It turns out the steering cable had been fraying and weak for some time, but nobody had checked it closely. What is the main lesson for the future?

A. Steering failures cannot be predicted or prevented in any way

B. Steering gear should be checked regularly as part of routine boat maintenance, and every skipper should know in advance where the emergency tiller is and how to fit it — practising this before it is ever needed makes a real emergency far less frightening and much faster to deal with

C. Only the boat's engine needs regular checking — steering systems look after themselves

D. There is no need to know where the emergency tiller is unless steering has already failed once before

A. "STEERING FAILURE!" so everyone knows immediately, then check if it is a temporary snag (something jammed) or a real loss of steering, while trying to keep the boat as steady as possible using sail trim or the engine briefly

B. Immediately stop the boat dead in the water without checking anything else first

C. Say nothing and quietly try to fix it alone first

D. Assume the rudder has fallen off completely and act as if there is nothing that can be done

A. It means the engine has also definitely failed at the same time

B. A snapped cable is a minor issue that can be ignored — the rudder will still respond to the wheel as normal

C. This means the whole boat is sinking and must be abandoned

D. The wheel will no longer move the rudder at all — the boat needs another way to be steered until this is repaired, since the cable itself usually cannot be fixed quickly at sea