Before reading on, please take a moment to answer our weekly survey. Thank you.
Thanks to all who answered last week’s survey on an emergency plan for the steering your boat at sea without a rudder. 78% of those who replied have an emergency steering plan. 68% said they would use sail trim to steer the boat, presumably in conjunction with other means. 56% said they would tow warps on a bridle; 38% said they would tow a drogue on a bridle; 12% said they have twin rudders so they already have a spare; 12% said they have no plan other than calling for assistance; and 8% said they had a spare rudder device on the transom. Omitted from the survey was the option of a wind vane self steering device with an auxiliary rudder –such as a Hydrovane, Wind Pilot of Auto-Helm– and 12% of readers said that this was their back up steering device.