Towing vs davit

jeffntootie · Post by **jeffntootie** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:54 am

We have a 1964, 31' Trojan Express Cruiser Flybridge. I have found nothing on the web regarding pulling your dinghy (8' Livingston) behind your boat...distance from powerboat to dinghy, kph or gph sacrificed..this vs mounting on swim step. Any help or info would be appreciated.

etpence · Post by **etpence** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:27 am

hello jeffntootie

I tow a 12' hurricane zodiac behind my 31 trojan SF and dont notice much differance in fuel but I have tried to tow it at my full cruz speed 22knts but dicided to slow down abit due to the strain on the cleats
I tow mine with about 30' behind the transom to get it out the rooster tail
I tried it up tight against the swim platform but this put it on the rooster tail and it towed squirrly, I have a 25hp merc on the back of it and this may contribute to the way it tows of coarce its tilted up

Todd 31 trojan MioMio

manchur · Post by **manchur** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:12 pm

We used to tow a 14 foot Zodiac with a 50hp outboard. Never noticed any difference on fuel consumption. The biggest problem was that it would start to swing from side to side when driving above about 18mph. I had the dinghy towed with a line 50 to 150 foot long. Various lenghts never got rid of the swing. I installed a large u-bolt through the stern with a 6"x12" metal backing plate about a foot above the swim platform. Never gave me any trouble; I just did not want to tie to the boat cleat. Our previous dinghy was a soft bottom 13 footer, and I would just flip it on its side on the swim platform (minus outboard). I tried installing davits to the stern but felt that the fiberglass was not strong enough. major internal reinforcement would have been required so we went back to platform carrying.