When a dingy is under tow, think about this

[Greg Ross]

There's an image from dsvisr (roscoe) in the thread on "wire luffs in stock jibs" that brought something to mind. The image shows the dink under tow with her bows thrust upwards;
While we were out on our July cruise I began playing with the length of the painter/ tow line for the dink. I'd noticed depending on the position of the dink relative to the wake behind LAYLA, there appeared to be different rates of drag. Seemed if the dink was riding right at the convergence of the stern waves it was always climbing the wave and the painter appeared more taught (is that a correct term, if I was going to tie-one-on tonight? could I be tighter or maybe taught. Anything to do with drinking Pussers, is that taught or tot) I digress!
So what I discovered was if I adjusted the painter I could position the dink further or closer in such that it was perceptibly coasting down the front of a wave and the painter would go a bit slack. Am I reducing the effect of drag on the towing vessel? I guess I could have monitored boat speed as I adjusted it but didn't think of that at the time.

 

[davisr]

Greg,

Bruce Bingham, The Sailor's Sketchbook, p. 67, has 7 different drawings which concern dinghy towing techniques. A neighbor who has sailed trans-Atlantic turned me on to this book a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorites. Although only 134 pages, it is filled with all kinds of useful, illustrated hints for improving your boat. Other sketches by Bingham (although not dinghy towing sketches) also appear in Daniel Spurr, Spurr's Guide to Upgrading Your Cruising Sailboat. Unfortunately, The Sailor's Sketchbook is no longer in print, but it can be had for about $20 used on Amazon.

Regards,
Roscoe

 

[Greg Ross]

HoKay

Roscoe,
I ordered a copy of "the Book"
The cat that appears in some of his images looks very familiar, probably from his "Workbench" column.

 

[MarkA]

Yes, you are reducing drag--and it makes a huge difference. When I tow, I usually have the dink surfing down the first wave off the stern. When the tow line is adjusted just right, I can hold it comfortably between my thumb and forefinger--even with the outboard and fuel tank mounted! (not that I would recommend that in any kind of weather) But if it is climbing the wake, I can barely hold on with two fists--it's like a sea anchor.

People write a lot about drag and its effect on boat speed when they counsel against towing dinghies. Those people are idiots. There are plenty of reasons not to tow, but for most dinghies, drag is not one of them.

And spend the extra money for a floating tow line/painter. It boggles my mind how many people get their lines wrapped up in the prop--or the dinghy's prop at dinghy docks. On some days, the dinghy dock at Two Harbors on Catalina looks like an underwater prop-fowling spiderweb.

-mark

There's an image from dsvisr (roscoe) in the thread on "wire luffs in stock jibs" that brought something to mind. The image shows the dink under tow with her bows thrust upwards;
While we were out on our July cruise I began playing with the length of the painter/ tow line for the dink. I'd noticed depending on the position of the dink relative to the wake behind LAYLA, there appeared to be different rates of drag. Seemed if the dink was riding right at the convergence of the stern waves it was always climbing the wave and the painter appeared more taught (is that a correct term, if I was going to tie-one-on tonight? could I be tighter or maybe taught. Anything to do with drinking Pussers, is that taught or tot) I digress!
So what I discovered was if I adjusted the painter I could position the dink further or closer in such that it was perceptibly coasting down the front of a wave and the painter would go a bit slack. Am I reducing the effect of drag on the towing vessel? I guess I could have monitored boat speed as I adjusted it but didn't think of that at the time.

 

[Greg Ross]

Floating Poly

Mark,
Thanks for the validation on my experiment. Yes, I already use 1/2" boyant poly line for a painter, and not bad material to handle either. I've witnessed those two Harbours docks you mention, having had the privledge of visiting Catalina with fellow I-31 Owner Glyn J