In-Water Towing

The bowplate: I assume its' strong enough to handle mooring by anchor and at the dock. Is it safe to say it is strong enough to handle the load of a tow line from another boat when my boat has a lot of water still in it? [:D]Not anticipating anything , just need to know.[:D]


Short answer is NO! Aside from the strengtrh issue, There are

Short answer is NO! Aside from the strengtrh issue, There are other issues...such as unless you have an inflated bow bag to raise the bow, a Scot will submarine when swamped if pulled by the bow eye, because of all the flotation aft under the seats and the weight if the wet rig and sails pushing the bow under. There is a bridle system recommended to tow a swamped Scot, which allows the bow to rise as the water inside runs aft, hopefully out the open inspection port[s] you have installed in the transom. This bridle is shown in Scot literature and may also be on this website somewhere. Most racing dinghies should be towed by the mast as it is the strongest fixture on the deck. But I would NOT tow a swamped Scot under a heavy load with anything but the recommended bridle, properly secured.

That being said (Hot Wheels' comments) I know from personal expe

That being said (Hot Wheels' comments) I know from personal experience that it is possible to tow a completely swamped Flying Scot by the bow handle. I would also recommend that the boat be towed by a proper bridle if at all possible. Greg Flying Scot #1087

Ok, thanks to both.

Ok, thanks to both. I'll look into the bridle setup. I had not invisioned she could submarine w/o the bow bag installed. I'll need to look into that also. I learn something new every time I enter this site.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A picture is worth a thousand words. The picture of 1087 at the following url shows why a swamped Flying Scot will submarine if it is towed by the bow handle. This boat did not have a bow floatation bag installed. I don't know if that would have made any difference in the towing characteristics. The styrofoam floatation under the gunwales and the balsa core is floating the boat. If the tow line is anywhere close to horizontal, the force on the bow of the boat is slightly downward when there is any forward motion. Once any water gets onto the foredeck, the deck acts just like a wing and forces the boat to dive. To get it back to the marina from the race course, I sat on the back deck. This raised the bow enough so that the boat could be towed very slowly. A Flying Scot full of water is REALLY heavy. Greg Flying Scot #1087