Towing a rigid tender

[JumbleDuck]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

I recall being rammed from behind by the pram, when running downwind, and on one occasion, after three long days of heavy rain, there was so much water in the thing, that I couldn't safely get aboard it to bail it out.

The dinghies I tow have never tried to come aboard, or at least they have never come near enough to make a proper try. That's why I have a 10m painter. It can look a bit silly, but it avoid the problem. My crew will cheerfully get aboard the sailing one even when it's completely swamped (capsizing is FUN) and if I don;t feel like getting my feet wet I can pump out from the cockpit before getting aboard ... the joys of low freeboards.

I too dislike inflatables and bought an 8' pram and it rows really well. The issue is boarding and disembarking, unstable in the extreme compared to an inflatable.

The Heyland dinghy is definitely a lot more stable than the pram in which one does have to take a reasonable amount of care.

I know Jumbleduck manages it, but after my experiences towing a rigid - nicely shaped Caricraft 10 with the rig off - I wouldn't do it anywhere likely to get remotely lumpy.

I don't think it's in the modern editions but in an earlier ' Heavy Weather Sailing ' Adlard Coles describes towing a dinghy across Lyme Bay when things became boisterous; it swamped, dragged, ultimate PITA then broke free, he was unable to recover it as way too risky.

It would be interesting to know what sort of dinghy Adlard Coles was towing. I suspect that lightweight fibreglass tenders tow a lot better than older, heavier wooden ones. It's important to get the towing angle right as well: the painter should slope up, but not too much. This often means fitting a lower towing eye than the manufacturers original thought necessary. On my last boat I would shift the painter to the high side (not as hard as it sounds - just loop round the "Other" quarter cleat if necessary) for long reaches. As my current boat has no transom the towing points are quite near the middle and so this isn't an issue.

Inflatable tenders are the way to go, decide how you are going to store it and get on with it.

I would not presume to tell other people what sort of dinghy to use. A rigid one works for the sailing I do at the moment, but I probably wouldn't take one across the North Sea to Norway, for example. One of the disadvantages of a boat which is pointy at both ends is the limited locker space: even a small inflatable would either take up all of my single cockpit locker or have to be tied on deck somewhere.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

The concept of dragging something behind the slowest form of transport known to man in order to make it even slower has constantly eluded me.

I do it because it's fun. If I wanted to get there fast I'd take the car.

 

[aquaplane]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

We have a wood Mirror as a tender on Windermere. It's great for load capacity and rowing. It's way too fragile, a GRP one would be better. We don't tow it at all.

The Centaur has an inflatable tender. We don't tow that either, except for short journeys, not many of those when we are cruising. Once towing the inflatable down Sound of Jura the bloody thing flipped and stuck it's self to the water. It was a right pain to turn over and get aboard to deflate, I was almost ready to cut it loose.

Davits look odd on a Centaur IMHO. You can't strap a tender across the transom like on some bigger boats, the exhaust goes out of the transom and would blather the dinghy.

The extra locker space in a C layout would be good stowage for a decent sized inflatable.

 

[FWB]

I have a 7'10" Eastport Pram which I tow everywhere. At under 30kg it weighs less than my Avon and tows and rows easily. I've towed it through some pretty big seas with no problem at all. I've stopped using the Avon altogether.
http://www.fyneboatkits.co.uk/kits/rowing/eastport-pram/

 

[pmagowan]

We used a rigid tender for a season. The main reason we don't use it much now is that it is more difficult to get to the water since it does not fit in the car, unlike the inflatable. It could be a pain at night as it liked to nudge the boat but a bungy cord could solve that. It does tend to be a bit more tippy than an inflatable but I suppose this is a design element and there is no reason why a solid tender can not be designed to have similarly increasing stability when loaded unevenly than an inflatable. They do row better. We now use a zodiac which is about 25 years old and has a set of wooden oars which work really well. It can be rowed with 2 or 3 people in it without much problems.

 

[Serin]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

I do it because it's fun. If I wanted to get there fast I'd take the car.

+ 1 Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb! (Did you, perhaps, mistake the purposes of the tender? )

 

[graham]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

If you insist on towing a dinghy ,a practice I was happy to give up once an inflatable was affordable to us, put the towing eye in the dinghy low down just above the waterline and put a sand bag or 5 gallon water container low down near the stern.

have fun.

 

[Greenheart]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

I'd like to know exactly, how great the drag of a tender is, relative to the impact on the yacht's performance created by the same tender's weight & windage when stored on deck.

