Graham Burton
New Member
I hope you may enjoy this tale.
Thirty + years ago I was a full time instructor with the Island Sailing club in Salcombe in Devon, fantastic tidal sailing school/club. I was there two years and learnt an immense amount of seamanship and met many wonderful people.
James Robinson was in charge in those days and he had inspired in me an experimental and open minded approach...
Sailing was finished for the day but it had been windy and eventful up the estuary and I was dispatched to recover an Enterprise that had to be abandoned on a muddy lee shore. These were not your usual enterprises, these were specially built heavy duty ones..Fibreglass tanks built like the proverbial...., another story.
I set of in the Avon RIB with a heady 25HP Yamaha and had plenty of time to plan my towing technique as I travelled up the estuary. I was working alone as was normal in those days in a rescue boat, I knew it would not tow conventionally from the bow, they sheer all over the place even with a rudder lashed amidships. Alongside? not keen as it is generally very slow and no fun....
I had figured out that boats like being stern to wind with all of the COE and windage in the right place. A plan was forming, I beached the RIB to pull the boat off the mud and arranged a very long towing line that went through the stern/transom tiller cut out and made it fast securely to the thwart. No rudder rigged.
I must stress the Bag in those days was wild and open with no moorings, anchored boats or anything to get hurt by some experimentation, i would not have tried this further down the estuary.
With sails, spars, rudder and all loose kit tied down I set off. Cautiously at first I slowly built up the speed as I travelled back down the estuary. 3 knots, towing absolutely beautifully, 5 knots, 6, 7 , 10 knots starting to get the RIB on the plane and everything unbelievably straight and in control. Impressed by the stability and keen to get back before supper was cleared away I opened the throttle fully to a heady full speed, 15 Knots? I am guessing because we had no instruments. I started to relax and feel pleased with my self............The ballast water had drained from the RIB hull and I thought I had perfected a new technique. I was not overly concerned to see the wake of a fishing boat up head.......I was reluctant to slow down suddenly in case the transom dug in so I kept the power up, the Enterprise was fully on the plane, going backwards a treat, transom well clear of the water and it ran superbly over the wake....... a little bit of a bump..... Ok it was possibly briefly nearly air born....a beautiful site to behold ....and then the centreboard dropped down.......I had forgotten to put the peg in. The result was very, very impressive, the Enterprise took an absolutely massive sheer to one side and the centreboard tried its hardest to come to the surface, the mast was parallel to the water at one point!!. With my heart pounding I backed of the throttle and expected it all to go horribly wrong. However, the Enterpise stayed upright and I was able to get back underway after sorting out the centreboard and my racing hearbeat!
Before coming in among the moorings I pulled it alongside and towed it conventionally up to the pontoons so no one witnessed my unconventional technique. I have often wondered if any one else used this technique?
I can cautiously recommend the technique in flat water, maybe a slower and with no centreboard!! However we all work with better staffing levels and less tolerance of risk so it is unlikely to be standard practice any time soon.
i have often wondered if it would work with a rudderless yacht.
I hope you enjoyed my little confessional.
Happy sailing.
Thirty + years ago I was a full time instructor with the Island Sailing club in Salcombe in Devon, fantastic tidal sailing school/club. I was there two years and learnt an immense amount of seamanship and met many wonderful people.
James Robinson was in charge in those days and he had inspired in me an experimental and open minded approach...
Sailing was finished for the day but it had been windy and eventful up the estuary and I was dispatched to recover an Enterprise that had to be abandoned on a muddy lee shore. These were not your usual enterprises, these were specially built heavy duty ones..Fibreglass tanks built like the proverbial...., another story.
I set of in the Avon RIB with a heady 25HP Yamaha and had plenty of time to plan my towing technique as I travelled up the estuary. I was working alone as was normal in those days in a rescue boat, I knew it would not tow conventionally from the bow, they sheer all over the place even with a rudder lashed amidships. Alongside? not keen as it is generally very slow and no fun....
I had figured out that boats like being stern to wind with all of the COE and windage in the right place. A plan was forming, I beached the RIB to pull the boat off the mud and arranged a very long towing line that went through the stern/transom tiller cut out and made it fast securely to the thwart. No rudder rigged.
I must stress the Bag in those days was wild and open with no moorings, anchored boats or anything to get hurt by some experimentation, i would not have tried this further down the estuary.
With sails, spars, rudder and all loose kit tied down I set off. Cautiously at first I slowly built up the speed as I travelled back down the estuary. 3 knots, towing absolutely beautifully, 5 knots, 6, 7 , 10 knots starting to get the RIB on the plane and everything unbelievably straight and in control. Impressed by the stability and keen to get back before supper was cleared away I opened the throttle fully to a heady full speed, 15 Knots? I am guessing because we had no instruments. I started to relax and feel pleased with my self............The ballast water had drained from the RIB hull and I thought I had perfected a new technique. I was not overly concerned to see the wake of a fishing boat up head.......I was reluctant to slow down suddenly in case the transom dug in so I kept the power up, the Enterprise was fully on the plane, going backwards a treat, transom well clear of the water and it ran superbly over the wake....... a little bit of a bump..... Ok it was possibly briefly nearly air born....a beautiful site to behold ....and then the centreboard dropped down.......I had forgotten to put the peg in. The result was very, very impressive, the Enterprise took an absolutely massive sheer to one side and the centreboard tried its hardest to come to the surface, the mast was parallel to the water at one point!!. With my heart pounding I backed of the throttle and expected it all to go horribly wrong. However, the Enterpise stayed upright and I was able to get back underway after sorting out the centreboard and my racing hearbeat!
Before coming in among the moorings I pulled it alongside and towed it conventionally up to the pontoons so no one witnessed my unconventional technique. I have often wondered if any one else used this technique?
I can cautiously recommend the technique in flat water, maybe a slower and with no centreboard!! However we all work with better staffing levels and less tolerance of risk so it is unlikely to be standard practice any time soon.
i have often wondered if it would work with a rudderless yacht.
I hope you enjoyed my little confessional.
Happy sailing.
