rode, and, in a good parachute, the chute itself should have a pressure relief system. Mine does - its a W.A Coppins stormfighter.

 

I still think the loads on my parachute system are similar to being anchored in the same conditions. KM tells me that in 70 odd knots my boat has about 2500 KG force expected on an anchor rode (Without breakers!!).My Anchor chain deforms at about 5000KG, and breaks at about 5500KG IIRC (tested by KM and Wheels...)

 

Of course it is sensible to ensure you have your bow cleats properly sized, fastened with good bolts and backing plates,  and in a sufficiently strong piece of deck BEFORE you go on any serious voyage. In the end, you must respect the sea. Prepare for the worst, and you''ll probably never see it. Really extreme conditions can overwhelm any vessel.

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Smithy, that is a very nice emergency rudder. It beats lots of regular rudders. The only negative thought that crossed my mind was that with a nice rudder like that it looks like you're expecting/hoping to use it.

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Smithy, that is a very nice emergency rudder. It beats lots of regular rudders. The only negative thought that crossed my mind was that with a nice rudder like that it looks like you're expecting/hoping to use it.

I got this made before the last RNI as it was a requirement. Just before the RNI there was a spate of abandoned yachts due to lost rudders which made me think about the scenario.. You really are stuffed if you lose your rudder and have no way to steer. I also figured out that on the Marshall I could drop the rudder through the bottom bearing and seal it if the worst came to the worst (jammed rudder due to hitting something). Of course this was all theoretical and in anger it might be another story altogether, but with the cassette, I knew I could mount it, even in a big sea, then drop the rudder in afterwards.. I have still never tried it out properly!!
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