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Dingy Davits or Dingy Tow

bigtyme805

Member III
Hello out there in Ericson land. I need some helpful information related to Dingy Davits or a Dingy Tow.

I have a Ericson 27 and either want to install Dingy Davits or some system called Dingy Tow. Does anybody have experience with these products especially related to an E-27? Pictures would be nice...
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Tow it

Biggy,

Because of the relatively small size of your E-boat, installing davits, and carrying a dingy will seriously compromise performance. You will have WAY too much weight aft-and the issue here is precentage of displacement. 300 pounds in the back of a 15000 35-38 foot. lb. boat is one thing, but on the back of a 7-8000 lb. 27 footer, it is a much higher percentage and will have a proportionally bigger negative effect. Towing will actually have less overall negative impact on peformance in most conditions, but you do have to be careful in very heavy sea conditions. Of course, you are just as bad off with the davit rig, because those are the conditions where so much weight aft could also be dangerous.

The ideal thing to rig things so you can pull the bow of the dinghy right up to the transom, partially out of the water (rubber boats are best for this, but it can be done with solid dinghy, too). This will minimize all negative aspects of the dinghy issue, and be easiest to launch and use when you get where you are going.

Sorry.:boohoo:
 

bigtyme805

Member III
Thanks Seth

Your are probably right about the weight, but my dingy only weighs 75lbs. I am weighing toward this thing called the dingy tow. I have posted some pics of it and they seem like the only company that has anything like it.

I want to see if anybody has one or knows of anything else.

Thanks
 

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NateHanson

Sustaining Member
I've seen a number of those rigs around here, but I've never used one, so can't really comment. Sounds like a decent idea if it works. Some boats would be very prone to filling with water in that orientation, and that could do some real damage, but in nice weather I can't see a problem. Personally I prefer to put the dinghy up on deck for anything more than a lunch sail, but that has it's associated headaches too. :)
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Dinghy

This does look nice, and I would choose this over davits, but many just pull the dingy up as far as they can...
 

Geoff Johnson

Fellow Ericson Owner
I think I would stay away from the Dingy Tow because it looks like it is connected to the transom by a hard attachment. In any kind of a sea it would buck the hell out of both the boat and the dingy. I tow mine (with the motor mounted on the aft rail).
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
When we had an E32-200 we encountered some steep seas on the Chesapeake while towing an inflatable bow first without it's motor. The dinghy got out of sink with us as it raced down the steep following seas. It's bow began to plow under and take on water. It appeared that the dinghy was going to fill with water and something was going to give.

Fortunately I was able to tie the dinghy bow up to the aft rail. In that configuration, it rode the steep seas fine. As usual, it's important to read the changing conditions ahead of time and know what to do. If I had a plan to begin with, re-rigging the dinghy would have been much easier before the weather hit.

In the case of the dinghy-tow revesre tow concept, I would give it a try for coastal cruising based on my experience with tieing the dink bow to the aft rail. I know that you're not supposed to tow offshore.

Having studied the dinghy tow website, I would be inclined to make one from scratch. It isn't very complicated. The price wasn't on the website which suggests that it is expensive and I believe they are the sole source. I think it's important that it have an easy quick release mechanism in case you need to reconfigure the tow in changing conditions.

-- neal

Geoff Johnson said:
I think I would stay away from the Dingy Tow because it looks like it is connected to the transom by a hard attachment. In any kind of a sea it would buck the hell out of both the boat and the dingy. I tow mine (with the motor mounted on the aft rail).
 

Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
foredeck...

if it doesn't weigh much, can you put it on the foredeck? Most of us don't use decksweepers for headsails, so there isn't much for it to get into up there. We either do that or tow it... that's a pretty cool set-up, though!
Chris
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
We met some folks while sailing in Ontario who had a Dinghy Tow mounted on the C&C 35. They loved the set up, and couldn't recommend it highly enough. They liked the fact that they could stow the dinghy without removing the outboard, that it was always out of the way, and that there was no tether to get caught under the prop. Most folks around here tend to tow their dinghies, since few of us have boats big enough to tolerate the weight aft of a set of davits. The problem there is that it really isn't safe to tow the dinghy with the outboard mounted, so you have the hassel of always stowing the outboard.

