Josh — we use an “X” shaped towing bridle for our dinghy; two connections on the dink, and tied off to the stern cleats. It’s about twelve feet long or so, with stainless carabiners for the dingy end and large eyes at the boat end. There seems to be enough friction on the dinghy to keep the bridle taut under most conditions.
And we NEVER tow with an outboard on the dink; you’re liable to considerably shorten the life of the transom doing that, along with the chance of drowning your outboard… — Fred Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI > On Aug 16, 2017, at 7:54 AM, Josh Muckley via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > So for those who tow, what is the preferred method? > > We towed an inflatable one time. Had floating painter and made a bridle on > the dink. Tied straight to the stern rail station. No bridle at the boat, > not tied to the stern cleats. The painter was roughly 20'. In a following > seas with 6 foot swells the dinghy would surge down the face of the wave > catch up with the boat. At one point it got up next to the boat and turned > slightly perpendicular to the boat. When the slack was pulled out of the > painter, the force was sideways to the dinghy and was enough to flip it > upside down. It was painfully difficult to turn right side up. I've been > hesitant to tow since. I've seen others tow with a considerably shorter > painter but with my reverse transom I would rather avoid having the dinghy > bump or rub the back of the boat. > > Do you keep an outboard on the dinghy while towing? > > Josh Muckley > S/V Sea Hawk > 1989 C&C 37+ > Solomons, MD
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