# towing a dingy, performance issues...



## Guest (Oct 6, 2009)

any good people like to comment on the effects of towing a dingy


obviously boat & dingy size are relevant
let's say in the 25' - 38' boat range
dingy without outboard

a lead weight on the ankle while running? 
zero effect? 
in between?

do any folks tie it to the deck? sometimes?

cheers

-Jonathan


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## eryka (Mar 16, 2006)

Towing our inflatable RIB behind our 33 costs us 3/4-knt to 1 knt boat speed. For going any serious distance we tie it on deck. 

We don't have or want davits: too much weight on the stern, (ugly), and too risky in following seas.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

I'd be hesitant to tow any dinghy with the outboard attached unless you KNOW you're not going to get any major wash or seas. Also with the engine attached you will notice significantly increased drag over the empty dinghy.

There's a definite cost in boat speed, but there's also the convenience of easy deployment and the fact that the dinghy would be instantly available as a liferaft of sorts if the occasion called for it.

If you are going to tow in chop, then a cover or an open transom drain will prevent additional drag and strain from a dinghy filling up with spray during a passage.


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## motion300 (Feb 12, 2009)

I lost a new dingy and motor and I am sure you will hear other stories like this


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## CaptainForce (Jan 1, 2006)

We've been using davits for many years now, but we used to tow. Our most disappointing times (twice) were to see our dinghy flying & spinning in the wind during a harsh squall line. We can deploy very quickly from a secure mount. 'take care and joy, Aythyan crew


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## MJBrown (Apr 1, 2009)

I tow the dinghy with the motor on but locked in the up position. It costs about 1/2 to 3/4 kt in boat speed. I find that adjusting the tow line so it's riding down the face of the stern wake it causes the least amount of drag. BTW I use a double bridle. One bridle from the stern cleats to a tow line that then attaches to a bridle off the bow of the dinghy. I find that even in rough water the setup seems to keep it riding safely. If I think it's going to be too nasty I'll drop the motor which provides a bit of drag and keeps the dinghy more stable. Mind you all of this is on Cheasapeake Bay not the ocean.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

I tow my hardbottom in any conditions and never felt the preformance impact mwas material. Due to its weight a RIB is pretty stable even in rought weather, and generally too heavy to put on a small to mid-size cruiser. You should always remove the engine on the whole thing becomes unstable.


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## xsboats (Oct 2, 2007)

What about performance loss when things go wrong? I was towing my dyer once in no wind when things started to pick up. I found myself on a run in a following sea. The dinghy broached on a surf and headed towards the bottom like a diving plane attached to my quarter cleat . As it was effectively a sea-anchor at this point, I could not turn up into the wind to releive the strain on the painter. Fortunately, the towing eye failed on the dinghy and it floated freely to the surface. I had to tack back upwind to get to it and wrestle it aboard with no line to retrieve it by.An hour later, it was on deck , where it should have been all along. I was glad no one else was aboard to witness my stupity/lazyness. I was only going from Beaufot to Wrightsville and would just have to put it back in the water again. Now I always load my dinghy on deck ,even on the ditch.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

It depends on the boat, the dinghy, how the dinghy is equipped and attached and the sea state. In relatively flat conditions, with a hard dinghy, the resulting drag isn't that bad. In choppy conditions, with a soft-bottomed inflatable dinghy with soft, under-inflated tubes, with a big outboard attached.... the drag is going to be a good deal more noticeable.


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## kairetu (Oct 6, 2009)

I used to tow my dinghy and outboard. It was hugely convenient and afterall I was just coastal sailing so didn't really care about the odd half knot. I stopped this habit, though, when on one uneventful weather/water passage I noticed my dinghy had flipped and I was towing my outboard under water. Amazing it remained attached to my dinghy. Amazing it still worked after a flush with fresh water. It's the kind of thing you do once or rather - I did once. Each to their own.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2009)

great stories guys

thanks for the tips

-JD


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## chuck5499 (Aug 31, 2003)

we are full time cruisers and we tow only if we are in enclosed water such as long island sound or cheaspeake bay or on icw - if we go to sea it is on the deck period - no motor when we tow - in maine this summer if we had short jumps we towed otherwise it went on the deck - 
i figure we lose about 1/2k at least 

chuck patty and svsoulmates 
on the hook deltaville va


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*Davits: can't even imaging towing further than across the harbor.*

Ugly. Things that work are not ugly. Things that do not work are ugly, from my point of view.

