Rib towing behind yacht !!!!

[jonstret]

Folks. I am thinking of upgrading from my quicksilver 380hd sib to a proper (ish) rib.

We have a 40ft sailing boat of often tow the sib behind us.

Does anyone have any experience doing the same with a 4.5m ish rib?

This will be for short journeys in the solent.

Thanks

Jon

[chewy]

It'll tow ok but will knock a few knots off your speed.

[Bigmuz7]

Yeah .. It wont plane ! so it will be a real drag ... pardon the pun .... last time I did it with a 5.8m it nearly snapped the line onto the bow of the RIB pulling a hull like that faster than a drift takes a whole lot of effort which the yacht will do, .. but after a while you'll wish you'd left it at home or moored somewhere Stick with the SIB ... been there and got the T shirt

[Nasher]

The solution is to buy a bigger sailing boat with big enough davits and deck space to store the 4.5M RIB on deck.

I'm very experianced in using these sort of tactics with Mrs Nasher to justify a purchase.

Nasher.

[GordyP]

I don't see it being a massive problem, you'll have the engine tilted to reduce drag. You will use a little more diesel but probably nothing to get worried about.

I have towed a 4m rib with a 33 foot yacht and it wasn't a problem, next time your out why don't you borrow a rib and try it out.

[chewy]

Its when he's sailing he'll notice the biggest difference.

[benny g]

We used to tow a 5m rib, and a 4m sib with a 54 foot ketch. (at different times)

Issues with the rib:
Quite heavy (but didn't seem to affect speed too much)
Required a heavy duty tow line, high stretch nylon was the best.
Make sure the tow line is long enough, we had the rib surf in and strike the stern on a couple of occasions in a following sea!

Issues with the sib:
Hard to keep tight enough not to damage due to temp fluctuations.
Very high stress on tow points

[codprawn]

Sometimes a drogue is useful when towing to stop the boat overtaking the yacht. Of course this adds a little more drag.

[jonstret]

Thank you for all of the replies.

Your advice is well received and from my person experience with the SIB I can relate to a lot of what you are saying.

Utopia solution is to buy a 65' boat with Davits. Whilst the wife agrees she isn't going to sign off £1m for the purchase just now !!!! :-(

I will make up bridle so the load if distributed from yacht and check that the D ring on stem of rib is secure / strong / re-enforce if necessary.

We are very unlikely to be towing in signicant following seas but I have tied a couple of fenders behind the sib in the past and this has helped.

I will let you know how we get on.

Thanks again

Jon

[JSP]

Originally Posted by benny g

We used to tow a 5m rib, and a 4m sib with a 54 foot ketch. (at different times)

Issues with the rib:
Quite heavy (but didn't seem to affect speed too much)
Required a heavy duty tow line, high stretch nylon was the best.
Make sure the tow line is long enough, we had the rib surf in and strike the stern on a couple of occasions in a following sea!

Issues with the sib:
Hard to keep tight enough not to damage due to temp fluctuations.
Very high stress on tow points

A 54ft Ketch would tow a tank through the water

[m chappelow]

regarding stress points on the boats D ring ,a good strong way is to fix the tow rope at the transom and then run under the boat and then through the D ring ,most of the strain is then taken on the transom and not on the d ring/ patches ,you could use a short bridle and run it over the boat and down through the d ring ,

[Searider]

My colleague tows our SR4m behind his 30' yacht all around the Solent with no problems. The yacht is slowed a bit but nothing to worry about.

[Observer]

Reminds me of one of the (many) other stupid things I've done with boats. I was on holiday in Salcombe on the 'other' boat, a twin-engine cruiser, and, as it was a nice flat day, decided to tow the tender (Bombard 2.5m) with brand new 2.5hp Suzuki 4-stroke (also makes a good auxiliary for the RIB), round to Thurlestone for the day instead of hauling it aboard. All okay at displacement speed but at some point on the way round, I absent-mindedly (to put it generously) increased speed to ~16kts.

I arrived at Thurlestone to find (i) oars and inflatable seat missing (ii) tilt bracket on o/b mangled (iii) millky looking oil in the oil-level window. I suppose I was luck not to lose the SIB completely (actually I did that once as well) but at least I learned how to change the oil. Managed to get the tilt arm repaired and all okay since then.

[The Grocer]

Originally Posted by jonstret

Utopia solution is to buy a 65' boat with Davits. Whilst the wife agrees she isn't going to sign off £1m for the purchase just now !!!! :-(

To paraphrase:

Frustrated Ribster seeks wife mk II* with large wallet and larger yot.
Please send photo of yot.

*or whichever mk is appropriate...


(I hope Mrs. G. isn't reading this...)