 

[bikedaft]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

I'd like to know exactly, how great the drag of a tender is, relative to the impact on the yacht's performance created by the same tender's weight & windage when stored on deck.

next to bugger all i think

unless its inflatable and overturned, in which case the suction is huge

or a hard dinghy half/fully swamped

(not so fond memories of donning a wetsuit to bail hard dinghy being towed off west coast Mull etc)

 

[JumbleDuck]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

If you insist on towing a dinghy ,a practice I was happy to give up once an inflatable was affordable to us, put the towing eye in the dinghy low down just above the waterline and put a sand bag or 5 gallon water container low down near the stern.

It depends on the dinghy. Some may need that, but some don't and will squat down if you try it, increasing drag. I was a little sceptical about the Swift's towing eyes, as it's quite high up, but I gave it a go and it works fine. On the other hand, the 7'6" stem dinghy I used to tow definitely benefitted from a low towing eye and a high cleat at the other end.

I'd like to know exactly, how great the drag of a tender is, relative to the impact on the yacht's performance created by the same tender's weight & windage when stored on deck.

At full speed of around 6kt or so I can easily take the load off the dinghy painter with one hand. I'll guess somewhere around 20 kgf, which at 3 m/s is about 600W, or just shy of 1 hp.

 

[bikedaft]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

have always meant to get a strain gauge for just this, and anchor chain loads

 

[doug748]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

There was a chap that towed his rigid dinghy on a World trip. He secured it at the downwind quarter alongside the hull. Can't remember the name though.

I have tried this method with a heavy 10 foot Avon ribby thing and it works ok, siting quietly even in lively conditions. You do have to tack it though.

 

[capnsensible]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

I do it because it's fun. If I wanted to get there fast I'd take the car.

One mans fun is clearly another mans why make life more difficult than it needs to be.

 

[capnsensible]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

+ 1 Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb! (Did you, perhaps, mistake the purposes of the tender? )

After 2 seasons living aboard in the Caribbean where the dinghy was in constant use, I kinda got the idea. Towed it once down the west side of St. Lucia. Mistake.

Still, watching people tow things behind them is always good for entertainment. Trouble is, where I sail, just about everyone has wised up and keep them on board. Rather dull.

 

[alahol2]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

We have towed our 9ft Bobbin dinghy behind us for the last 10 years or so. Mainly south coast. We have never had more than a litre or so of water inside it and the only time I've had it bash the stern was when I forgot to lengthen the tow rope whilst crossing a bouncy Chichester bar. It rows and sails very well and a 2HP outboard is plenty. Two part mast + boom stow alongside the guard rails.

 

[Greenheart]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

At full speed of around 6kt or so I can easily take the load off the dinghy painter with one hand. I'll guess somewhere around 20 kgf, which at 3 m/s is about 600W, or just shy of 1 hp.

Thanks JD. So...the objection to towing, by cruising yachts, seems scarcely to be based on the impact on performance (sorry if everyone else had realised that, long before me).

 

[Ruffles]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

Nearly lost ours on a bouncy trip to IoW a few weeks ago. Filled with water mainly because the drain plug was leaking. Boys were very worried. The first gallon of water attracts the next as it gets heavier.

Wouldn't be without it though.

Have towed two on occasion. Heavy sailing tender and very light RS Tera. Great fun!

Trick with tying alongside is to tie the fender horizontally to the dinghy.

 

[Serin]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

One mans fun is clearly another mans why make life more difficult than it needs to be.

Why not get a powerboat? So much simpler than all those sails and stays and shrouds and sheets and halyards and vangs and lifts and downhauls and outhauls and barber haulers and heaven knows what else.......

Cruising in a sailing boat simplifies life by making it more complicated. That is the fundamental paradox of the whole thing.

Some of my most enjoyable times on the water are spent rooting about in small creeks and unfrequented inlets in an 8 foot lugger, sailing where I can and rowing or sculling where I can't. Can't beat it!

 

[capnsensible]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

Why not get a powerboat? So much simpler than all those sails and stays and shrouds and sheets and halyards and vangs and lifts and downhauls and outhauls and barber haulers and heaven knows what else.......

Mostly because Im the Principal of my own sailing school and spend every working day showing people how to make sailing easier.....

:encouragement::encouragement::encouragement:

 

[JumbleDuck]

Re: Rigid small dinghies, not without problems

One mans fun is clearly another mans why make life more difficult than it needs to be.

You're not still using sails are you? An engine is so much easier ...

Incidentally, I never have to pump up, assemble, deflate, dismantle, stow or unstow my dinghy. It's just there whenever I need it. Why make things more difficult than they need to be, eh?