RUDDER LESS
We were 1,100 miles from the nearest land when we received a text message on our Iridium GO: “Rudder gone. Water in bilge. Worried pumps can’t keep up. Please call!”
We had been in contact with the owners of Rosinante, a 38ft Island Packet, since they had first announced over the Pacific Puddle Jump net that they were having problems with their rudder. We were only 60 miles from them, so we let them know our position and gave them our Iridium Go number in case they needed assistance. Two days later, they did.
We sailed as quickly as we could to their position, making room onboard in case the crew had to abandon ship. By the time we arrived, though, they had the boat under control and were making headway toward the Marquesas. They were steering with their Hydrovane self-steering gear, but complained they couldn’t hold a straight line. They could see the rudder fluttering around under the boat, seemingly barely attached. Three days later, the gooseneck connecting the boom to the mast ripped off because of the way the boom had been slamming back and forth during the many uncontrolled course changes.
We shadowed Rosinante for 10 days and more than 1,000 miles before making landfall in Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas. While steering with the auxiliary Hydrovane rudder was fraught with difficulty, it is unlikely they could have continued without it.
In the end, the problem was a seized rudder bearing. What the owner took to be the rudder fluttering under the hull was a trick of the waves, while the water in the bilge most likely came from a leaking water tank. There was no evidence of damage of any sort to either the rudder or surrounding material when the boat was inspected. That said, it’s easy for your mind to jump to a worst-case scenario when you’re tired and more than 1,000 miles from land. Whatever the case, the experience impressed upon us the necessity of understanding how a rudder works, how rudders fail and how best to rig up a tried-and-true auxiliary system in the case you ever do lose steerage.
WHAT DOES A RUDDER DO?
A rudder has two main functions: 1) it is essential for providing lateral resistance aft while holding course, without which the boat
