Towing a dinghy

[doc g]

I am thinking of buying a center console in the 17-20 foot range to use a tender for my 61 CMY. Anyone towing a center console with thier Hatt? We have a 13 BW on deck which is great but in any chop ,combine the flat bottom and fact you have to sit down and get pounded to death,so we were thinking of using a bigger center console so we could use the Hatt as sort of a mother ship . I was looking at a 20 footer that weighs 3000#. Is that too big to be towing around ??Anyone doing this ?? Any input positive or negative would be greatly appreciated..........Pat

 

[jlightonjr]

We use to tow a RIB on short, calm trips when we didn't want to go through the time to hoist up top...

Good friends of ours who had a 57 Tollycraft CPMY were towing a 17 Whaler and got caught in a storm. Their custom made towing line broke, it was a "Y" shape that went into one single line that attached to the Whaler.

Long story short, they lost the Whaler before they noticed it broke loose. When they realized what happened the Whaler was long gone and reported washed up on shore one day later it was totally picked clean - the hull was in good shape though. Perhaps it was just too rough out that day?

When towing, as you can imagine you need a crew that can tend to the dinghy when you are slowing and entering a port. You don't want to have to back down on a towing line, get it caught in the props then be floating off into a seawall, or dock ;-)

 

[ThirdHatt]

Pat, This is not a problem with the proper setup and the crew to help handle it. The safe ratio to use for your bridle is 5:1 so your bridle should be rated at 5x the weight of the tender and you should not have any problems with your tow. If your boat weighs 3k lbs, a nice bridle rated at 15,000lbs minimum will work great. Remember to use the proper size shackles to connect because your bridle is only as good as it's weakest link. Look into something like www.toweye.com to make sure you have comething worthwhile to connect to.

There was a thread on this a few months ago that had some great details but I cannot remember the title so hopefully you can search it. The weight you are talking about will not even be noticed at all from your helm. I tow my 31' twin diesel inboard center console that weighs 14,600lbs wet behind my 58YF. I have pulled it though 4-5' chop and only barely felt it. I rarely saw even a .1kt reduction in speed as it hit a big wave behind me. I did notice about 3/4 of a knot reduction in my cruise speed at the same rpm though.

 

[jlightonjr]

ThirdHatt -

Your 58 YF is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

[DAlter]

Contact Rope Inc. in Ft Lauderdale. They will set you up with the proper towing assembly..rope, briddle, shackles, etc.

 

[doc g]

Third Hatt - very nice set up !! I run offshore during vacation . What happens in a big following sea ?? Ever have any problems with the tender racing down a wave and coming close to the Hatt? .......................Pat

 

[doc g]

I found the other thread called "towing a tender" very helpful , thanks guys !!!...Pat

 

[ThirdHatt]

Thanks guys!

DAlter, www.ropeinc.com is supposedly the best at this. They made the setup for my boat but they can be costly for the smaller loads like doc g is suggesting.

If I were towing a 3,000lb boat I would probably just buy a couple of 5/8"x50' New England Megabraid lines for the bridle and tie the bitter ends to the big boat. Then connect the two eyes with a shackle to 100-125' of low stretch line (spectra, poly, etc) that floats and connects to the little boat with a snap hook or something properly rated but allows for quick connect/disconnect.

The bridle doesn't have to float but the tow line does so that it will not get caught in the props. I keep my bridle adjusted to where the shackle is only a few feet behind the swim platform so that when it is completely slack (like waiting bridges in the ICW, etc) it is just below the surface but well aft of the running gear.

Following seas is one of the main reasons for keeping the tow so far behind the boat. I usually keep the tender around 160' back and I can extend it to a little over 200' back if needed. The big boat has forward thrust in addition to momentum so with that and a long tow line keeps the tender far enough back to not be a concern in following seas.

The previous owner of my Ocean Master is who got Rope inc to make the setup for the boat. He successfully towed it behind his (much larger) boat for over 6,000 miles from 2002-2005. He told me that it has been through some pretty rough stuff, including 18' seas! He said that even though many times offshore he could not see the tow at all due to the waves but he could see that the bridle was tight so he knew it was still back there! I personally would not want to be out in those conditions and especially with a tow, but even with the best planning anything can happen.