Towing at speed

Found this pic of my wake at cruising speed. Wasn't thinking about towing when I took it though so maybe not the right angle but gives an idea. Seems to not be much for spray?
The back of this channel has a nice river in it that I would like to return to once I get towing this jet boat figured out.
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Found this pic of my wake at cruising speed. Wasn't thinking about towing when I took it though so maybe not the right angle but gives an idea. Seems to not be much for spray?
The back of this channel has a nice river in it that I would like to return to once I get towing this jet boat figured out.View attachment 111840
That's a smooth back wake for sure.. You might have something here. First the pole off the transom is a great idea but the jet flow out the back looks challenging to overcome that close to the transom. However about 50feet back beyond the wash looks flat and smooth. If you can imagine a horizontal line that runs just across the last crest but just forward of the 2nd smoother roller, that looks like the sweet spot. You don't want the second roller pushing the dingy over the first outer edge of the crest. Looks like about 5 feet of perpendicular space on the horizontal line to experiment with. Otherwise, go further back past the second roller to avoid training left to right. Hope that makes sense.
 
Also, if you use your arch as a tow point. Be sure the forward stanchions have huge backing plates and thick glass. There is tremendous force when towing. And it amplifies when traveling faster. And do not use any type of nylon line! If it breaks while towing, someone is at risk of serious injury.
 
I'm thinking something more along the lines of what they use for a tow bar set up on vehicles. Maybe 6-8' off of the swim platform. ...

Up tight will give stability (nose attached to boat/platform), if not you need to tow long out of the main turbulence, a light dinghy will flip very quickly if it gets air born at all.
 
I'd like to hear more about towing a dinghy with the bow of the dinghy on the swim platform and the dinghy stern dragging behind in the water. Would this help the OP or should I start a new thread?
 
You guys have brought up some real good points. Thank you. Will try to get it all to the coast in the next few weeks and try a few things with it before building permanent brackets.
 
I'd like to hear more about towing a dinghy with the bow of the dinghy on the swim platform and the dinghy stern dragging behind in the water. Would this help the OP or should I start a new thread?
Go ahead and jump in if it is relevant. No need for anyone to have to repeat themselves. Sounds like we are after the same thing.
 
I haven't tried it but I've been tempted! I usually keep a cooler in the center of my swim platform. I've thought about pulling the dinghy bow up onto the swim platform and having the tube pulled tight to the cooler with a line going from both sides of the dinghy bow to the stern cleats. The lines would prevent the dinghy from falling back and the cooler would prevent the dinghy from coming forward as I slowed down. I guess you would want a thick pad under the dinghy bow to keep from marring the swim platform, my hull is aluminum. I wonder if anyone has tried it!
 
Youtube is your best friend. Magic Marine. I saw this video a year or so ago when I was considering different types of dinghy mounting ideas.
Magic Marine Tow Dinghy Video - YouTube

I've seen that but the dinghy didn't look very stable back there. I wondered if it would be more stable with its bow on the swim platform and the dinghy's starboard tube looks like it is about to go under. Holding the bow up would hopefully keep most of the water out of the dinghy.
 
I think the "bow up" is the lower mount there. its tied to the bow of the Dinghy and holds it up slightly.
 
A little update. Got it out and tried towing it at/above 20 knts a couple weeks ago. Set it up with a 20' bridal off of the rear cleats with a 125' tow line and 3 pt harness. Figured I could always shorten from there if needed. Seas were calm heading out and it towed great. Heading back in though, found it got real squirrely and bouncy with much more than a 1' chop. Tried adding some weight and moving it around a bit but did little to calm it down. Going to have to visit some other options over the winter. Maybe try a barrel of water on the swim platform to see how the boat handles 400 lbs back there. Maybe a rack to pack it might be the simplest option for me. Think it is just too flat of a bottom for doing the tow thing.
Anyway, here's a few pics of it and some of the scenery that is driving me to make this happen. Got into some nice coho and steelhead fishing as well as a bonus.
 

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We tow also. Our dinghy tows at higher speed than our seadoo.
Damn, those pictures r nice.
 
Beautiful pictures, Thornton!

Regarding towing the boat, here's an idea. I want to say, though, that this is just theory - the boats I've towed behind have always seemed to do fairly well - they slide around once in a while, but nothing to dramatic. But... thinking... maybe what could work is something dragging behind the tender, helping to keep it steady - acting sort of as a "rudder". It might be as simple as a 25' length of line (maybe two... one from each side) trailed behind the tender. Use nylon line, not poly line. Maybe tie a huge knot at the end of the line for extra drag. There's probably other things/ideas that can work... just kind of spit ballin' here to get the thoughts going :)
 
You will have to clamp off the intake hose or you will flood the engine with sea water.
We keep the o/b jet raised and locked in the trailer position while towing. Would imagine the leading edge on the jet foot would also create a fair amount of salt spray while towing. Unlike an i/b jet, the o/b's still use the OE water pump. With the engine not running, would that not accomplish the same thing if it did get left down? Thanks!
 
We keep the o/b jet raised and locked in the trailer position while towing. Would imagine the leading edge on the jet foot would also create a fair amount of salt spray while towing. Unlike an i/b jet, the o/b's still use the OE water pump. With the engine not running, would that not accomplish the same thing if it did get left down? Thanks!
Yep, try it with the engine down.
 
We keep the o/b jet raised and locked in the trailer position while towing. Would imagine the leading edge on the jet foot would also create a fair amount of salt spray while towing. Unlike an i/b jet, the o/b's still use the OE water pump. With the engine not running, would that not accomplish the same thing if it did get left down? Thanks!
Thanks Dennis. I think this might have even been mentioned already or I read it in another post somewhere. Never thought to try it when we hit 1-2' chop while returning though. It's bow was starting to bounce lots and occasionally bite pretty good when it came down. We ended up trimming in some and running with heavy tabs and got the Ray down to 12-14 knts. It really helped but we were burning the same amount of fuel as running at 20knts to do that. Appreciate all the ideas.
There is a big river system a little over 90 miles from port that we have in our sights for next year. It appears to have well over 60 miles of navigable river with a large lake in it's system. Pretty unique place. It is the only valley on the BC coast that has not been touched by logging. Have heard that lake is only one of two in the world that seals have their pups in fresh water. Really looking forward to that one.
 
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