backing up in a 27FC

[coolchange]

I have still got to figure out how to back up and would appreciate any tips....so far I can stop forward motion..good start right?

it seems that the rudder has little to do with changing direction (in reverse)...but I keep trying...have tried small movement and big, low power and shots of power etc.

what am I missing? (no points for "a thruster" as it is not an option.)

thanks

[Jay Knoll]

This might help

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3015&hilit=backing+up+into+slip

[Mark Deeser]

coolchange, What Jay says. I might add find some open water an practice, stop your boat, make some 180 dregee turns, find out what it will and will not do. Try to learn to back in a straight line, drop a plastic bottle on a weight and back to it. Once you get the feel you will gain that needed confidence. Have some fun. Thanks, Mark.

[Nancy]

Coolchange, if the boat pretty much only goes straight when in reverse, you might have to align it while in forward. Put it in forward for only brief moments - just enough to get a direction change - then return to neutral and reverse. Spring lines are your friends.

[JeffScott92]

The Maryland school of sailing has some good instructional videos on backing into slips etc. on YouTube. They helped me a good bit when I first bought my 27FC. For most backing maneuvers, you won't even use the rudder once you put it in the position you want, just the prop walk. One of the best things about my 27FC is that using those tips, it can turn to port on a dime, so most of the time, I turn around and back up very little.

[whwells]

Coolchange: Others have already responded but the man is Rick here on this site under "search" for landing the boat.
whwells "Howard"

[coolchange]

Thanks for the replies,,,I went out and messed with the prop walk and other "nuance" of the 27 and most importantly gave up on the idea of close quarter starboard 180 ...port is a dream (now)..also giving up the concept of backing in a chosen direction...other than straight or starboard

[jleonard]

Thanks for the replies,,,I went out and messed with the prop walk and other "nuance" of the 27 and most importantly gave up on the idea of close quarter starboard 180 ...port is a dream (now)..also giving up the concept of backing in a chosen direction...other than straight or starboard

My EX marina neighbor has one of these boats...yes it backs to starboard. He can rarely get it to back straight because there isn't enough distance.
He had to come past me (40 ft) then back to port about 10 feet to get to the first piling in his slip.
He has trouble but he figured it out. Lots of practice.

[DCatSea]

You might find this very useful.

Docking Seminar
Maryland School of Seamanship and Sailing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGMAEj ... e=youtu.be

Good luck with getting back into the slip.

[don123]

I went out and messed with the prop walk and other "nuance" of the 27 and most importantly gave up on the idea of close quarter starboard 180 ...port is a dream (now)..also giving up the concept of backing in a chosen direction...other than straight or starboard

You've discovered the big 'secret' - Learn what your boat *wants to do* both in forward and reverse and then put yourself in situations where that works for you and not against you. Since you know it walks only one direction in reverse, don't put yourself in a position where you need it to do the opposite, because as you've found, it ain't gonna happen

For us, planning to do the loop with it's 100 or so locks and plenty of marinas, a bow thruster was deemed a must. Bought one a couple weeks ago and will be installing it in another couple weeks. Hopefully, it will get us out of most tricky wind/current situations we may find ourselves in when trying to maneuver in unfamiliar places

Don

[PonusNick]

I bought a 27 express last fall and struggled mightily...but I was determined. I gathered advice from several old salts...

Understand which way your boat will walk in reverse...rudder has no effect...learn and use the walk.
Go slow...even stopped...control the boat's stern position with forward bursts at full rudder.
Don't touch the throttle...it makes things worse.

And I practiced...went to the club one Sunday morning and took it in and out ten or more times...nailing it every time now.

[DesertAlbin736]

PonusNick is right. I have an Albin 25, which like most of us here is single screw inboard. Think about it... in forward gear the prop wash stream is deflected off the rudder and has more powerful effect. In reverse prop wash is directed forward, and has no effect on the rudder. Therefore the rudder has little to no ability to turn the boat until there's enough way on, that is boat is moving fast enough to give some steerage. Problem is, in tight quarters you don't have the room to get moving fast enough. Then there's wind and/or current take into account. Prop walk is the dominant force, which in a right-hang screw boat moves the stern to port, or vice versa with a left hand screw which some if not all Volvo engines are.

So what to do (assuming you don't have the luxury of a bow thruster)? For backing straight with a right-hand screw boat I'd say helm hard to port, back slow and occasionally shift to forward gear for small "rudder kicks" to straighten out. Of course try when possible to set yourself up so you can back up in the direction your prop walk wants to take you.

As for tight 180 forward turns, turn to starboard if possible. Keep the helm hard over to starboard, move forward just fast enough to get some steerage way. Then do a series of shifts into reverse to prop walk the stern over to port, then back in forward, leaving the helm all the way to starboard. Do that several times and you can turn almost within one boat length, which is sometimes necessary in a tight marina fairway.

[PonusNick]

My boat walks to port so in close quarters...to DesertAlbin's point...with the helm hard to starboard I can spin her around in her own length by alternating in forward and reverse. No throttle at all and she behaves just fine. The finger I am currently docking at is on my starboard...so the boat walks away from it in reverse. Now that I know her habits better I am lobbying for a port side tie up next year so she'll walk herself in.