Keeping Seth's comments in mind I'm still not sure how well the smallish 27 will tolerate even the reduced weight (compared with davits) aft of the tinghy tow, but at least the folks we met really liked it otherwise.
 

bigtyme805

Member III
Thank you all for the comments. Thinking about this I would not go with davits, don't want the added weight. I have towed my dingy several times out to the channel islands and it is a pain because I lose a minimum of 1 knot from drag. The dingy tow seems to be reliable from the website they have and from the person who actually knows somebody who has one. I have never seen one in the Oxnard area which is odd considering all the boats here.

I have cruised many times offshore and prefer caring the dingy on the foredeck. But the Channel Islands are so close and I am always out there I wanted something that I did not have to fuss with. I will try the Dingy Tow and let you all know what my outcome is. Hopefully they are not over $1000.00.

Out!
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
dinghy tow cost

FYI - I was just quoted $1195 US for the Dinghy Tow product. I believe that is FOB Ontario, Canada.

I got a close look at one in the boatyard yesterday. Basically it's built with a some 1" square stainless tubing, a few 5:1 tackles and a few more blocks and camcleats plus lines. It looked well built and simple install and to use with the fittings provided. It appeared to be worth the price for the type of construction which included welds.

I think a handy sailor could make a lightweight equivalent system without welds for $200-400 with very simple fabrication (no welds) and off the shelf parts. In my case on the Chesapeake Bay I don't need a heavy duty mechanism as I wouldn't consider towing in rough seas anyway and I have a relatively lightweight (52 lb) rollup dinghy. For my dinghy, I doubt the expensive 5:1 tackles are necessary just to get the dinghy stern out if the water.

If heavy weather is coming in I put the dinghy on the foredeck or even deflate it.

-- neal
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Plan C...

Having just had some beautiful SS work done for our stanchion and pulpit upgrades, I would also suggest a contact with some local companies that do marine SS fab work. For the same $ (or less, depending on how complicated your design is) you would get a custom-to-your-boat solution with a mirror polish as well.
:)

Just another .02 worth,
Loren
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Now that you mention it, I do need to get the bow pulpit rebuilt. When we purchased the boat the pulpit was a little kinked and torqued so we got a quote of $900 to make a new one. Then right after the boat purchase the guy we were going to use in Annapolis closed shop and literally bought a farm in West Virginia.

Perhaps I could put the tow and bow projects together. Then again we wanted to put stern seats overhanging the transom, so there's even more stainless welding. To do that the upper rail needs to be made into an outward hanging loop on both sides instead of just straight across the back. We currently have the aftermarket plastic seats, but they restrict access to the lazarette.

I know another fellow in Deale who is a little moody but does nice work. At least I have enough projects to make it interesting for him.

-- neal

Loren Beach said:
Having just had some beautiful SS work done for our stanchion and pulpit upgrades, I would also suggest a contact with some local companies that do marine SS fab work. For the same $ (or less, depending on how complicated your design is) you would get a custom-to-your-boat solution with a mirror polish as well.
:)

Just another .02 worth,
Loren
 

Jeff Asbury

Principal Partner
I as well always tow my Dinghy. Achilles LEX-88 Grey 2006 Length 8' 8", Hypalon, Only 66 Lbs! I keep the OB on a solid block on the stern pulpit. I really don't notice any loss of speed because the dinghy has a inflatable keel and planes very well. The only hassle is taking on and off the OB at anchorage with swell conditions. Always keep a line on the OB just in case!
 

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ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Neal, I know a guy in annapolis/mayo area who does excellent stainless fab work at very good prices. He works for Madden Masts and Rigging but at month end is launching hiw own venture. He is a very good friend of mine and has done a lot of fab work for me, see my stern pulpit mod on the mid boom sheeting thread. Pete Appell 410-279-0210 mention you got his number from me.
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Ted, that's terrific. Thanks for the local reference.

-- neal

ted_reshetiloff said:
Neal, I know a guy in annapolis/mayo area who does excellent stainless fab work at very good prices. He works for Madden Masts and Rigging but at month end is launching hiw own venture. He is a very good friend of mine and has done a lot of fab work for me, see my stern pulpit mod on the mid boom sheeting thread. Pete Appell 410-279-0210 mention you got his number from me.
 
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