Towing an 18 on water

Has anyone towed an 18 behind another boat? What do you attach the tow rope to and ?

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Jeff Serene
1984 Hobie 18 Magnum
Phoenix, AZ

hehe.. I've had my 18 towed before -- because I capsized it. I would think it would tow fine with a rope around the dolphin striker. There may be others who would say that is too important of a piece to tow with. I don't know what else they would suggest except the mast, or front crossbar.

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Is the power of 2 hulls with you?
"Rainbow Flyer" - '86 Hobie Cat 18

Definitely would NOT just throw a line around the dolphin striker. You could totally torque it out of the front crossbar, or at the very least, you will loosen the rivets that hold the mast step.

Put the rope around the front crossbar in the middle. Or even better would be to create a rope bridle that connects to each end of the front crossbar and then connect the tow rope to the bridle.

sm

I would replace the bridle wire clevis pins with "D" shackles then attach a bridle line to the shackles.

Tom

The BEST way, in my opinion would be some sort of a bridle tied to the front crossbar in that small gap between the outer edge of the tramp and the inner edge of the hull.

The front crossbar has the structural integrity to handle the loads generated by towing.
The Dolphin striker DOES NOT.
It has NO support and no strength to support lateral loads, and it WILL bend or break, I've seen it happen.

The D Shackle w/bridle is a good idea for towing short distances, but you will be stressing the fiberglass with the force pulling them inwards as the boat tugs and pulls as it goes up over and down the waves, so I wouldn't use that for towing long distances.

In a situation where I have to be towed unexpectedly, I just bring the tow rope around the front crossbar and between the sections of the tramp at the base of the mast and take a wrap, tie it off with a couple of half hitches, so that it can be untied quickly when you get close to where you want to release from the tow boat.

Hope that answers your question.

Stephen

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

See - I knew there was a reason why. I was thinking the tie off on the front crossbar would slide around, but with the tramp there it would work just fine.. and now we know why the dolphin striker is out.

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Is the power of 2 hulls with you?
"Rainbow Flyer" - '86 Hobie Cat 18

... now if you have a Ya Hooooo driving the tow boat and wants to see how fast they can tow you .... you need to use Stephen's advice about about a bridle attached to the front corners of the front crossbar and attaching the towline to the bridle. To help w/ the towing I have replaced the clevis pins at the bridle attachments points w/ shackles w/ captive pins ... to these I attach a snap shackle that that the the bridle towline passes through. The snap shackle acts as a quide to keep the towing bridle high and prevents the bows from "running over" the towing bridle/towline. You need to make sure the towing bridle is of equal length on both sides .... leave the daggerboards down about 1/3 like a surfboard fin .... the boat will then track straight w/ minimal steering required.

The last time they towed me in because of approaching T-Storms they had me going so fast that I had two little tiny roostertails way far, far, far, back behind me. (15kts ... 20kts?????)

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

20 knots towing? Are you crazy?

Anyway, Stephen has it right by saying a line going over the center of the crossbar then exiting the other side of the mast extrusion will work well. We are in Lake Erie and our club recommends that everyone always carry a tow line; an old 3/8" jib sheet line, about forty feet works well. You can make it even easier by putting a clip on one end.

As far as towing; dagger boards mostly up. rudders centered. I've have even towed a demasted Hobie over two miles back to a safe beach with my own Hobie. One one occasion our Fleet decided to sail to a beach seven miles away on a summer day, so I towed a fifteen foot aluminum boat with a fifteen HP engine (in an up position) to carry the grill and our needs (lots of water, right?). In case we were going to be becalmed, we could have a tow back to our beach.

Good luck.

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Sails off Angola, NY, Lake Erie.

In that particular case I was across the river competing in a regatta held at Corsica Yacht Club. On Sunday after the races a line of Thunderstoms passed over from west to east .... RHYC is located slightly down river and west of CRYC. I sent a message to RHYC that I was attempting to sail back .... that I was shoving off and to look for me. Oh, did I mention I was single-handing my H18? So it was going well ... until the wind died ... flat calm ... not a wripple. Now I was just at the point were I would turn the corner into Lankford Cove and head directly to RHYC. But I couldn't see the club over the reeds on the spit of land I had to round .... what I didn't know was my friend's could see my sail from RHYC just sitting becalmed, and they had the weather radar on .... here comes a second line ....

