The issue with many tow systems around is that they have not been easily releasable, or at least not under load, and if you suddenly find yourself in trouble whilst attempting a rescue then you would be left with no way to release the tow.
My friend Greg was recently shown a system by Giles Hartley, who had adapted a system shown to him by Nigel Dennis, whom he works for in North Wales. The system involved a plastic clip, whilst i believe Nigel's system incorporated a buckle similar to that used on waist mounted tows. Nigels system seems (although i haven't seen it) bulky, whilst Giles' buckle is potentially not as strong and possibly not as easy to release (again i haven't seen it in the flesh so could be wrong).
Greg, being as bright as he is, spotted the "Sea to Summit Accessory Straps" in Ellis Brigham and decided he would try and create a releaseable system of his own.
This involved using two sailing snap hooks, bought from a chandlery, and cutting the strap. After he made his i saw it and we chatted over the ability to release it under load and decided to drill a small hole in the buckle to add 3mm cord to make it easier to grab and pull to release.
I then purchased my own items to make a system and this is what i came up with:
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| My quick-release contact tow. |
My tow is very similar to Gregs, but i bought a 1m long strap, which seems a good length and is still rated to 125kg, so should be fairly solid!. I also used a thinner strap. I think this makes it just a bit subtler and slimmer on your deck. I only had to cut the strap once, about 30-35cm from the buckle. But this may vary boat to boat. I'd advise tying the first hook clip on first, then trimming it to length so the bukle sits fairly central on your deck. I decided to leave a bit more tail than Greg had, to potentially extend the tow slighlty to either fit wider hulled boats, or position the boat out of way of paddling whilst towing.
The buckle is quite small on mine, so i had to take care when drilling, but a 3.5mm drill bit on slow revs did the job well. I then threaded a piece of 3mm cord through the hole, tied in a small loop with a simple over hand, it gives a good toggle to grab and having been tested it works well even in rough conditions and under load.
So there you have it! Like all things, it's not perfect and me and Greg have already discussed how we would improve it. I'd be tempted to make another with the tadaptations we have discussed, but for now i'll continue to use mine and perhaps make another in the future.
If anyone's interested in having one made for them, then drop me a line.
As a side note: We have also used this to raft together. Even in quite big seas you can pull along side each other, clip under deck lines take up any slack and then you are rafted hands free and quick releasable if needs be! pretty handy for navigation and sorting kit out.
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