Chichester Yacht Club Magazine February 2020

Expert advice provided by Martin Willard, RNLI Community Safety Officer, Selsey Towing or Being Towed Have you thought about how you might be towed or would tow somebody else? Many boats do not have any central towing position on the bow or the stern and trying to use offset cleats at either end would lead to major handling problems. Anchor windlasses are not designed to take this level of strain. The answer is to carry a bridle, i.e. a V shaped rope unit that can attach to both starboard and port cleats and with a thimble (eye) in the middle for attaching a tow rope. When it is all going wrong is not the best time to be working out how to arrange a bridle. Basically you need to measure how long the arms of the V need to be, so that the rope from either cleat to the eye does not foul the hand rails or any other fixed items, bow and stern. Use these lengths to make up a rope twice this length plus approx 12 inches (for the central knot) with 12 inch fixed loops in ei- ther end. Then fix a stainless thimble in the middle with an al- pine/butterfly knot. Google will tell you how to splice the loops and to tie the but- terfly knot. A bit of whipping cord should be added to hold the thimble in place. Hint: A brightly coloured whipping cord different from any other rope ends will help identify it in the rope locker. For our Nimbus 310c, I used 16mm 3 strand rope (for easy slicing) and a 16 mm stainless thimble. You may be able to raid your local chandlers bargain bin for rope but don’t be tempted to skimp on size. You can buy these readymade to your dimensions and rope size etc from suppliers like Jimmy Green, but where is the fun in that? It’s a great way to spend a winter’s evening, preparing for the next season. Then put it in the rope locker and hope you never need it. Hint: The alpine / butterfly knot is worth learning in itself. It’s a climbers' knot that allows you to put a loop in the middle of a rope without access to the ends and which will take strain in any direc- tion. 14

Chichester Yacht Club Magazine February 2020 | Page 14