Practise

[Pete7]

Surely the reason the Rib was overheating was because the throttle was wide open pouring fuel into the engine which then couldn't use it properly. Had the throttle been backed off and a top displacement speed of 4 - 5 knots accepted then the engine wouldn't have over heated and it could have towed for hours. The displacement speed is 1.4 x sq root of the lwl or something like that.

Saw AP tow a small 5.5m flatacraft 20 miles at 20 knots with "Still Never enough". It did plane but took about 3 miles to get on the plane and it only worked because the Flatacraft was very light and both boats nearing Jersey were empty of fuel so quite light.

If a slow displacement speed is acceptable then any of these three ribs should be able to tow each other successfully unless the weather is really awful.

Not sure how you are going to co-ordinate two boats towing one, I can see both boats being dragged alongside each other if a v formation was tried.

Pete

[houser]

Brian,

Yes, practising is very good seamanship..
We try to do all sorts of practising early in the season too..
On tugs...
I was allways taught and practiced you should put a good weight on the middle of the towline to use as a means to avoid sudden hard pulls when the boats are rolled in the waves and the boat being towed makes up some distance and then is pulled up again.
More useful when the towed boat is heavier than the tug.
Is this not a good idea according to you guys?
I am also curious about how the cleats(?) are positioned on your ribs
just one point at the stern, two or more?
I have also made up a special towingrope that is made to go to
both mooringpoints on the stern (cleats?) and with mooring rubberband thingies (oh what are they called in English) for added elasticity as well as a big metal eyelet that runs on the rope with the main towing rope tied to it, to keep pressure on both points on my boat, which has an OB and so
no central point for tugging on stern.
Kind of like the letter "Y" both ways...
Am I making sense at all?...:-)
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Ah well, just my two cents.
It has served me great on many occasions, especially when pulling something that is probably really too heavy for my boat....;-)
Like moving the smaller buoys around the moorings where I live
when the ice has had it's fun by shuffling them about during winter
FWIW YMMV.

best regards
Janne A.

[tim griffin]

houser hi
yes it does make sense, with regards to the double tow in v formation yes it could work, and fore and aft works, tugs do it all the time in southampton water and solent but we are talking ribs even though they are on the large scale, maybe its the weight and open throttle combined i still think there is a cooling issue and should be investigated , this rib is carrying a huge amount of lead so the rib is almost a semi displacement boat square root of waterline length x 1.34 will give it 4/5 knots at displacement speed, how about trying it again only this time bring the revs up slowly, and as Dave mentioned earlier
veer left then right its abit like those guys pulling the trucks in strongest man
competitions once the momentun is established back off on the power how many time have you pulled your boat forward on its mooring line in the marina
a few i'll bet and you have no where near as much power as your engine, try it with a shorter tow line to begin with then feed out the line as momentum increases as some one mentioned a weight mid tow will prevent snatching
and as some one else mentioned if in doubt RNLI its not worth the risk of endangering lives if you come over to cowes this year i would like to give it a go at pulling your rib
regards
tim www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

[Scary Des]

I have towed a number of boats (mostly yachts) and find that towing alongside is best and that you can almost double your revs to achieve an extra 1 or 2 more knots, 5-6 knots is the idea speed for my boat and I never get an increase in engine temperature. The last one I towed was a 30’ blue water boat through back through Hurst on a falling tide and although we were only making 2 knots over the ground we were still moving forwards.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Scary Des

I have towed a number of boats (mostly yachts) and find that towing alongside is best

Yes it is - In calm / harbour conditions only. In any kind of seaway you need to tow on the longest line possible - pref. with something in the middle to damp out the shocks. An alongside tow risks damage to both casualty and tug.

Brian,

I agree that you shouldnt be overheating Cyanide trying to tow Awesome Explorer. However I think the comments about working up to towing speed gradually are very valid. Also I dont think for a moment that you could tow either AE or MA on the plane. If I recall the tow from Scotland correctly, StilL Deep one (2 x 240 yams) could tow us OK just not on the plane - that needed Hot Lemon and 2 x 300hp! I think in a single tug scenario with boats of this size you will have to settle for displacement speed!

If you were to try 2 tugs and one tow I would be minded to tow in line astern. E.g. Tug one to bows of tug two and tug two to casualty. Making darn sure that tow load is spread to hard points - e.g. use a bridle. And again working up to towing speed very slowly

Cheers,
Alan