Towing a dinghy.

BarryH

BarryH

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I've picked up a shabby grp dinghy circa 8ft long. I intend to use it to get to the mooring and back. Here's my slight problem. Its in Southampton. The boat goes to the Hamble a week after easter. From there I'm taking the boat to chichester onto a swinging mooring. The only way I can get off the boat, once on the mooring, is by dinghy and the only way to get the dinghy there is tow it from Southampton.

So, will towing the dinghy behind the Leisure severley knock the knots off? Looking at tides etc I need to time leaving the Hamble to get Chichester bar to take the tide up to the mooring, leaving enough time to tidy the boat and get ashore in the dinghy.
Obviuosly, I'm playing the timing game. I've worked on the assumption that I'll be making 4 knots, even if its dead calm I think the 8hp should give me 4 knots. I've been working on the assumption that I'll have the tide with me so not punching it.

How much will the dinghy drag my speed down. wasn't an issue with the last boat, I had a couple of hundred HP on tap!
 
Twister_Ken said:
Motoring in a calm, maybe 1/4 knot. Going to windward it might knock a knot off. Downwind, it'll be barely noticeable, unless it a) sinks or b) tries to overtake you.
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+1

We tow a 3m rib sailing or motoring even long distances. it certainly slows us down by a knot or adds to the revs needed when motoring so we are rethinking our laziness about not hauling it up onto the foredeck.

Not a problem for that distance, I think.
 
If you have 8hp you have more power than is needed to get to hull speed, so I can't see the dinghy making much difference other than engine revs and fuel consumption. That is, if the prop is up to the job.
 
Drogue

It might be an idea to pull the dinghy up short and lift the bow by the pushpit, if you can sort out fendering.

Towing a dinghy is usually a big mistake as the thing flips over surprisingly easily resulting in huge loads on the painter ( and of course losing anything left in the dinghy, it must be empty ), but as long as you're careful this one-off trip should be OK.

If simply towing the worst bit may well be off Hayling foreshore & Chichester entrance; if you have a small drogue as in lifebuoys etc, it would be a good idea to have it streamed aft of the dinghy, not as any drastic 'heavy weather sailing' technique, just to keep the dinghy well mannered !

Boat even without drogue will probably knock off a good 1 knot of progress.
 
We've found the biggest problem with towing the dinghy is that the thing turns over all too easily. OK, it's an inflatable, so the wind gets under it and it then 'flies' up in the air and turns over but I suspect that you might run into the same problem with a grp one. I'd suggest that you have something inside it to make sure it won't sink if does turn over and have a quick release so that you don't wreck the boat by pulling it inverted.
 
Seajet said:
It might be an idea to pull the dinghy up short and lift the bow by the pushpit, if you can sort out fendering.

Towing a dinghy is usually a big mistake as the thing flips over surprisingly easily resulting in huge loads on the painter ( and of course losing anything left in the dinghy, it must be empty ), but as long as you're careful this one-off trip should be OK.

If simply towing the worst bit may well be off Hayling foreshore & Chichester entrance; if you have a small drogue as in lifebuoys etc, it would be a good idea to have it streamed aft of the dinghy, not as any drastic 'heavy weather sailing' technique, just to keep the dinghy well mannered !

Boat even without drogue will probably knock off a good 1 knot of progress.
Click to expand...

Personally I'd not pull a solid GRP up short and lift it onto the rail.. I'd tow it on a nice long painter unless conditions were very bad... then I'd put the trip off until another day.
I've never tried it but i you a can thread and secure a large funnel onto the dinghy painter, stem facing forwards so that it will easily skip over the water surface when the tow is taught but prevent the dinghy catching up with the boat if the tow goes slack.

Best thing with an inflatable is to deflate it and bring it on board in all but the quietest conditions.
 
Shouldn't be an issue - (providing you're not on a drying out mooring) - whats your launch site in chi harbour?

We've towed a walkerbay from Chi to Beaulieu before (with our previous boat) - hardly slowed us at all ... iirc we kept it on a shortish painter and fendered the stern. But a long painter works well too - eitherway - remove everything from the tender first or tie in securely...
 
fireball said:
Shouldn't be an issue - (providing you're not on a drying out mooring) - whats your launch site in chi harbour?

