towing inflatable

[taoist]

For those of you who are seasoned sailors forgive my ignorance but I've always felt it was risky to tow your inflatable (coastal cruising) particularly with the outboard in place. However, I have seen many sailboats this summer doing exactly that. Are these people just risk takers or do they know something I don't.
Thanks

[Sailmonkey]

We tow all the time for short jaunts in settled weather.

[wingssail]

To my way of thinking, it is just another risk. If the weather is fine, if the waves are small, if the dingy towing connection stays attached, and everything stays that way, it can all be good.

But if a squall comes up, or anything goes wrong, it's just one more thing to deal with.

So, If I am going to be ready for all kinds of conditions or occurrences, if I want to be prepared for heavy weather, I don't tow the dingy.

An additional consideration: If the wind comes up a bit or the wind angle changes the big boat could quickly speed up beyond what is safe for the dingy. It's one thing for thing for the dingy to be quietly coasting along behind at 4-5 knots, quite another if the big boat speeds up to 8 or 9kts and the dingy gets out of control.

[Nicholson58]

The best thing we ever added to the boat was dinghy davits. We already had an engine hoist. It is way too easy to put the engine on the rail and the dinghy up, fIve minutes. Before davits, we towed the raft short hops but never with the motor mounted. Towing is also noisy. Replacing stuff in the Caribbean is difficult and expensive with little choice. We take care of stuff.

[deblen]

There is a company that sells the bracket. / L

[JPA Cate]

We have towed the dinghy a lot over the years... But never on a passage. One would most likely lose it.

Here are a few of the downsides:
1)Possible damage, slowing progress, and extra labor: if you have an unanticipated downwind run, the inflatable (and ours is a Rib) can surf up and damage the stern, necessitating epoxying, bogging and repainting. (Now, we have a short series drogue we deploy to hold it off the stern--and it slows us by about a knot and a quarter).

2)Inconvenience... One time, in a gusty area, it flipped. The wind just picked it up and turned it side over side. (We do tow with the motor on the mother boat, not the dinghy.) The shape of the bow means it then tries to dive for Davy Jones. It was a nuisance, we had to get into the lee of the land to fix the situation, which was not our destination, but a necessary diversion.

If you have a dinghy that is easy to put on deck or carry rolled up below, it is a much better answer than towing. Like Fred says, it is one less thing to worry about if you're surprised by something.

Ann

[Compass790]

They are risk takers unless the weather is settled.
Its a bugger if they flip, dont ask me how I know.

[Tetepare]

We tow up to 15 miles, in all except the worst. With motor. It’s a heavy Avon. But it costs a knot so if more than 15 miles I pull the motor. Without motor we’ve towed some 65 miles on many occasions. Even in heavy following seas it’s never bumped the boat.

Is it my preference? No. Our previous boat was too small for davits for this heavy Avon. New boat has left the dock once, but it will get davits.

[goboatingnow]

I tow in settled weather ( never with engine on ) on short trips , otherwise I hoist onto the foredeck. Seems to be similar to most people

If I’m Med mooring I prefer it on the deck as it’s always getting in the way otherwise

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

We tow all the time for short jaunts in settled weather.

Same here, but only for a few miles and then with the inflatable bow hard up against the back stay with the dinghy transom in the water.

There is some drag from a dinghy being towed which we would prefer to avoid if going any further.

Whilst the engine is only a little Honda 2.3hp it is still lifted off the dinghy for safety less it goes splosh.

Pete

[Jubilee39]

"settled weather"? it seems that every time I tow the dinghy other than across the anchorage it becomes unsettled

[BillKny]

There are three reasons for towing a dinghy and not lifting it on deck.

• Your dinghy is too big to lift on deck as you should.
• You think it will take too much work to stow properly. This is also know as being too lazy.
• You do not know any better.

You can tow your dinghy safely—right up until you can not. Shortcuts are the exact opposite of good seamanship. Towing a dinghy is a shortcut. Fullstop. Listening to people tell about how they tow all the time “except on passage” is a lot like listening to people talk about how they do not need to wear a seatbelt in their car for a short trip.

Our dinghy is an expensive tool essential to our lifestyle as cruisers. Losing it would be a financial PITA and a huge hassle. It is lashed down on deck anytime the mothership is moving.

There are a lot of “cruisers” who might go out for a weekend—occasionally. For them, the loss of a dinghy is just an excuse to buy a new one. Not really a big deal except for the dollars involved.

If losing your dinghy is a risk you are willing to take to save five minutes of work, that is always the captain’s choice. It is a risk that is easily avoided, so why not?

[team karst]

Its an unfun job to deal with a recently submerged and dragged outboard in sea water, in the cockpit of sailboat. It just took one of those to make every effort to get it out of the water before open water passages. I have had better luck towing larger boats, tho.

[C420sailor]

We have a RIB that’s big for our boat (10’ Walker Bay w/ 15hp, 36’ sailboat) and we don’t have the deck space for it. Our boat is a Beneteau with a sugar scoop, so davit solutions are all rail mounted (cringe). I don’t trust the strength of such systems.

So we tow.

If it’s relatively flat, we leave the OB on. It is fine until chop turns into swell, then the RIB starts to hunt as it surfs down waves. Anything more than some chop, or a longer transit? OB is stowed in a compartment. RIB tracks very straight with zero issues without the OB mounted, even in somewhat snotty weather.

We have a very stout bridle and tow line, with a heavy snubber to minimize shock loading. Bow eye thru bolted with backer plate.

Never had a problem with it. If it’s forecast to be nasty? We don’t go.

[team karst]

Of course, the risk of damage is much lower with the outboard safely stowed. Realize too, though, that if the bow goes under, the towline stress skyrockets. Not so worried about the line, as the glued on fittings. I did a bunch of towing of a 10' avon, using a bridle that pulls on the transom, with both lines running thru handles on the way forward. That way, very little stress on glued fittings.
My newer RIB has a "real" bow eye, but even its pretty light weight.