Singlehanded Sailor Fights to Repair Rudder at Sea
Rudder problems have been confronting Fedor Konyukhov’s bid to be the first to sail solo non-stop around the Antarctica Cup Race Track. The rudder problems have been traced to a stainless steel sleeve that was introduced to the steering system on his Open 85 foot yacht with Trading Network Alye Parusa during minor refit work prior to the start of this challenge from Albany, Western Australia.
Oscar Konyukhov, Fedor’s son who is directing shore support from Albany, explains: ”The problem we have is that the starboard side rudder tiller fixing is damaged. The bolt that fixes the tiller to the carbon pole from the rudder is shredded. Fedor needs a period of light winds, flat seas, and some sunshine to conduct repairs. He needs a dry day to work with composite materials and a flat sea in order to disconnect the rudder from the tiller. Not something you would normally want to do at 50 South! “
Fedor says that headwinds are gusting up to 30-35 knots, and he is sailing close-hauled (30°T) under mainsail only to reduce drift to the west. The forecast suggested a shift at 0900 UTC, but at 1200 UTC the wind is still from the NE. Fedor thinks this is because he is moving NW with the front, and not through it. He is confident that he can repair the problem subject to the weather and ocean status. Right now he is experiencing heavy rain, fog, squalls, waves crashing on deck and God knows what - anything but the break of sunshine he needs.
This report just sent in from Fedor Konyukhov at sea:
“Good morning. It’s a cold and dry morning here on 50 South. It’s not raining and the sun is breaking though the clouds. Good visibility. We are heading 030 COG, although I would want to see more easterly heading. Jibed several times, but on another tack we sailed 110 COG. This would be alright if we did not have the Iceberg Warnings, so for now my only option is to try to sail as much east of north as possible. This move up north will add more miles to our track, as the difference between INSIDE Line and OUTSIDE Line is 11.600 and 14.600 respectively.
Today looks like a possible day to conduct the repairs on the rudder. Wind 20-25 knots, sea state 2-3 meters waves, not the best, but you can’t expect flat calm in the “Furious Fifties”. At least it is not raining – very rare moment indeed. I am drying all my gear, including my sleeping bag. Well not drying, let’s call it – ventilating. Few hatches also opened to get rid of condensation inside the boat. Today I again checked my food supplies – nothing exciting: tins, dry food, rice, spaghetti. I only have several plastic boxes with food and I can name the content by memory, but still searching for something fresh and tasty. May be there is something on the bottom of the box that I missed during my previous search. Keep 360 degrees lookout for icebergs – so far only ocean swell, the horizon is leveled. Sailed 8.500 n/miles from Albany.
Fedor”
Position: 50° 20’16”S 50° 16’ 38”W
Course: 08° Speed: 7.3knots. Distance sailed since start: 8,382.4n.m
Submitted By YachtPals on 18 Mar
Antarctica Cup, Cape Horn, Fedor Konyukhov, rudder problems, singlehanded, single-handed, boats, boat, yachts, yacht, sailing, sail, rudder,
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Rudder Repairs at Sea - Fedor Konyukhov via Sat Phone
It’s been a fruitful day for me. In the morning we received our regular weather forecast from Lee Bruce which suggested 20+ knots of steady wind all day. The weather looked cooperative for the rudder repair and there was no precipitation which will allow working with epoxy, so I decided it’s now or it’ll be too late.
Problem in brief: The tiller on each rudder has two locking bolts, one at the end tightens the tiller around the rudder stock and one in the middle centers the tiller to the rudder. This central bolt failed around Cape Horn and the tiller was moving around the rudder stock. Every mile added more stress and carbon dust was all over the transom indicating that the tiller was chewing the rudder stock away. With two oceans ahead to the finish line I must fix it. The only way for me to find out what’s wrong is to take the tiller apart. Frankly speaking, I had a lot of concerns and hesitation as taking a steering device to pieces deep in the South Atlantic Ocean is not big fun with a positive result not guaranteed. What if I won’t be able to put it back together? It’s like trying to repair a part of a plane wing while flying at 30.000 feet!
