Dingy Towing Harness - shackles, carabiners, locking, etc.

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Shifty

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2019
Messages
67
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Turtle
Vessel Make
North Pacific 45
I've been towing our dinghy for short hops using a bridle made of 1/2" MFP float line attached to the same line going to the boat. Since this isn't our main mode (we put the dinghy on it's davit for long hops or rougher conditions), I've just been securing the lines using bowline knots. I want to upgrade to something more secure, so I'll be adding stainless thimbles to the lines. The question I have is how to connect the thimble to the dinghy tow points. My initial instinct was to use a standard stainless shackle (with the normal thumb screw). But I never use this without a lock wire, which would make attaching and detaching it from a dinghy a tool-job. There are a range of stainless carabiners available, but I'm not comfortable using one without a lock and I can find exactly one of those in stainless. Because of the eye insert, this would need to be attached permanently to the thimble.

So, right now, I am thinking of going with a quick link. The lock seems more secure but it's a single point of failure (i.e. if it comes unscrewed, it's just open, whereas with a locking carabiner, both the screw and the gate would need to come open.

Again, the idea here is I can quickly attach and detach the tow rig and trust it to not come undone, even in rough conditions.

How have others solved this?
 
I use one of these.


Although I only tow about twice a year, after 17 years I still have my tender.
 

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There is a part made for exactly this use. They are expensive but very strong, very secure and can be operated with one hand. If you ever need a serious tow rig, look at Rope Inc in Florida. They are pros and do great work. This part is what they put in our tow rig and it has been flawless.
 
I just used soft shackles. Strong, won't rust, no tools, nothing hard to bang against your boat. Here is an example of a shackle through a thimble.
1726012039596.png
 
I use the screw shackles that the pin is held with a thick piece to keep the pin from falling out, no tools necessary, we tow at 14-15 knots, never an issue
 

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