So, just as I drifted clear of the point and could see RHYC (the tide was going downriver which was the direction I was going), (4) members of RHYC come charging up in one of the member's 20' Privateer CC w/175HP asking "Do you want a tow or did I want to stay out all night???" In my younger days I would have refused the tow ..... but since I'm older ..... I had my bridle and 100' towline w/ me, so I rigged it and set the boat up to be towed. As they came along side and grabbed the towline a member handed me a big cold draft beer and a tumbler of Wild Turkey Rare Breed (which everyone at the club KNOWS is my liquer of choice) and informed me of the imment second line of T-storms approaching from the west. So I "quafted" the bourbon and handed the tumbler back but kept the beer for the ride ... and energy!!!! And off we went ....

The Privateer was on plane .... I was sitting centered on the rear crossbar holding on !!!!! (we were going so fast I spilled half the beer!!!)

We made the beach .... quickly dragged her up to my tie-downs with help from several additional members waiting at the beach, dropped the mainsail quickly and ran for the clubhouse as the T-storm started to dump on us ....

Ya, 20knts is likely an exaggeration ..... but 15knts ????? Most likely!!!!!!

Now as for being crazy ...... I've raced beach cats for +25yrs .... I think that may be proof enough .....

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

Cool! It shows that sometimes a beverage helps.

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Sails off Angola, NY, Lake Erie.

Harry,
Your system sounds just what I was looking for. Whats the overall length of your bridle?

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Jeff Serene
1984 Hobie 18 Magnum
Phoenix, AZ

Hi Guys,

Let's see if I can remember the details ... For the bridle I purchased (2) 25' or 20' 3/8" docklines w/ loop spliced in one end, 100' of 3-strand 3/8" line, (2) SS 1/4" snap shackles (the kind I have on my keychain to clip on my belt) and (1) 3/8" SS carbiner shackle ( the type w/ a threaded collar on one side you need to thread open/close.

Now because I've been involved once in a (8) boat tow while competing in a becalmed distance race I spec'd heavier line and hardware then if towing only my boat, Ok?

How to rig: I place the eyeloops at the end of the docklines on the 3/8" carbiner, at the other ends of the docklines I marked them 2' from the end. This mark I line up on the front crossbar to insure the bridle is the same length on both sides. I attach the 1/4" snap shackles to the D-shackles w/captive pins I have installed at my bridle wires permenately replacing the clevis pins. I run the dockline/bridle through the snap shackle. This keeps the boat from running over the bridle and turning the boat sideways to the tow ... this can lead to a disaster!!!! I made the bridle long so that I minimized the force toeing inward on the bows. I tie a loop in the tow line and place/attach that onto the 3/8" carbiner ... the other end goes to the towing vessel.

A couple of observations:
1) Most times a tow line is used that is too short!!!! You want to use enough length to keep the towing vessel and towed vessel safely seperated .... keeping enough space to slow down w/o the towed vessel running up onto the towing vessel .... to allow the towing vessel to slingshot the beachcat into shallow water/beach while remaining safely in deeper water .... and to adjust the towline so as to place the towed vessel on the back of the 3-4(or further) stern wave of the towing vessel to insure a safe tow.
2) If towing multiple vessels do not have the towline pass over the leading vessels in the tow but under the their tramps. I tie my loop attached to the 3/8" carbiner such to leave a "tail" that passes under my boat ending just past my rear crossbar. These enables me to attach/cast-off or adjust the length of the towline to any vessel being towed behind me. This leaves my boat w/o any extra loads placed on it from towing any boats behind me ... but does require a long towline like I spec'd

I have been planning to splice a eyeloop in the end of the towline for single tows and also splicing into the towline a short line w/ eyeloop maybe 25' from the end to do the multiple tow set-up. ( I need to lay-out the towing rig and get the exact lengths correct)

Now there is two different schools of thought on which material to use for a towline .... a non-stretch line or a line w/ some stretch. I used a nylon but sized it up so as not to have too much stretch at the loads (hence the 3/8" vs 1/4"). I didn't want the boat to be jerked hard w/ shock-loads on the towline ... so I want "alittle" give ... just a little ...

Note, for water skiing you want to "jerk" that skier out of the water quickly as possible ....

Hope this makes sense ....

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11