'Open 85’ yacht ‘Trading Network Alye Parusa’ weights 30 tons and her rudder is very solid and heavy. I had to disconnect the rudder which weights 70 kg and has a draught of 1.7 meters and make sure it wouldn’t slip or crash turn at 90 degrees angle to the boat. Firstly I decided to work on starboard tack with the boat heeling over to port with the damaged rudder sitting out of the water. But this proved to be the wrong approach as the disconnected rudder flipped to a dangerous angle and waves were hitting it badly. So, I reassembled it, gibed and put the damaged rudder in the water and under pressure. I then drilled an additional hole through the rudder stock and poked a screw driver through to create a strut which I lashed with spectra ropes to rail stanchions, the mainsheet traveler, and the push pit. Once the rudder was secured I switched off the autopilot as there was no need for it, took the tiller off, and found why the central bolt snapped. The stainless steel sleeve we installed in Albany was too long and it restricted tightening the tiller around the rudder stock. Basically I was compressing the sleeve but not tightening the tiller. I pulled the sleeve out and shortened it by 5 mm. Then I cut a plastic bottle in half and put two sides around the rudder stock to beef it up to get more grip wrapping it up with epoxy.
Meanwhile the boat was sailing on port tack with the port rudder out of the water and the starboard rudder locked in the central position keeping the boat on course. I managed to balance the boat with the sails and she sailed a perfect straight line. It was like she could feel the importance of the moment for the well being of us both and that I’m treating her like an ill patient and that she must be well-behaved. Unfortunately working on the leeward side freezing cold water constantly splashed over me but thank God it was not raining. The day passed very quickly with running from stern to cabin, charging the hand drill, mixing epoxy, changing broken blades for the metal hand saw. It was plenty of physical exercise and fresh air. It’s 10 meters from the navigation station to the stern of the boat. I think I ran a good 5 kilometers. Unusual for a solo sailor that spends most of the time locked in the 2 x 3 meter cockpit.
Once I tightened the bolts heavy rain arrived but the job was done. I was back inside the boat and the kettle was on.. I will not say that it’s a perfect job and I don’t much care for how it looks but taking into account the conditions I don’t think we did too bad a job. I just hope it will last to Albany.
After almost 10 hours on deck, I really needed a good rest but that was not the case. Around midnight we sailed into very powerful turbulence. All of a sudden a squall arrived with heavy rain and very cold air then five minutes later a flow of much warmer air came and this contrast continued for at least one hour. In the meantime lightening was hitting the ocean around the boat. The sky was dramatic with lightening both vertical and horizontal between the clouds. It looked like ‘The End of the World’ and the combined noise of the heavy rain, gusty winds, and thunder was frightening. I was looking at my mast – a 110 ft carbon fibre pipe - sticking up into the air and the highest point in this wild pattern. Although the boat has ground wires it’s all theoretic. We’ve never been hit by lightening before and being here deep in the South Atlantic 7,000 miles from the finish line the last thing I needed was a high voltage current flow experiment. It was very unusual and more likely to happen in the tropics but not in the Deep South. The wind was spinning like crazy and I was trying to follow the shift until I realized that we were going in circles and damaging the main sail which already has two cracks. So the main came down and the staysail half furled. It took another hour for NW wind to fill in. My foul weather gear is completely soaked, there was chaos in the cockpit with the mainsail on deck. I was busy till sunrise bringing things to order. That’s all for now. We just had another exciting day in the Southern Ocean sailing the Antarctica Cup Racetrack. To end I would like to thank Bob Williams and Mark McRae for providing me with various options and ideas how to fix the rudder and also for encouragement.
Regards,
Fedor
Position: 48,24S - 46,29W
Fedor Konyukhov via Sat Phone
You wouldn’t believe it but here at 47S in the South Atlantic Zone of the Racetrack it’s as cold as it was at 57S in the South Pacific Zone. I wonder what kind of temperature I would have experienced if I’d have stayed alongside the INSIDE LANE after Cape Horn? I’m sure I would have had to scrub the deck from ice. No surprise that this area is packed with icebergs – the water temperature is close to zero.
