Lost rudder in the pacific, outside Marshall

[SnakeEyes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3cLRiEmzo&t=0s

Everyone is safe, but what a ride it must have been for them.

[mikedefieslife]

That's a good watch. Makes me think what I have on board to jury-rig a rudder. Seeing their whisker pole break was a bit of an eye-opener. Can't imagine many boats have anything much stronger onboard.

[SnakeEyes]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

That's a good watch. Makes me think what I have on board to jury-rig a rudder. Seeing their whisker pole break was a bit of an eye-opener. Can't imagine many boats have anything much stronger onboard.

Its definitely a eye-opener.

I would be also interested to hear what Jeanneau has to say about this, its not like its the first time they snap of like this.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

Its definitely a eye-opener.

I would be also interested to hear what Jeanneau has to say about this, its not like its the first time they snap of like this.

Hilma is a 2006 Jenneau Sun Odyssey 45.
The owner's forum had a post from a boatyard worker a few years back who supposedly had repaired 9 of these:
... I would like to warn owners of san odyssey built from 95 to 2006
about a common problem in their rudders...
...it makes the blade to fail exactly where the shaft is going in....

[Eder]

My plan if rudder fails is to drag a small drogue or if lighter conditions just a longish warp. I haven't tried it yet but sounds good.

[Tillsbury]

The yachting monthly video (youtube) on jury steering concluded that warps or drogues were a bit useless. A jury rudder worked surprisingly well, although they used a pivoting rudder rather than the substantially more complex and delicate rotating rudder used in the above video.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Eder

My plan if rudder fails is to drag a small drogue or if lighter conditions just a longish warp. I haven't tried it yet but sounds good.

Here is a nice description and test of drogue steering with the rudder removed.
https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...ipment-tested/

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Here is a nice description and test of drogue steering with the rudder removed.

https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...ipment-tested/

This is a great technique to have, but I think the heavy seas in the Hilma video had Oskar wishing for a much stronger makeshift rudder post than an aluminum whisker pole. Note to self- bring a decent spare rudder.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by cyan

This is a great technique to have, but I think the heavy seas in the Hilma video had Oskar wishing for a much stronger makeshift rudder post than an aluminum whisker pole. Note to self- bring a decent spare rudder.

I didn't watch video, bandwidth limited.
It sounded like they tried to make a sweep type rudder out of a whisker pole. Thats pretty different than using a drogue, as in the linked article..

A spare rudder is tough to store or make installable in a seaway.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I didn't watch video, bandwidth limited.
It sounded like they tried to make a sweep type rudder out of a whisker pole. Thats pretty different than using a drogue, as in the linked article..

A spare rudder is tough to store or make installable in a seaway.

Yeah, he made many good attempts that worked well until a big wave crunched the whisker pole shaft time after time. Watching him crouched next to the pseudo tiller, I couldn’t help thinking that my garage is filled with materials and solutions that would have worked much better. I’ve fabricated much trickier mechanisms surrounded by garage gear like a drill press and welder- just never taken a decent spare rudder on board... Food for thought.

[Don C L]

So this happened on the Frers 65 I was crewing on back in '81, but the conditions weren't nearly as calm as what they had... and it was 3am. We briefly contemplated a hatch lid attached to the spinnaker pole until that nearly knocked us out, and overboard, with the boat pitching. We thought for a moment about the drogue thing, with the spinnaker pole lashed to the cockpit winches to give a little more span to it, then thought better of it. Then we just said the hell with it and went to bed. Ah I slept well that night! In the morning it was beautiful but breezy and choppy. We felt no particular urgency so we ate breakfast and pulled out three different headsails on the foredeck to try them all in different sailing configurations. If you have sailed a 65' boat, you can probably imagine what three of those headsails on the foredeck would be like. We finally got her sailing quite well on two tacks to windward, steering with sheeting. To make a really long story short we ended up getting a tow, but point being, boats can be sailed without their spade rudders... or at least I know of a Frers 65 that can be.

(And if I ever own a boat with a spade rudder, I'll be sure to pack a spare... that can be easily installed in inclement weather.)

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Don C L

........

(And if I ever own a boat with a spade rudder, I'll be sure to pack a spare... that can be easily installed in inclement weather.)

Check 53 minutes in to the vid.....

Never mind the spare ... I'd be putting the money towards a new rudder with a solid stock.. that looks like thin wall tube filled with resin....

On a par with a Hunter rudder I came across on a beach once....

[B23iL23]

Couple of surprises in this



- Why did they undertake an Ocean crossing without having a solution for a rudder loss. Making it up "on the fly" is not good.


- Would love to know the history of this design and whether there are other reports of rudder failures in this model.


I am doing the Atlantic next November and have a design for an emergency rudder already underway. Built in carbon/alu and in sections that connect together. Will have fittings in the transom ready to accept the stock for easy mounting (it's a near vertical stern)



And the boat comes with twin rudders anyway.

[daletournier]

One of the reasons I have a Hydrovane is it's an emergency rudder already in place. I like the idea of redundancy here.

In anything but calm conditions I think it would be hard to fit an emergency rudder even with it planned in advance.

Few that I meet have thought through a solution to the main rudder failing.

[B23iL23]

yes, I looked at the hydrovane but it only works on boats up to a certain tonnage/length (can't remember the exact numbers). Perfect solution and can be mounted off centre for those that board via the aft platform.


The design I have has a hinge - the rudder and stock are mounted at deck level and are deployed horizontal and then pivot down to the lower mount and "clicks" into place. Blade is carbon so easy to manage as is light.

Originally Posted by daletournier

One of the reasons I have a Hydrovane is it's an emergency rudder already in place. I like the idea of redundancy here.

In anything but calm conditions I think it would be hard to fit an emergency rudder even with it planned in advance.

Few that I meet have thought through a solution to the main rudder failing.