Towing a dinghy

[Balbas]

I don't like doing it, but due to the baby stay at the front of the mast, there's not enough room on the foredeck to have it on deck (and therefore it's difficult to pump up aboard too), so we end up towing it everywhere. Which annoys me.

I've seen lots of newer boats - generally with sugarscoop sterns or bathing platforms - with the tender hauled up sideways across the transom. We have an old Westerly Longbow, so not something with a beamy stern, and therefore I don't see this working for us. And anyway, what happens when you get a bit off heel on, presumably the dinghy tries to float clear of its lashings at one end?

Are there any other (sensible) arrangements? A smaller tender isn't really an option, the 2.6m job we've got is already a bit tight with 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog in it.

 

[johnalison]

I'm assuming that you mean an inflatable. I don't like doing it either and I think the answer depends a bit on the type of stern you have. With my sugar-scoop I pull the dinghy up tight on the quarter so that its bow is clear of the water, greatly reducing drag. My dinghy has a bridle and tows well enough in this manner. With a transom stern you could do the same but there is more likelihood of the dinghy inverting, so I would tie an additional line from about 1/3 way back on the dinghy to your boat's opposite quarter.

 

[[70521]]

How big is the boat?I carried a 2.6 meter dingy on the foredeck of my old 8 meter boat.Why is pumping it up onboard difficult?

 

[Pete7]

How big is the boat?I carried a 2.6 meter dingy on the foredeck of my old 8 meter boat.Why is pumping it up onboard difficult?

Probably isn't enough room between the pullpit and the baby stay for a 2.6m dinghy. We only just manage with a 2.7m dinghy so anything bigger would be a problem.

Balbas, we do sometimes have the dinghy across the stern using two pieces of rope from D rings glued to the inside of the tubes and clipped to the rail. It raises the dinghy up above the pushpit rails so the waves don't catch the dinghy when heeled.

 

[Tranona]

How big is the boat?I carried a 2.6 meter dingy on the foredeck of my old 8 meter boat.Why is pumping it up onboard difficult?

He said its a Longbow which has a short foredeck (long cabin) and a babystay on the front face. Agree with him - not enough room for a dinghy. Relatively narrow stern so hanging it off the back is not easy.

Least bad solution is to deflate and rollup on the coachroof. then use an electric inflator to reduce effort pumping up. With a similar problem I made a teak grid on a frame which held the folded dinghy and provided a base for inflating.

No elegant easy solution to the problem.

 

[Balbas]

How big is the boat?I carried a 2.6 meter dingy on the foredeck of my old 8 meter boat.Why is pumping it up onboard difficult?

Its a 30ft (ish) Longbow. The mast has the forestay (obviously) and then a baby stay. So although the space on the foredeck is considerable the baby stay gets in the way of having the dinghy on the foredeck. It won't fit on the coachroof due to the kicking strap. As I can't find a place to easily put it inflated, pumping it up becomes difficult.

I'm assuming that you mean an inflatable. I don't like doing it either and I think the answer depends a bit on the type of stern you have. With my sugar-scoop I pull the dinghy up tight on the quarter so that its bow is clear of the water, greatly reducing drag. My dinghy has a bridle and tows well enough in this manner. With a transom stern you could do the same but there is more likelihood of the dinghy inverting, so I would tie an additional line from about 1/3 way back on the dinghy to your boat's opposite quarter.

Yes, inflatable. That's an idea I may try, although my hope is that I can avoid towing it altogether.

Probably isn't enough room between the pullpit and the baby stay for a 2.6m dinghy. We only just manage with a 2.7m dinghy so anything bigger would be a problem.

Balbas, we do sometimes have the dinghy across the stern using two pieces of rope from D rings glued to the inside of the tubes and clipped to the rail. It raises the dinghy up above the pushpit rails so the waves don't catch the dinghy when heeled.

Now that looks like something I may try next time I'm at the boat. With a bit of experimenting I may be able to get that to work, thank you.

 

[scruff]

We do as above and have 2 bridles from the D rings on the top of the tender. We have a carabeener 9/10ths of the way across these bridles and this clips onto the rear pulpit. Works really well and very easy to set up. On boats with a narrower transom, I've seen them stern down, hoisted vertically. They seem to have a line from each quarter on the transom up to the pulpit, short enough that the sponsons' are out of the water. Then the bow painter up and tied to the backstay. Looks a bit incongruous, but if it works...

 

[alahol2]

Next time you tow it, try towing it stern first. Haul the transom up as high as possible so that only the bow of the dinghy is in the water.

 

[Euphonyx]

I had the sane problem. I don't rrally need it except in wndy weather and lumpy sea. I took the deck bottle screw off and pit a purchase on it with a snap shackle. In most conditions I have it clipped to a padeye at the Base of the mast and I can store the dinghy on the foredeck when cruising around

 

[sailorman]

Probably isn't enough room between the pullpit and the baby stay for a 2.6m dinghy. We only just manage with a 2.7m dinghy so anything bigger would be a problem.

Balbas, we do sometimes have the dinghy across the stern using two pieces of rope from D rings glued to the inside of the tubes and clipped to the rail. It raises the dinghy up above the pushpit rails so the waves don't catch the dinghy when heeled.

Do you have wing mirrors to enable a view astern

 

[Kukri]

Thinking back, years ago, people often deflated one chamber and stowed the dinghy on deck that way.

 

[ashtead]

Thinking back, years ago, people often deflated one chamber and stowed the dinghy on deck that way.

Or deflated it completely and stored in a quarterberth? Surely there must be info on the WOA website about retrofitting Davits to a Longbow after 40 years which might have wider interest for other brands?

 

[doug748]

If this is the same general arrangement that you have, there is room to stow the dinghy, deflated, aft of the mainsheet:


Courtesy Yachtsnet


Taking off the seat and deflating one section (If possible with your particular model) you might also stow the thing in this position, pointing the sky . I do this now and again in settled conditions and, as my mainsheet is forward, it also makes a comfy seat. It has the advantage of only taking up dead space but is not so handy for rear vision and there is the question of windage so it is not a racing tactic.

I find pulling an inflatable hard under the lee quarter is a good wheeze, if caught out by a strong breeze when towing. It won't flip there and will lie quietly.