The towed vessel Attaching the tow As in the ‘tug’, the tow must take all possible care to spread the load of the towline. If it is to be attached to a foredeck cleat, windlass or bollard, a sailing boat can do this easily by securing an additional line to the attachment point and cranking it aft with the sheet winches. Motorboats must think laterally. Sailing craft with the mast intact may choose to secure to this, but only if it is keel-stepped. Deck-stepped spars have been wrenched out of their tabernacles by loads for which they were never designed to take. Chafe While chafe may affect the tug, it is the tow that takes the brunt of this number one enemy of successful towing. The towline will come aboard over the bow, typically through a roller or a fairlead. Whatever its lead, try to rig chafe protection of some sort. Ideally, slide a length of armoured plastic hose (such as is specified for cockpit drains or heads) over the bitter end and work it down to the fairlead. If the bight is already fast and under load, cut this in a spiral and slide it on that way, but although this is better than nothing, it will probably work loose and require regular attention. Heavy cloth can be used, or anything else you can contrive, but a well-found boat will always have a length of suitable hose for just such an emergency. Old-fashioned canvas / rubber fire


hose is a workable alternative. If a bowsprit is making the lead impossible, try rigging a towing bridle from both sides of the bow (ensuring that it is secured for instant release), making the towline fast around the bight of this, then easing it far out ahead.


Under way


Towing vessel • Take the strain as gently as possible, expect the tow to take a while to accelerate up to speed, and be ready for all sorts of snatching if a sea is running.


• Monitor the tow, the towline and its attachment at all times.


• Proceed at a sensible speed, bearing in mind the strains that the tow is putting on both craft. Never tow a boat at, or nearly at, its hull speed, especially if it is a powerful motorboat. A fair guide for a sailing yacht is around the speed she could probably make to windward, which will be about 3


/4


of her theoretical


maximum – say 6 knots tow speed for a 40-footer. If the tow is a shallow-draught power vessel watch her wake. If the wave starts building up under the stern, slow down.


A forward cleat may not be strong enough. Lines taken back to sheet winches will help take the strain.


60 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


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