Steering without a rudder

I have a 2014 AI which I use purely for sailing. A couple of days ago, I had the misfortune of braking a rudder pin. The breeze was about 17 m.p.h. and the waters were rather choppy. I had not replaced a rudder before and the weather was bobbing the boat around a bit much for a 69 year old unsteady handed weakling to remove the broken half of the pin and replace it with one of my 2 spares.I always previously thought that I would have a method of travel with sail,mirage drive and paddle. However, I had not experienced trying to reach a destination without a rudder. I tried peddling and went around in circles, tried a combination of paddling and peddling with a similar outcome and sailing resulted in the same. Luckily after about 30 minutes a sandbar found me ( and not me finding it). I was then able to get out of the craft and replace the pin.
My question is; what should I have done to to steer my boat to the nearest shore or sandbar? And please forgive my ignorance,lack of planning etc. if there is a simple solution.
Prior to this mishap, I had a great sail with the new spinnaker kit without any issues, but learning so much from this forum....... A wealth of knowledge and experience.

Some will say you can steer with the sail, if your boat is balanced properly. I'm not good enough to do that. You can use your paddle as a rudder. I do not carry the double bladed Hobie paddle when sailing. Rather, I carry a cheap, single bladed Carlyle (spelling) paddle. It is a tough paddle, easy to maneuver on board and it has a broad blade to give a little more purchase if used as a rudder. When using a paddle as a rudder, you will likely need to furl your sail some.

My final bit of advice is do not break a rudder pin in open water. Breaking a pin in open water is best avoided by replacing your rudder pin regularly.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

I had an "interesting" experience some years ago, when I broke an internal rudder line on my TI. Curiously, I had no problems sailing over 3 miles on port tack, using my Hobie double-ended paddle (from the front seat too). However, sailing on starboard tack was impossible. I tried every permutation of sail furling and sheeting, but was unable to make any headway.

I got tantalisingly close (100 yards or so) to the entrance to the lake and the boat ramp, and then got blown out to sea, and when a fishing trawler came out to tow me in, he called the Marine Rescue tower, as he couldn't see me, only to be told that I was over his horizon! Gulp.

Call it overkill, but I now have back-up external rudder control lines. They won't help if as rudder pin breaks though, so I change my rudder pin before any planned big trip offshore., as suggested by Keith.

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

To anyone thinking of installing a Torqeedo 403 Ultralight motor:

This motor can be installed to turn with the TI rudder. If the rudder pin should break you could then use the motor to steer back to shore. This is an added benefit of owning this motor.

I'm preparing a review of the 403 which I should finish very soon. I will provide more details there.

Several people commenting on this topic have suggested replacing the rudder pin at regular intervals. This sounds like a good idea to me. Can someone point me to a post indicating the best way to do this while causing the least disruption to the rest of the rudder control system?
Sorry for the basic question-and thanks for your help.

Just curious, was your rudder still in the water and angled so you couldn't make way on starboard? Did you try sitting at the rear with the paddle on starboard and still couldn't make way? Sailing (or attempting to sail) without a rudder is stressful. Every boat is different for what works in my experience. My triak rudder is (was) problematical, The rudder bracket broke, the hold down lines didn't hold down, the cables broke at swages, there were many many "fixes" before I was (am now) confident it won't break again.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

It is incredibly easy!

Firstly, throw away that split ring on the bottom of the pin, you simply do not need it.
Secondly, lift the two rudder up/down lines out of the "V" shaped top of the pin.
Thirdly, push the pin up from the bottom, and remove it.
Last, push the new pin down the hole, juggling the rudder so the pin goes down and through the bottom hole. The refitted rudder up/down lines will prevent the pin from coming up by itself.

Done deal! This is of course easiest to do while your Island is out of the water. Id replacing the pin pre-emptively, put the old pin in with your spare one (always keep at least one brand new spare plus any old ones.. Whether or not if your old pin doesn't have any small horizontal marks on it (a sign that the rudder has hit something), mark it with a sharpie so you know it is not brand new, but a second string spare.

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

The rudder was raised. That was one of my early suspicions.. Getting into the rear seat was not an option, as my bettered old body is well past such acrobatics.

I have added additional arms to the rudder, and have lines leading forward so I can steer even without internal rudder lines. This of course has guaranteed that the internal lines will never misbehave again .

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

When coming in to land in my old 2009 model AI - sometimes at a pretty snappy pace, to avoid damaging the rudder and mirage drive on the rock-strewn beach. I used to
1. pull out the dagger board
2. remove the mirage drive
3. unclip my paddle
4. raise the twist and stow rudder and steer in using my paddle.

Always worked for me, even when I broke a rudder pin after hitting a poor turtle swimming around minding his own business and not expecting to be clobbered by an idiot in a boat! Waves were choppy 2 - 3 feet. I'll admit it is hard work for a sailor of my vintage, but it's an alternative that's worth practicing occasionally
I now have a nice AI2, and find in moderate conditions it is controllable with the paddle.
Cheers Ian
If it works okay, modify it anyway

_________________

We have TI's (not AI's), and have broken quite a few rudder pins (usually self induced). I have never been able to steer the boat successfully with a paddle ( I don't believe it's possible with a TI, (AI maybe)).
We have emergency outboards mounted on our TI (mostly for offshore use), If my rudder breaks and I'm in trouble I fire up the motors and use them to steer me back in so I can make repairs or just kiss the ground.
I call it 'getting out of dodge mode' when we break down or get our selves in grave danger (snapped mast, broken rudder, sudden storm, strong off shore wind, etc).

