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Comment by orwin | Hacker News Reader

I wonder why we suddenly see this in news. Orcas learned how to sink sailing boats around a decade ago, and seems to teach the technique to other pods. What to do is also known, move the rudder and fins back in the boat, open a gas jerrican, spread the gas around the boat and wait.

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> move the rudder and fins back in the boat

What does that mean?

Not sure but retracting outboard devices out of water?

Short of a 10' dinghy I can't think of any boat where you can remove the rudder and even if 'fin' means 'centerboard' that's still dinghy stuff. Nobody (bar a once-a-generation daredevil) is dinghying across the Atlantic.

There are a number of 40+ foot boats with centerboards, e.g., the Wellington 44 (first that came to mind). Rudders removable underway are less common, but not unknown. Additional rudders like you might find on a non-integrated autonav/windvane system can frequently be moved out of the water. Same with emergency rudders. Still, non-standard language here.

You may be interested to know about the annual trans-atlantic rowing races, where crews compete on boats as small as 6m (Rannoch 10 solo) to cross from the Canaries to Antigua. 40+ crews of 1-5 are scheduled to compete this year.

Not quite 10 foot dinghies, but still impressive in a "mildly unhinged" way. Nothing but respect for these folks.

Oh interesting - I'm familiar with the combination shoal keel/centerboard from daysailers like the Montgomery 17 but wasn't aware of it at the scale of something like the Wellington. I can imagine that being very popular out in the Bahamas (in common with most of the planet it's somewhere I haven't sailed, which is probably why I'd never come across that.)

Point taken on the auxiliary rudder/autopilot hydrovane though damage to that isn't going to sink the boat.

And yes, totally agree with your thoughts on those rowers!

Glad we could get something out of the low alpha end of the thread. Thanks for the knowledge there.

Hydrovane! That's the bloody brand. Couldn't think of it before first cuppa. Agreed it won't sink the boat, but it might reduce the appeal of the boat as a toy (or not... Wish we knew why this was happening.)

Planning a long-term Bahamas-/ICW- capable trip for family, or I probably wouldn't know about those either.

Fair winds and following seas, friend.

You too! Enjoy the cruise.

And I had an unfair advantage - I was already drinking my first cup.

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