With NW winds life is better – warmer air and moderate swell, but as soon as the wind shifts to SSW it is getting extremely cold. Its refrigerator cold and even 20 knots of wind creates an uncomfortable chill factor. Plus we are sailing late in the season. It’s the Austral Autumn season here and I can feel the difference.
It’s quite stressful knowing that there are icebergs around and even though I’ve not seen one – with the data provided by C-CORE it gives a very clear picture that from 30W to 15E – we will have to sail with great caution to avoid floating ice. I feel like I’m on a minefield – no room for mistake. In the night I try not think what is ahead of ‘Trading Network Alye Parusa’s’ bow. Because I’m telling you this now – it means I’m thinking of it. It’s in my head and it drives me crazy. It’s hard to switch to a different subject.
I remember watching a Sir Peter Blake film about their round the world sailing on the ENZA catamaran. The title of the film was very laconically – “No Latitude for Error & No Good Calling for Mum”. Well, this is exactly the situation we are in now. We are in the Southern Atlantic Zone in the area of ‘relative inaccessibility’ from both South America and the South Africa MRCC with numerous confirmed icebergs passing through.
We are 1000 miles from the Greenwich meridian – once we cross it – we are back in the Eastern Hemisphere – 118 degrees to Albany.
Regards, Fedor
Position: 47,5.9S , 25,23.83W
Speed: 9 knots, Course: 72 deg.
Wind 30-35-knots SW
Fedor Konyukhov via Sat Phone on the Antarctica Race Track
We are in the centre of a High Pressure system, wind 5-10 knots and barometer jumped to 1034 Mb – this is first time I have it so high.
The day is absolutely gorgeous; azure blue skies, sunshine, clear and frosty air, 1-2 meters waves. Very unusual for this area. I spent all day on deck. It was a perfect day to inspect the boat and deck hardware - all is in good working order. The rudder tiller is holding firmly and looks solid; I’m very proud of my repairs. Ran water maker for several hours and managed to produce 200 litres of fresh water. This will be enough for several weeks, or even to the finish. Keep sailing alongside 45S but so far within the ACRT, the wind is now light but allows us to sail deep and stay on course without frequent gibes. A pack of dolphins followed the boat for several hours. It was a great day to remember.
I would say it is typical “romantic” sailing; this is what most people would expect sailing on the yacht. It’s hard to believe that in a short period of time a wet blanket will be thrown at us and freezing cold conditions will take their place. According to the forecast things will get back to ‘normal’ in 18 hours -
28th March 08/1200 UTC: WNW 20-25 knots
28th March 08/1800 UTC: NNW 30-35, gusting 50 knots; squalls
29th March 08/0000 UTC: WSW 35-40, gusting 50 knots.
I hope the weather coming won’t confirm this data. I really would like to stop this day and live it again.
Regards,
Fedor.
Fedor Konyukhov via Sat Phone on the Antarctica Race Track
Just to give you brief update after the night. It is early morning here and we negotiated pretty heavy and powerful weather all night. The wind was gusting up to 50 knots. According to the forecast we are in the wing of a depression that centres deep South, but we only had 12 hours of gale. That’s the advantage to being up north – yes, we add more miles but reduce the chances of being hit by severe weather for a prolonged period. It was even exciting to see the storm come and go from the cockpit of my big and strong boat knowing that it will only last a short period. It would be a completely different feeling if I knew that we are in 3 days of storm. Here in the Southern Ocean it’s not the force of the wind that counts but the period of time it is blowing across the vast and uninterrupted surface creating dangerous conditions.
All is well on board and as Bob Williams said: “Fedor hug the 'outside rail' of the racecourse (45S)”. We are sailing alongside the Outside Lane and with the wind swinging from NW to SW we leave plenty of zigzags on the chart. I’m a bit concerned for NNE winds forecast for March 30. I hope it will stay more North rather than East. I have limited options in the current circumstances: sail north and cross the Racetrack boundary or sail south towards the iceberg zone. We will see how things develop.
Regards, Fedor
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