Dinghy Avon 3.15 to tow or not to tow? ...

[seastar777]

Hi, we just got a dinghy it is not new and it was actually sold by a friend for a very attractive price it is a little too big to my taste but there you go....So question is, how would you keep it and carry around on the Jeanneau 42DS. She doesn't has davits yet, but we could install it, though I am not sure if it is advisable on this particular boat, so as usual any advice is welcomed.

 

[PhilipH]

Never, ever tow (well only if short distance and straightforward). Fix davits and raise when sailing or motoring. Why? Towing puts strain on the dinghy; slows down the boat; if motoring, increases fuel usage; there's always the risk of a flip; if manoeuvring under engine there's the risk of a painter wrap on the prop, creates space problems and another source of concern.

 

[seastar777]

Thanks Phil, but wouldn't Avon dinghy be too heavy for AWB wich Jeanneau is?

 

[PhilipH]

Thanks Phil, but wouldn't Avon dinghy be too heavy for AWB wich Jeanneau is?

Don't think so. We have a 3.1 Avon with air floor and inflatable keel and light enough to lift.
I think the 3.15 has a roll-up wooden floor. You could always remove it before lifting. If it is too heavy to lift then it's not right for the boat, stick it on ebay and then buy the right size.

 

[Mistroma]

I'd agree that towing isn't a good idea, we only tow ours if calm and only moving less than a mile. Probably best to get a better size if you don't actually need one this big. However, you could copy my setup. Main problems would be weight (our dinghy is ~20kg yours more like 27kg at a guess) and anything already stern mounted would get in the way.

We use a 2.3m inflatable on our 42DS and simply store it across the stern where it fits well and clears the liferaft and horseshoe. If we didn't have these on the stern a larger dinghy would fit easily. I admit that a 3.15m one is A LOT bigger & heavier but it might be worth trying it.

I bought a padeye from eBay (same as the others in cockpit & on deck). It's fitted it on starboard side on flat section of sguar scoop. I don't think my lifting system would work with your longer dinghy but this might:

Two tapes clipped to side of dinghy, passed underneath to boarding ladder and padeye. Then tension them to lift the nearest sponson 3-4 inches clear of the water. Just do one at a time & then tie off. Pull another line attached to centre of the dinghy's opposite side to flip it up. Finally, tie off to pushpit, ours sat that way for 2,000nm this year until we stopped in the Rias.

It is cheap and works very well for our smaller dinghy. We live on board all summer and lift/drop almost every day. Never felt the need for anything more complicated.

 

[gavin_lacey]

I really dont think that the weight would be a problem. The dinghy weighs quite a lot less than an extra person in the cockpit. Unless you are into weight concious (saw handles off toothbrushes) racing the convenience of davits wins out. Davits not only avoid the airborn dinghy scenario when sailing but also at anchor when wind gets up. Also harder for others to steal dinghy.

 

[Mistroma]

I really dont think that the weight would be a problem. The dinghy weighs quite a lot less than an extra person in the cockpit. Unless you are into weight concious (saw handles off toothbrushes) racing the convenience of davits wins out. Davits not only avoid the airborn dinghy scenario when sailing but also at anchor when wind gets up. Also harder for others to steal dinghy.

I suspect that the problem referred to isn't just the weight, it will be the leverage. i.e. Long metal arm with a weight dangling at the end. Swinging the whole thing around in a rough sea increases the forces even more. So davits will need to spread the load over quite a large area (multiple mounting points, large pads underneath etc.).

 

[vyv_cox]

We have always towed dinghies virtually everywhere. When there were four of us we had a Zodiac 3.2 tender that followed us all over the Irish Sea, to France and the Scillies. Since then we have towed our Quicksilver 2.6 most of the way from Holland to Greece. We never leave the engine on it and it has only ever flipped once, in big winds off Cape Malea.

 

[seastar777]

Thank you all for your answers , sorry did not answered earlier, but lots of information that is very useful, and I am really grateful. We've been today down South, and I think we will go for davits, with a wiev to use them as we'll as base for solar panels, well that's idea, but we will see

 

[Mistroma]

If I was starting again I'd probably do the same. I don't like the look of most arches but they are very useful for lots of things.

I'd put extra solar panels there and probably not have bothered with a wind gen. Though I wouldn't get rid of mine now even though it only gives 10Ah/day on average.

