Dinghy Sling MKll

[Jim Hardesty]

The fall Mainsheet had an article about a "Dinghy Sling".  I liked the looks of it so I bought one.  Just put it on my MKll today.  As I expected there were no cleats in the right spots.  I was able to get it to work by attaching to the stern rail at the seat backs.  The instructions called to pull the lines taunt to do that temporarly I cut a length of 3/4 pvc with a T at each end.  I do plan on adding some cleats over the winter lay-up.  And if I had a do-over would use larger pvc both for stiffness and to feed the clips through. 
First try was easy enough to use, sure it will improve with the learning curve.  See that I need to do something with the stern nav light.  Haven't sailed with it in place yet, does look like it will be fine. 
Here are some pictures.
Information at            http://www.harbormenmarine.com/
Jim

[Ed Shankle]

I was in Scotland the past 2 weeks and noticed a lot of sailboats with those slings. Haven't noticed them around here. But it made me wonder if it had a drogue effect on sailing performance. Any insight into that?

Ed

[Roland Gendreau]

I would like to know how much of a drag towing an inflatable puts on the boat, speed wise.
Has anyone tested that ?

I like the idea of of the sling but would like to know the potential speed improvement benefit.

[Noah]

Depends on a lot of variables: including the dinghy, your tolerance for pain, visibility issues, etc. Test it. Tow it, then stow it (on the foredeck?) lashed to transom...no one solution, very individual.

[Stephen Butler]

We had a 11 foot Avon dingy, that we always towed.  If the dingy was fully inflated, with no OB or other gear aboard, and towed a distance away from the stern, say 6 to 10 feet, it usually cost us 0.5 kt. If the dingy was towed, snug against the stern, with its bow slightly elevated and onto the sugar scoop, we could never measure any difference in speed.  We did this measurement approximately 10 times, with the same outcomes. As we were coastal cruisers, and never raced, it was an easy trade-off to have the dingy readily available.  Should add that we never carried the dingy on deck, even in storm conditions off-shore; just brought her up snug to the stern.   Hope this helps.