We've towed a walkerbay from Chi to Beaulieu before (with our previous boat) - hardly slowed us at all ... iirc we kept it on a shortish painter and fendered the stern. But a long painter works well too - eitherway - remove everything from the tender first or tie in securely...
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He has B3 mooring and he'll get on and off the mooring at pretty nearly all states of the tide except for an hour or so either side of LWS. His biggest constraint will be access to his dinghy launch site which is limited to 2 hours before HW to a bit less than 3 hours after HW.
 
VicS said:
His biggest constraint will be access to his dinghy launch site which is limited to 2 hours before HW to a bit less than 3 hours after HW.
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Ah - in which case just leave earlier and bash a bit of tide if necessary ... :)
 
Looks as if its all weather dependant realyl. Need to be calm'ish, which means it'll be phutt phutting my way along the coast. Not really what I was looking to do. Would much rather sail. May have a rethink and take the dinghy by road at a later date.

In which case I'll need to dig out the Bombard. Hasn't see the light of day for a few years!
The GRP dinghy is a Moorhen. Old and battered, cheap and nasty, just the thing to leave on the hard as its not really nickable........Might fill a few scrathces and give it a coat of paint if I'm feeling energetic.

As always, thanks for the advice, its greatfully recieved.
 
BarryH said:
I've picked up a shabby grp dinghy circa 8ft long. I intend to use it to get to the mooring and back. Here's my slight problem. Its in Southampton. The boat goes to the Hamble a week after easter. From there I'm taking the boat to chichester onto a swinging mooring. The only way I can get off the boat, once on the mooring, is by dinghy and the only way to get the dinghy there is tow it from Southampton.

So, will towing the dinghy behind the Leisure severley knock the knots off? Looking at tides etc I need to time leaving the Hamble to get Chichester bar to take the tide up to the mooring, leaving enough time to tidy the boat and get ashore in the dinghy.
Obviuosly, I'm playing the timing game. I've worked on the assumption that I'll be making 4 knots, even if its dead calm I think the 8hp should give me 4 knots. I've been working on the assumption that I'll have the tide with me so not punching it.

How much will the dinghy drag my speed down. wasn't an issue with the last boat, I had a couple of hundred HP on tap!
Click to expand...

I only tow the dinghy very short distances. You would be surprised at the weight on the painter even for a smallish rubber tender. All that weight and friction are slowing the boat a lot IMO.
 
Did it the other way last year with an 8 ft grp dinghy from Chi to Portsmouth in less than perfect conditions. Unless its very rough, I can't see it tipping over
 
BarryH said:
I've picked up a shabby grp dinghy circa 8ft long. I intend to use it to get to the mooring and back. Here's my slight problem. Its in Southampton. The boat goes to the Hamble a week after easter. From there I'm taking the boat to chichester onto a swinging mooring. The only way I can get off the boat, once on the mooring, is by dinghy and the only way to get the dinghy there is tow it from Southampton.

So, will towing the dinghy behind the Leisure severley knock the knots off? Looking at tides etc I need to time leaving the Hamble to get Chichester bar to take the tide up to the mooring, leaving enough time to tidy the boat and get ashore in the dinghy.
Obviuosly, I'm playing the timing game. I've worked on the assumption that I'll be making 4 knots, even if its dead calm I think the 8hp should give me 4 knots. I've been working on the assumption that I'll have the tide with me so not punching it.

How much will the dinghy drag my speed down. wasn't an issue with the last boat, I had a couple of hundred HP on tap!
Click to expand...

Of course it will slow you a bit, but if you chhose to use the tide and get the wind in the sails no problem. Towed our 2.7 rib to Ichenor from Fareham last week, albeit with a bigger boat.
 
VicS said:
Personally I'd not pull a solid GRP up short and lift it onto the rail.. I'd tow it on a nice long painter unless conditions were very bad... then I'd put the trip off until another day.
I've never tried it but i you a can thread and secure a large funnel onto the dinghy painter, stem facing forwards so that it will easily skip over the water surface when the tow is taught but prevent the dinghy catching up with the boat if the tow goes slack.

Best thing with an inflatable is to deflate it and bring it on board in all but the quietest conditions.
Click to expand...
Agree with that - and remember to get EVERYTHING especially the motor - out of the dinghy. the lighter the easier - and faaster
 
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