Guide, increasingly red in the face, I abandoned (6)
I believe the answer is:
rudder
'guide' is the definition.
(means of guiding a boat)
'increasingly red in the face i abandoned' is the wordplay.
'increasingly red in the face' becomes 'ruddier' (ruddy can mean red in the face).
'abandoned' is a deletion indicator.
'ruddier' with 'i' taken away is 'RUDDER'.
(Other definitions for rudder that I've seen before include "Ship's steering device" , "Boat's steering device" , "steer using this?" , "Ship's steering apparatus" , "It steers a ship" .)