- Aug 21, 2012
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No prop wash means no steering by the rudders.You need water flow over the rudder. The speed over ground of eight knots would provide at least some steering. Yes the propwash would provide more, but if the engine was in reverse, there would be no propwash and the rudder would operate in reverse form the way it would with normal waterflow. Plus, if the ship is single screw, the stern will tend to move in the direction that the prop is rotating. I had a twenty-seven-foot sailboat and no matter what you did with the rudder when in reverse, the stern moved in the direction the prop turned. To maneuver backwards, I had to build up some speed, then shift into neutral, and then turn the boat.