Tacking while towing a dinghy

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by and4ew

I usually tow my dinghy with two lines that run from the forward quarters of the dinghy to the stern quarters of my boat. My Bayfield 29 is a cutter rig so tacking has to be a little more precise to avoid going into irons.
My question is: is it better to have the dinghy close, (less than 10') or further away (20' or more), or somewhere in between? I've been doing my own experimenting but would appreciate suggestions from those more experienced.

From my experience further away. Like 1 wave cycle away. Mother ship on a wave crest and dingy on the next wave crest. You haven't lived until you are going down 12-16ft rollers and have your dingy try to pass you or either side as the mother ship wallows into the trough with each wave. Or it will crash into your stern, or pass you dipping a rail, fill with water and then you watch the tow line become bar tight! "Lookout! Duck"!
Amazingly, a submerged dingy full of water will come straight up out into the air and throw the water out and continue on! ........ IF you have a strong towline and stronger bow eye!

You can tow it right against the stern but it will still be banging on the stern.

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

I tow my dinghy in the same way. I keep the lines long generally because when the weather gets heavy I want the dinghy far away. If I bear off and go downwind the waves can make the dinghy surf into the boat. Never had an issue with going into irons because of the dinghy. I'm sloop rigged but have an intermediate forestay that gets in the way while tacking.

Definitely recommend floating lines though. Mine are about 30 feet long each and it seems to have worked well over the last 3000 miles

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

From my experience further away. Like 1 wave cycle away. Mother ship on a wave crest and dingy on the next wave crest. You haven't lived until you are going down 12-16ft rollers and have your dingy try to pass you or either side as the mother ship wallows into the trough with each wave. Or it will crash into your stern, or pass you dipping a rail, fill with water and then you watch the tow line become bar tight! "Lookout! Duck"!
Amazingly, a submerged dingy full of water will come straight up out into the air and throw the water out and continue on! ........ IF you have a strong towline and stronger bow eye!

You can tow it right against the stern but it will still be banging on the stern.

I think we're saying more or less the same thing

I stopped towing going downwind because I have a B&R rig, can't go dead downwind so need to gybe. Picked up a crab pot on the dinghy tow bridle in the middle of gybing the spinnaker, stopped us dead, the apparent wind went to 20+ kts, all havoc ensued lol

[Jim Cate]

FWIW: Over the years we have done a lot of miles towing largeish inflatable dinks and RIBs coastally. Yes, I know that it is doubtful seamanship, but expedience trumps theory at times...

What has made it practicable is the use of a two element series drogue deployed from the stern of the dink when towing downwind. This provides enough drag to completely eliminate the tendency for the dink to surf faster than the yacht... a recipe for disaster as I think you all know. It does increase the speed loss suffered by the towing boat, but for us it has been worthwhile.

Beyond the elimination of surfing it means that the length of the tow line(s) is not very critical. The usual advice to position the dink at some number of "waves" back has always seemed odd to me, for the wavelength changes frequently as wind and boat speed change, frustrating the effort to maintain position.

I have not experienced difficulty in tacking due to towing so won't comment on that aspect of the problem.

Jim