Safety. Yes, on deck is safe. But getting it there may not be. I have a poor back, and if I had to put in on-deck when things kicked up, by my self, I would be safer to sell it now. Listen to the stories!

Safety. Davits can be safe in some pretty wild weather, depending on the boat. Perhaps this is a multihull advatage, as the dingy is not behind the boat but tucked up between the hulls, and way out of the water. IF I decided to get it on-deck from there, it is not hard to hook two halyards and take it from there - done it. I have not been in a full gale, but I have been in 8- to 10-foot waves up and down wind, and it never came within 30" of the water. I lift it pretty high.

Weight on transom. Move some stuff forward. In my case, the boat was designed for it and is nose-heavy when the dingy is forward. Depends on the boat.

Ease of deployment. With good tackle, easy. You will use it more. The motor, PFD, whistle, and the like just stay on-board. Drop and go.

Securing in bad weather. Yes, if it going to be more than ~ 20 knots you should lash the dingy to the davits to prevent swinging.

Speed. Why would I want to give up 3/4 knots? That is huge, really, for boats that only go 6-7 knots.

I guess these reasons ad up to why you seldom see a multihull towing. Perhaps the monohull math is different.


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## Bene505 (Jul 31, 2008)

We needed a big hard bottom dinghy that could haul the whole family, and I wanted to get up on plane with everyone aboard. The best solution was an 11'6" Achilles RIB with a 20hp Tohatsu. All together I figure it's too much weight for our davits, so I put the 117 pounds engine on the rail-mounted wood piece and raised the dinghy without the engine. I did this once this past summer, with the help of one of the davit hoists -- main concerns during this procedure were losing the engine overboard and cutting the inflated hull with the outboard's prop. 

While towing that time, the dinghy caught a wave and dumped the life jackets overbard (MOB drill was useful) and the hand pump (gone). So I need to get some straps like Daniel Goldberg uses or a cross bar or something to raise the dinghy up farther.

I think there has to be a way to reinforce one of the davits to hold the extra 117 pounds from the engine. That would be very convenient.

So usually we tow the dinghy everywhere. We aren't out in the ocean much though. We probably lose 1/2 knot.

I pull the dinghy in close when docking -- close enough so that the painter can't reach the prop. Then when out in the open we let out enough painter so that the dinghy surfs down the stern wave.

Regards,
Brad


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## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

I usually tow the dinghy with a floating line and a bridle on the dingy. I think it might do better with a bridle on the mother ship too. Nothing is in the dingy should it flip over, but I do not like to tow in 20 plus knots. I was thinking about the drag issue and i'm not sure if that is much of an issue unless in light winds. In heavier winds the limit is hull speed and the sails should propell the boat enough to overcome the drag. IMHO No proof however. The issue I have is it getting swamped, but then again I responded to someone the other day about hurricane conditions and how I handled the dingy. While I was anchored in a hurricane hole and it was only a Cat 1, I did fill the dinghy with water and it did well tied astern of the boat on about 20 feet or so of floating line. The waves were not much of a factor so I'm not sure how that might play. There have been times when sailing that the dingy has sped down a wave to hit the stern of the boat, but adjusting the painter to having it ride further away or even bringing it right up to the stern has remedied the situation. The dinghy is a 10 ft. Archilles with wooden floor and the mother ship is a 37 foot Tayana with limited deck space.


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## sck5 (Aug 20, 2007)

davits are quite useful in settled weather in places like the Chesapeake or the ICW. Easy to get the boat up and down, which I cant say about the deck. Also, my marina is OK with me having it on davits but not tied to the stern. Hauling it up on deck or taking it to the dinghy dock every time I come back is a pain. For bad weather or on the ocean it goes on the deck. But davits are very convenient things. Also, and maybe I am just being paranoid, I feel like it is less likely to be stolen from davits than from floating around behind the boat. Not such an issue most places in the Chesapeake but a real issue in some islands.