Have a look at this arch, I liked the idea of a stainless "hoop" instead of usual expensive extending davits. If you calculate the sizes correctly then it should just drop the dinghy just off the stern and also works well as an outboard hoist.

http://www.jeanneau-owners2.com/hintsandtips/id189.htm

I had some other pictures of 42DSs with arches and will see if there are any of interest (assuming I didn't delete them).

Update: Think I deleted most of them as they all looked clunky. There were a few smaller ones (2 pics on left are same boat & one on right is a much lighter version.

 

[seastar777]

Very interesting and I sort of like the design

 

[ytd]

I would never tow an inflatable if there is any sort of sea running. They tend to surf down the face of the swell and smash into the stern. Ours has a rope harness secured to strong points inside the hull and we hoist it onto the foredeck using the spin halyard and carry it overturned over the front hatch. Means you can open the hatch in the rain and get some ventilation. Only downside is that you have to remove the outboard and the genoa sheet can get caught under it when tacking.

 

[dslittle]

Ours has a rope harness secured to strong points inside the hull and we hoist it onto the foredeck using the spin halyard and carry it overturned over the front hatch. Means you can open the hatch in the rain and get some ventilation. Only downside is that you have to remove the outboard and the genoa sheet can get caught under it when tacking.

That is exactly what we do whenever we are doing any distance. We have an arch on the back of our 45 DS which we use when anchored to facilitate shore trips for the dog but in Marinas that (a) isn't necessary and (b) hinders the same dog getting off the back!!! The VERY added benefit is that we have 300w of solar panel sitting there giving us free energy without getting in the way. iPhone won't let me upload photo unfortunately...

 

[AndrewB]

We have always towed dinghies virtually everywhere. When there were four of us we had a Zodiac 3.2 tender that followed us all over the Irish Sea, to France and the Scillies. Since then we have towed our Quicksilver 2.6 most of the way from Holland to Greece. We never leave the engine on it and it has only ever flipped once, in big winds off Cape Malea.

I'm amazed you can get away with this, in open sea. I lost a nearly-new inflatable in a following wind and swell when it blew into the yacht and ripped itself to pieces.

What do you do when the dinghy takes in a lot of water? Or with a following wind, when it starts blowing into and around the yacht? Do you have any tricks for preventing these?

 

[akyaka]

We have always towed dinghies virtually everywhere.

Vyv. Isn't that how you recognise a Venturer

 

[Epsilon]

Tow à rubber boat

Hello, bonjour,

I do tow my rubber boat over 10 Months, NO problem at all in towing, I agre that it slow my boat but I am not in hurry.

Inconvenient: The rubber boat got to be cleaned every week you catch a lot of indesirables shells that stick the rubber.
Best regards.

 

[vyv_cox]

I'm amazed you can get away with this, in open sea. I lost a nearly-new inflatable in a following wind and swell when it blew into the yacht and ripped itself to pieces.

What do you do when the dinghy takes in a lot of water? Or with a following wind, when it starts blowing into and around the yacht? Do you have any tricks for preventing these?

Well, I haven't crossed any oceans but we have been in some pretty lively seas. I don't remember the dinghy ever taking in significant amounts of water, except in rain. Never enough that we had to empty it on route. We usually, although not always, tow with two painters, one to each quarter. Each is around 2 - 3 metres long. I don't recall the dinghy ever catching the boat up, but in our case it wouldn't do a lot of harm if it did, there's nothing on the transom to damage it.

 

[capnsensible]

I will never, ever tow a dinghy. Its daft!

 

[vyv_cox]

I will never, ever tow a dinghy. Its daft!

So let's consider the hypothetical case that I am going to sail ten miles to another bay from the one where I have been anchored for several days, obviously with an inflated tender. My options are:

1. Carry it on the foredeck. In my boat's case the dinghy takes up virtually all of it, making walking around it to raise the anchor something of a gymnastics job. If we are fortunate enough to have the wind behind us we cannot fly the spinnaker. If we are upwind the genoa sheets will catch in the dinghy several times. When we arrive at the next place we either wriggle past the dinghy to get the anchor down or we chuck the dinghy overboard, a two-person operation with the boat blowing wherever it likes.

2. We let it down, stow it in a locker, where it will not fit unless we remove half a dozen fenders first, hanging them somewhere off the transom while sailing. We then re-inflate it at the other end. Total time almost as much as we will spend sailing there.

3. We tow it, as we have done in perfect safety for thousands of miles.

 

[capnsensible]

Your choice. One day, though, the odds will catch up. They always do.

Good luck!