This along with capsize recovery are both very good issues that are very worthwhile to practice, and have a planned procedure in place.

FE

Thanks Fusioneng, yes I've no experience with a TI and at my age I couldn't handle the extra weight anyway.

Okay Pro10is, I am waiting patiently for your review on the Torquedo set up...expensive I know, but If you have presented it on the forum site, I can't find it. I may invest if they are any good because at my age and fitness level I might have five years active sailing in front of me and I am not afraid to spend a dollar or two to makethose few years safer and easier. I would like to know about speed and available endurance before the battery goes flat. How am I going to go with 20 miles of 4 knot cross current before I have to insert the mirage drive.


Cheers Vintragereplica...if it works, modify it anyway!

_________________

My apologies pro10is, Found your most comprehensive and informative write up...Much food for thought,
Cheers Ian

_________________

Cripes vintage replica, you make it sound like you are about to enter the nursing home! How old are you? I am 71, suffer from 3 heart diseases, am a fat bastard (only 20kgs ro lose to get back to a reasonable weight), and am booked for surgery to add spacers to my neck in February, and a second spinal fusion some time later. Got a new hip a few years ago, had a couple of spinal ops in the past, and last year lost a few toes to diabetes. I am not expecting a call to join my country's Olympic team!

From the outset, when I bought my TI in 2012, hefting it onto the roof was out of the question (not only my back, but the real risk of rust ruining my car), so I picked it up from the dealer on its dedicated trailer, which it its home when not in the water .

My fitness was hopeless at the beginning, and I could only pedal for five minutes before I was stuffed. These days, I can go out in light and patchy winds, and pedal for seven hours (with mini breaks admittedly) Only recently, I added a cheap Chinese 2 stroke outboard, not, I hasten to add, to replace pedaling, but to add another level of safety to offshore trips. Of course, I take the approach that Hobie Islands are SAILBOATS, so paddles, pedals or motors are just auxiliary forms of propulsion, to complement the mainsail and Hobie spinnaker.

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Lets put it this way Tony, Yep I would be better shedding 15kg which would help. Trouble is two artificial shoulders sort of limit what I can do, I can't paddle properly and when launching, often wind up back on the beach and bust a rudder pin. Plus a recently diagnosed degenerative muscular disease is bloody annoying, but like you old son, I will continue to push out to sea as long as I can...by the way, I'm only 76.
Without this thread degenerating into a fitness reporting forum, it may serve to show some ex-dinghy sailors who can't handle a dinghy anymore, that a TI or AI can get them back on the water once again.
Cheers ....If it works okay, modify it anyway!

_________________

I'm a big fan of the Torqeedo system, if I could afford to own one I would. I'm an older guy also with physical restrictions. Where we live 80% of the year winds are very light (3-7 mph) and it's always very hot and sunny (today was over 80 and sunny). Any AI/TI owner who has had their boat out in under 5mph winds realizes quickly the sail does nothing and if you want get anywhere you end up peddling sometime for hours on end at 2-3mph. In florida this become a problem because of the risk of heat exhaustion. Until recently (this year) I was out every weekend averaging around 15 miles per week on my TI over the last 6 yrs. On most weekends when winds are light mine is the only AI/TI out in Sarasota bay.
Am I just supposed to just stay home most of the year, I love being out on the water and going out is the reason I purchased the boat in the first place.
I see nothing wrong with adding supplimental propulsion to these boats. We often go up to south lido beach which is about five miles from launch to meet up with our powerboat friend and hang out. If it takes me 2.5 hrs of hard peddling to get there, It's not worth going.
I feel adding a Torqeedo or outboard to these versatile craft adds to the versatility and range of these craft, with the major side benefit being safety, even if you hardly use it, you know it will always get you home if something goes wrong, (broken rudder, broken mirage drive, snapped mast, etc). I have been three miles offshore after the wind died or shifted, and experienced cramping in my legs and couldn't pedal further, being unable to get back in without some backup propulsion system.
Seeing some of the Torqeedo 403 systems tilted up on a ball mount looks to be the best setup available today, especially with their latest generation of batteries. Previously I thought if your 3hrs from shore, 20 minutes worth of power doesn't save you, but now thats no longer true.
Sure the setup I have now with the gas outboards gives me a hundred miles per day range, but I only do stuff like the at most once every couple years, the other 98% of the time ten miles range would suite me fine, I think the Torqeedo finally fits the bill for me. I'll keep the Honda outboards for special occasions like diving far off shore once in a great while, the rest of the time the latest Torqeedo 403 with the huge batteries will fit the bill for me, I'll probably end up with a pair of Torqeedos, one on each side of the boat. ( because I don't like to go slow),
Lol now I just have to get the money together to buy them.
FE