Tenders and Motors

[baz]

Concerning speed, I've seen large boats cruising along in the 20s like an R23 would do, towing a dingy behind at a distance with no problem. An important point, however, is that the dingy needs to have some weight to it and probably should be at least 10' long. I've seen Boston Whalers towed this way and they do very well. I tow a 10' inflatable with an aluminum floor and inflated keel and it tows very well on a long weather. Lighter and shorter inflatables might be too unstable at high speeds. Another factor mentioned was traffic on the water from other boats. If the waters you boat in are very crowded, towing might not be the best way to go.

This not a bad idea at all. If say I needed the use of a larger dinghy for my destinations I could rent one and tow it as you've described.

I wonder how difficult it would be to have to remove my Yamaha 9.9 kicker motor for use on such a dinghy ?

 

[SgtAlf]

I have a 9.9 Merc. that is too much for me to handle alone, and a 15 Yamaha that I use a shop crane for. So, I'm thinking a 9.9 for a dink would be too much to try to muscle around. Not to mention over water.
That said, I've towed a 9.5' inflatable with a 27 Albin at 16 Kt. without issue. I always towed close. In my neighborhood 80' of tow line would get someone between the boat and dink. Kinda like the NJ Turnpike at rush hour...

 

[Tugforme]

For handling the outboard look up Swing Lift Outboard Motor Hoist. I was thinking that it might be possible to integrate one with the swim platform rail on the back of the swim platform. You also would need to rig up a lift line, whch I was thinking could be done with block and tackle attached to the stern cockpit rail (at least on teh R23).