Excessive BRIDLE length?

[massnspace]

Have been cruising the Salish Sea for 35 years.

It really seems that over this time the LENGTH of some dinghy bridles has gotten “excessive”.

It is always the same sight: A 40-60 foot powerboat, cruising at about 10 knots, towing a fiberglass tender, and the tender is sometimes up to two hundred yards behind the main boat. Two hundred yards, is my best guess in the most extreme cases.

We have seen this for years, but it seems much more common these days.

Why the lengthy line? We (sailboat) tow out small inflatable just a few yards behind us…what advantage is there to doing that?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by massnspace

Have been cruising the Salish Sea for 35 years.

It really seems that over this time the LENGTH of some dinghy bridles has gotten “excessive”.

It is always the same sight: A 40-60 foot powerboat, cruising at about 10 knots, towing a fiberglass tender, and the tender is sometimes up to two hundred yards behind the main boat. Two hundred yards, is my best guess in the most extreme cases.

We have seen this for years, but it seems much more common these days.

Why the lengthy line? We (sailboat) tow out small inflatable just a few yards behind us…what advantage is there to doing that?

A few yards would not work. At speed, they have to get it out of the intense wake (lots of prop wash), which could be 50-100 feet or more (super yacht). Beyond that, it's probably just smoother. But 200 yards at 10 knots is silly.

[Shrew]

I tow a 13 ft Boston Whaler 100 feet behind a 40 foot trawler. It needs to be far enough back that it won't wander and get caught in the tow boats wake. If it gets caught in the wake, it can roll over.

I couldn't imagine towing anything a few yards back in the open ocean, particularly if it's rough.