The closer your boat is to danger, the faster you will need to deal with steering failure. If, for instance, the wind and tide are pushing your boat towards the shore, you need to implement your solution quickly. Similarly, if you are in a busy shipping lane where there’s increased risk of hitting or being hit by another vessel, you have to know what you should do to regain control of your boat quickly.

First, prevention is better than cure

To avoid losing your steering, you should check your steering mechanism at the start of the sailing season and then before each major voyage or race. This check is often overlooked because of its difficult-to-reach location. Look for wear, tighten fittings that have worked loose over time. Replace the wire cable if you find signs of decay.

Be prepared

Nobody should go to sea without an adequate and easily rigged emergency steering mechanism. If you’ve got a wheel, you should have a spare cable – fitted to size so as to go around the quadrant – which can be put in place in minutes. If you’ve got a tiller, you must have a fitting on top of the steering post to accept it which again can be fitted very quickly.

If you’ve lost the rudder, your problem is bigger

In many well-run ocean races it is a requirement for all entrants to have a prefabricated emergency steering mechanism. Competitors have to install their system over the stern of their yacht prior to the start so that race officials can register their compliance with the racing regulations.

While it’s not a statutory requirement for them, all cruising boats should carry a prefabricated emergency rudder – not an emergency tiller, but a replacement to use if the rudder breaks.

Racing yachts carry U-bolts and their associated nuts, with a board – usually one of the removable boards which cover water tanks or lockers in the main cabin – which can be quickly made up into a quite effective steering device. The board makes a steering ‘blade’ which is attached to a spinnaker pole or similar.

How to repair or replace the steering cable

Once the jury rig is in place there is a tendency to think, ‘OK, that’s well done, now we’ll press on,’ and no more permanent repair is attempted. Don’t neglect the basic fault.

Very often, a competent crew member with flippers, weights and goggles can go over the side and effect repairs.

More usually, with wheel steering, it is the system of wires and pulleys that fails. Whether you are cruising or racing, it doesn’t take much room to have ready, cut to the right length, and swaged, a complete replacement.

Usually when the steering has gone it is because the boat has been under some pressure and conditions were bad. Having a complete replacement gives you plenty of time to make up or repair the broken part, which can then act as the spare for the future.

How to rig the emergency rudder

The normal jury rudder consists of the spinnaker pole, two U-bolts, and a board or locker top or door which has holes drilled in it so that the parts can be assembled very quickly. In an emergency the board is attached to the pole with the two U-bolts, which bolt up tight. Then the new rudder is lashed over the pushpit using a square lashing, which will allow movement of the jury rudder.

Some cruising boats weld or otherwise attach eyes to the rudder and lead lines from them into the boat so that in the event of the steering column failing they can make tackles that will provide them with emergency steering.

Steering by trimming the sails

Now that you know what to do to fix your steering, should it fail, it’s also good to remember that it is possible to steer a yacht just using its sails. You won’t be able to sail close to the wind, probably between 70 and 140 degrees will be the best you can make. And you certainly won’t be able to tack. You should, however, be able to find somewhere that you can head for in safety.

Call for help

Some might say that you should call for help as soon as your steering fails. This would be necessary if you are at risk of going aground or hitting or being hit. If, however, you have the wherewithal aboard to fix your steering without putting anyone’s life at risk, you are displaying good seamanship by being self-reliant.

What else should you do?

The suggestions shared here don’t cover every detail of how to cope if your steering fails. To learn more, talk to your crew, assuming you have recruited some who have wide experience. Chat to other skippers at your sailing club and ask them how they have handled this situation. Consider how you could apply their answers to your particular boat.

A good skipper will imagine disasters that may affect his boat and will get as much knowledge as possible of how to deal with them.

Copyright 2010 Bevanda Pty Ltd

With over 60 years of sailing experience – both racing and cruising – Jim Murrant has skippered boats ranging from skiffs to ocean racers. And he’s faced many emergencies at sea. Why not learn from his experience? Get Jim’s free eBook, “How to Survive at Sea: Six emergencies and how to handle them”.

Jim offers a range of how-to-sail CDs, a weekly newsletter and more on his website, TheBoatingBible.com.