The best way I have found to control reversing, such as leaving a mooring string, is to give the engine a burst of power in reverse followed by returning the engine to neutral.

Place the rudder in neutral or slightly off in the direction you want to go prior to the burst, then when some steerage is gained by the burst of power slowly move the rudder to just coax the stern in the desired direction. Returning the engine to neutral negates any prop walk, which makes the rudder more effective.

However moving the tiller too much will stall it in the water, effectively loosing any control.? If needed, continue to? burst power and use pressure on the rudder pressure (which will be great) to maneuver. ? Remember, the bow will effectively be uncontrollable, so plan to maneuver accordingly.

Jim Dobbs

Morgenfrau

Norwalk CT

-----Original Message-----
From: jeremy@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wed, Sep 30, 2020 10:37 am
Subject: Re: [T27Owners] Steering in reverse

As others have noted, it's not you, it's the boat.

There is no shame in using lines, bumpers, and other devices to make the boat do what you want. The aim of docking is to be in control at all times. There is no bonus prize for only using the engine and rudder.

The upside is that the T27 handles very well at slow speeds in forward. I also sail an Ericson 34. That handles almost as well in reverse as it does in forward. However -- once you drop below 1.5 knots, you lose almost all steerage (in forward or reverse). With the Tartan 27 I can still steer at very slow speeds.

- jeremy

On Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 3:27 PM Howard Fidel <howard@...> wrote:

We bought our Tartan this past summer, and have observed that it is nearly impossible to steer the boat with the tiller when backing out of the slip. I was wondering if this is a common problem with this boat, and if anyone has a solution.
Thanks,

Howard