http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...8/06_03-29/TOP

Fred

wrote:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...8/06_03-29/TOP

Fred

"Rudder failure" can mean a whole load of things, dependant upon the type of
steering and how the wheel's movement is transmitted to the rudder, assuming
it was a wheel-steered yacht.

Since virtually all racing boats carry an emergency tiller, it mystifies me
why this was not deployed by one of the crew remaining on the yacht,
suitably clothed in his lifejacket.

Also a mystery is where all the water was coming from, unless the rudder had
actually broken off at the stock.

A soleboard lashed to the spinnaker pole might have been an option provided
the ingress of water could have been stopped or minimized.

Is this another case of the CG simply taking the view that "it's only
$300,000, let the insurers pick up the tab"?


Dennis.

On 2008-06-06 03:47:50 -0400, "Dennis Pogson"
said:

wrote:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...8/06_03-29/TOP

Fred

Also a mystery is where all the water was coming from, unless the
rudder had actually broken off at the stock.

My "read" is that's what happened. A slight chance is that the broken
rudder punched a different hole in the hull, but it sounds like the
water was coming in at the rudder shaft's entry. That they were
swinging back and forth tells me they had no effective control over the
rudder. (We got towed in sans our rudder last season, a scary ride in
the 4' waves we had at the time.)

I'm a bit surprised that they couldn't put something in that hole to
slow the flow, but I can accept that it wasn't possible for some
reason, possibly because they seemed to do everything else pretty right.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/