Towing a rigid dinghy

[dylanwinter]

I have been towing Sweet Pea - 9 foot long similated clinker - for over 300 miles now and so far it has been marvelous. Until now my towing experience has been clouded by dragging an inflatable around - chalk and cheese. Towing a flubber is a sorry thing to do as it zig zags and surfs

The little clinker dinghy tows like a dream and has never come anywhere near to being capsized by wakes or waves. It tows straight and true under both power and sail and has never threatened to overtake the mother ship. She has a floating painter around 40 foot long and seems happier on a long line. I have come to rather like the noise it makes as it follows us around Scotland.

having her there and ready to roll has changed my attitude towards anchoring out because the shore is only two steps away - one down into the dinghy and another from the dinghy to the shore. The dinghy rows brilliantly so the outboard has slumbered quietly in the quarter berth while we get some modsest excerciseroqing . Of an evening I often take the camer and the dog for a bit of a row.

She sails pretty well using an optimist rig and a steering oar

the fendering is a bit extreme but the fenders mean that I can bump her around and not worry about damaging things she might hit. The fenders also offer some good resistance to capsize and also means that shouldnshe swamp she will float high enough in the water for me to stand up and wave and also stand and paddle with one oar. Not done a floatation test with two adults and a dog.







the dinghy came from a Solent Forumite (£100) who tolfd me that she is from a mold taken from a local keyhaven tender.

I am now a great fan of clinker and its impact on directional and rolling stability

D

journey so far

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yup. Told you so. There is a huge lot of FUD nonsense talked about towing rigid dinghies, normally by people who have never done it, or have done it incompetently. Using a 10' painter is asking for trouble - like you I use a long painter, of 10m or so, and neither of the dinghies I tow, a clinker-effect pram and a Heyland Toad, gives the slightest problem. I don't even carry an outboard for them.

 

[dombuckley]

I've got a stout little clinker pram, which is just small enough to stow on the cabin top when underway. However, in 18 years, I've only made half a dozen passages with her like that: every other time, I have towed her. Even when we got caught out in a rising F7 in the North Sea, she towed sweetly from the leeward quarter, with a light and steady strain on the painter, without a hint of sheering.

 

[mainsail1]

Great news Dylan. I always knew I would be proved wrong (ha,ha). I will have to try again and improve my skills!

 

[alahol2]

Been towing a Bobbin for the last 10 years or more, mainly Solent but south coast generally. Never had a moment's problem with it. In the Solent we get away with a 3 metre painter most of the time but we do extend it if it looks lumpy. I suspect many of the naysayers have never actually tried it with a proper hard dinghy.
A large spring hook on the end of the painter means it is very easy to attach to guard wires, stanchions, cleats etc when coming alongside. No more of that time consuming knot tying.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Do you think it takes very little off the speed as well compared to a rubber dink?

 

[dombuckley]

Do you think it takes very little off the speed as well compared to a rubber dink?

Many moons ago, I did a flotilla holiday in the Med. The yacht was only a little 25 footer, and didn't have a liferaft: to comply with the coding regs, we had to tow an inflated dinghy at all times. If the yacht was doing more than about 4 knots, the strain on the painter was so much it felt like a sea anchor, and was very difficult to adjust safely, even using both hands. Have a photo from that trip taken by a friend from another boat: the dinghy can be seen leaving about twice as much wake as the yacht. Must have been taking at least a full knot off the boat speed. Had a similar experience more recently when helping a chap move his boat up the Orwell: the drag was so great, I thought the cleat was going to get pulled out of the deck.

With the clinker dinghy, transfering her from the windward to leeward quarter cleat can be done with one hand, even when travelling at 5-6knots. Huge difference in drag.

 

[prv]

Huge difference in drag.

Yep - same reason a hard dinghy is so much nicer to row.

Pete

 

[colhel]

I'm going to get a hard dinghy. (If she lets me)

 

[explores]

We towed a hard dinghy on a flotiller and had some very bad weather. Not once did it give any trouble.

 

[JumbleDuck]

A large spring hook on the end of the painter means it is very easy to attach to guard wires, stanchions, cleats etc when coming alongside. No more of that time consuming knot tying.

I have two painters on the dinghy. The long one is for general towing. The short one has a spliced eye at the end; put over a stern cleat it keeps the dinghy close in for marinas and put over the midships cleat it puts the dinghy just where it needs to be for boarding from the cockpit.

 

[reginaldon]

Has anyone tried towing a Bic 245?

 

[Arcady]

Do you think it takes very little off the speed as well compared to a rubber dink?

No - in fact if you are at a steady speed you can adjust the painter length so that the dink has a tendency to surf down the face of the quarter wave - in which case there is negligible drag. We've had a 10' grp dink for 16 years and love it. As intimated by others, rowing becomes a pleasure rather than a chore.

 

[Mandarin331]

Interesting parallel thread running with a different sentiment, which reminded me why we no longer tow a hard dinghy, and preferably don't tow at all. http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?447561-Towing-an-old-and-tender-lady

 

[Seajet]

I'd love to tow a sweetly shaped rigid tender, but the fact is if one gets into seriously bad weather - or rain - it will become a dangerous liability - ie dangerous as in if one tries to save it after getting swamped; see earlier editions of ' Heavy Weather Sailing ' when Adlard Coles had unfortunate experiences with his towed tender in Lyme Bay...

This is why god gave us inflatable dinghies - the whole thing's a fender ! - and LVM high speed inflators, both to be used at the destination not all the way to it.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'd love to tow a sweetly shaped rigid tender, but the fact is if one gets into seriously bad weather - or rain - it will become a dangerous liability ...

I'll let you know if after towing for another 25+ years I ever have problems like that. Mind you, I wouldn't do very long trips while towing, and if I ever get across the North Sea to Norway I plan to leave my dinghy at home and buy another one there.

 

[clyst]

Inflatable dinghy in davits is the way to go . No drag ,good load carrying and stability and ready to be deployed as a life raft (in coastal waters ) at a moments notice . What's not to like ?

 

[Poignard]

Inflatable dinghy in davits is the way to go . No drag ,good load carrying and stability and ready to be deployed as a life raft (in coastal waters ) at a moments notice . What's not to like ?

How about: increased windage; weight concentrated right aft; obstructs rearward vision; looks b----y awful.

 

[clyst]

How about: increased windage; weight concentrated right aft; obstructs rearward vision; looks b----y awful.

Increase wind age ? .......The horizontal CRS of a n inflatable isn't that great . Weight right aft ? .......Not as heavy as an extra crew person . Obstructs rear vision ?........ Not at all . Looks awful ? .......
Beautiful in the eye of the beholder etc .

 

[Poignard]

(...)
Weight right aft ? .......Not as heavy as an extra crew person . (...)

I don't hang crew members from davits on the transom. Mind you, there have been some that I would like to have.