Towing under power

[Lark]

i was working on my pre launch CE and came upon this tow. It looks very effective, but why? Ignore liability concerns.

 

[justsomeguy!]

It looks very effective, but why?

The towing boat seemed to track well with very little input on the tiller.
One other plus could be a much lesser chance of fouling the tow vessel's propeller.
In my very limited experience the towed guy didn't want me to side-tie for some reason, and my dinghy was practically ineffective and couldn't tow straight at all from its transom. So make that 21 idiots. Thankfully another dinghy showed up. New guy insisted on a side-tie setup and saved the day.

 

[Autonomous]

Going forward, the towboat's line has to be attached forward of the rudder to have any directional control. It may be the case that in reverse, were the tow line hitched to the bow control might be more difficult???
A central pivot point.

 

[Marty Gingras]

If he towed with the engine/rudder aft of the 'tow bit', then the tow boat would be very maneuverable and could easily be too maneuverable (e.g., could spin out).

If he towed with the engine/rudder at or forward of the tow line (e.g., on the transom or a bridle), then the tow boat would be radically less maneuverable and might be unable to alter course at all.

Had a lot of fun dialing-in this matter doing fish research via 'kodiak trawl' (2 boats towing one net) using john boats and a 1600-ft net in a shallow forebay. 'Front drive' is a great solution. Wish I'd have thought of it.

 

[Lark]

If he towed with the engine/rudder aft of the 'tow bit', then the tow boat would be very maneuverable and could easily be too maneuverable (e.g., could spin out).

If he towed with the engine/rudder at or forward of the tow line (e.g., on the transom or a bridle), then the tow boat would be radically less maneuverable and might be unable to alter course at all.

Had a lot of fun dialing-in this matter doing fish research via 'kodiak trawl' (2 boats towing one net) using john boats and a 1600-ft net in a shallow forebay. 'Front drive' is a great solution. Wish I'd have thought of it.

Thanks, This matches my experience towing a heavy skiboat with a 500# Bucc 18, transom hung rudder and 4 hp. In other words, not as extreme as the video.

Without a bridle yaw was terrible of course. With a bridle I couldn’t steer.

I considered using the mast as a Sampson post towing another boat once. I was worried I’d pull the foot loose, and the boat would have spun unless under sail.

I’d have to securely lash or pull the rudder to go backward. Still, that looked interesting. He appeared to have tied to the starboard trailer strap eye or maybe a frame on the corner? But it still pulled straight!

@justsomeguy! had a good idea with side tie, I tend to overlook that, since the bucc had aluminum side rails and a frail hull deck joint. But for another boat, almost certainly the solution.

As to @Autonomous puzzle, hooking to the bow and running backward would probably steer worse then a bridle, with the size and hp disparity.

 

[Zonker]

As somebody who designs tugs for money yes the tow point has to be in front of the rudder or prop (outboard, z drives) so you can turn.

Exception: some tugs have tow pins well aft or a gobeye (they constrain the tow wire laterally) to keep the tow straight when not much turning is needed.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Actually, in the first scene, IMHO the people with the dinghy towing a big motorboat are doing it right. Dunno if I'd want to do a long tow, or one in rough water, that way. But the tow vessel is maneuverable this way.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Personally I know of and experienced 2 towing events when either the tow line broke or pulled out of the boat being towed. The event I knew of a bow cleat pulled out and the recoil along with the cleat hit someone on the tow boat causing a serious head injury. The event I experienced, a bunch of boats were heading out of Government Cut in Miami in rough conditions for a SORC race. I boat ahead of us lost power and was drifting towards the rock jetty and was very close to going onto the rocks. We swung by and tossed a line, the guy securing the line to the floundering boat was trying to do something near the cleat just after he secured the line when slack created by the surf was instantly taken up and his hand was in the way. He had some sort of bloody hand injury and I never learned what happened to him other than they didn’t start the race and somehow went back to Miami after we turned them loose. Bottom line stay clear of the tow line and be aware that if it were to break under load you could be in danger

 

[DRIFTW00D]

Towing is a common thing under the Blue Water Bridges, at the mouth of the St Clair River, up stream and down as the fleet or day racers are going out or in. I take only a braided lone from a tow so we just throw it off when done . They want their line back and get it when we feel it’s time to let go. most of the time lines are on a bow cleat of the boat in tow not the best place. When I’m towing a trailer boat out board non sail always on the tow ring on the bow of the tow, to to lifting rings on my outboard boats transom using braided line carried for towing. Most people in small boats would hand me twisted nylon hooked to a morring cleat, which I refuse to take.
What place in the dink in the video is the tow line around?

 

[Lark]

Towing is a common thing under the Blue Water Bridges, at the mouth of the St Clair River, up stream and down as the fleet or day racers are going out or in. I take only a braided lone from a tow so we just throw it off when done . They want their line back and get it when we feel it’s time to let go. most of the time lines are on a bow cleat of the boat in tow not the best place. When I’m towing a trailer boat out board non sail always on the tow ring on the bow of the tow, to to lifting rings on my outboard boats transom using braided line carried for towing. Most people in small boats would hand me twisted nylon hooked to a morring cleat, which I refuse to take.
What place in the dink in the video is the tow line around?

looking again at 30 seconds, it may be tied to a crossmember starboard side.

@veni vidi vici In a prior life I worked with rope and livestock enough to appreciate your caution.

 

[Monkey]

If you’re tied to points that can handle the load, and all boats can maneuver, I just don’t see a problem. Just for the hell of it, we hitched a ride off the back of a Protector instead of motoring our little B-25 with a 2HP Honda for 20 miles. Doing the delivery at 15-16 knots was much better.