Ahoi,
I sailed the whole night and logged a lot of miles. But just after I woke up I recognized a dump “bang” and the genua starts to flatter.. What happened? I was still lying down but quickly went on deck and immediately saw the Genua halyard next to the boat in the water.
The halyard broke and the Genua was slowly going down. I furled it in by at least a third to stop the downward movement and considered my options.
First thought was why is all that happening to me? Isn’t a broken rudder out on the ocean enough? What else do I have to face..?
No answer..!
OK let’s try and see how I can use the Genua.. I tried a couple different combinations but at the end furled it in completely. I don’t wanna ruin that sail too.
So new situation.. How can I make ZERO sail upwind without the Genua? For the loss of speed I started the engine and found a low rpm which will hold her on course. So on we sailed..
But because of the wind direction it will be hard to pass Kauai on the north side. I’m actually heading towards the Napali coast on the north west. I can already see the mountains.
So what to do? I don’t wanna go along the south side so I can drop the sails and do the engine/ drogue thing or I can try to tack ZERO..
Never give up! Let’s give it a go..
I let her fall down a little and in the moment she was turning back towards the wind I opened the staysail and the mainsail sheets, tightened the mizzen and put the engine in neutral to neutralize the propwalk. The I ran to the bow and pushed the staysail boom to starboard.. Slowly she turned but wouldn’t tack. I needed three attempts to make her tack and was completely exhausted but very happy when she finally did.
Now I could make enough room to pass Kauai on the north side. AND we performed a 90 degree tacking angle.. That made absolutely my day. I never hoped to be able to do that even with a rudder..

The smiling captain..