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## chenniepreston (May 8, 2006)

We towed our dinghy the entire length of the ICW from Cape May to Miami. We ALWAYS took off the motor as we had a lift on the stern of our Tartan 37.
We carried it on deck for crossings in open water, like across the Gulf Stream, but we towed it from Bimini all the way to Georgetown, and back.
It will cost you about a knot, but who cares!! It's a hassle to take it in and out of the water, tie it down etc. We had a 11' Zodiac with plywood floors.
I wouldn't have an inflatable floor as everyone we knew that had one had leaks, and it was soft. It's nice to be able to toss in your anchor, fuel, shells or what ever and not worry about it.


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## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

chenniepreston said:


> We had a 11' Zodiac with plywood floors.
> I wouldn't have an inflatable floor as everyone we knew that had one had leaks, and it was soft. It's nice to be able to toss in your anchor, fuel, shells or what ever and not worry about it.


I feel the same about the inflatable floors even though there is a newer version out where the high pressure is the V rather than just flat. I also have the plywood, but it is very difficult to assemble on deck. I like the Archilles Al roll up floor which seems to stow easily on deck and if anyone out there has some experience with it, I would like to hear. As far as the towing issue, I've never seen my dinghy airborn even though last year we were hit by a 60 knot storm on the beam. Always felt uneasy about towing it in storm conditions and wondered how easily that it might get swamped. I'm not sure that it would even be a bad situation considering that you want to keep the stern of the mother ship from going broadside to the waves?? Consider a Jordan series drouge and what is suppose to do. Just don't want to be the first to try it with the dinghy even if it is over 20 years old.  The stress imposed on the dinghy would be very great and the attachment point would be the issue and I doubt if the dingy would survive unless deflated.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

lancelot9898 said:


> .... I've never seen my dinghy airborn even though last year we were hit by a 60 knot storm on the beam. .... The stress imposed on the dinghy would be very great and the attachment point would be the issue and I doubt if the dingy would survive unless deflated.


Several years ago in flat water and puffy 25-30 knot conditions we had our 8 foot zodiac (wood floors, no engine) flip over in a puff. It hit the water like a suction cup, noticeably slowing a powered up 40 foot boat and before we could do anything one of the forward towing bridle patches ripped clean off.

We had to stop the boat, drag the still upside down dinghy close-to, and break the suction before we could pick it back up.

Last year in similar conditons, different boat, different dinghy (a 7.5 foot roll-up slat floor zodiac) on a beam reach the dinghy was doing airborne barrel rolls until we pulled it up against the transom.

MAYBE an engine would have settled things down, but then again maybe not and we'd have had a waterlogged engine to deal with as well.


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## MJBrown (Apr 1, 2009)

Lancelot9898 we have a 2000 Achilles LIS104 which is the roll up with inflatable floor model. It's a nice dinghy but the floor does have it's problem with leaks from time to time. Usually around the air valve. We sail on the Cheaspeke and always tow with the motor on. I use a double bridle. One off the stern of the boat and one off the bow of the dinghy. I rig it so the dink is riding on the face of our stern wake so the drag is minimized. We've been out in 4-5' chop and it's been fine. I do pay close attention to the wakes from some of the big cruisers that roll by. In extreme weather I've dropped the motor so it's riding in the water. It creates enough drag to add stability. If we were to do an ocean voyage I'd likely defalte it and bring it up on deck.
Mike


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

we have now 2500 miles on sail cruising this summer---we donot tow dink--we keep on foredeck....my formosa i can keep on foredeck or abaft mast --i can keep a kayak and a hard dink as well on deck in formosa---lol---but then i have the space and the weight of boat to be able to do that--i will not criuise with a rigid--they weigh too much--a 9' caribe is 145 pounds without engine----i use now a soft rollup with hard transom and a 3 1/2 hp engine----2 stroke.....is perfect for cruising and independence--i donot need to plane with guests in my dink--


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