Wonderful story of comraderie on the high seas.
It's one of the best things about cruising. Its as close to space travel as you're going to get, and you really stop taking humans for granted out there.
I've been sailing my whole life, but never lost a rudder (thank God!).
With dinghy racing (as opposed to cruising) it's common to learn how to steer without the rudder, using the trim of the sails and your weight in the boat.
You can minimize rudder pressure on cruising sailboat too (again, useful for maximizing speed), but I'd be curious to know more about the limits of what you can do. There are probably some points of sail that work better without a rudder than others. (This is only even theoretically possible because the jib and main can rotate the boat, and the keel will still allow forward motion.)
But yeah, theory aside, 'losing a mast or rudder' level catastrophes like this basically require rescue.
I've only ever done river sailing (including some intentional rudderless sailing), but I imagine in the open seas rudderless sailing isn't really feasible (at least in some conditions). Waves might make it impossible on their own.
I've been sailing my whole life, but never lost a rudder (thank God!). With dinghy racing (as opposed to cruising) it's common to learn how to steer without the rudder, using the trim of the sails and your weight in the boat. You can minimize rudder pressure on cruising sailboat too (again, useful for maximizing speed), but I'd be curious to know more about the limits of what you can do. There are probably some points of sail that work better without a rudder than others. (This is only even theoretically possible because the jib and main can rotate the boat, and the keel will still allow forward motion.)
But yeah, theory aside, 'losing a mast or rudder' level catastrophes like this basically require rescue.