Making a towing bridle

[RoyB]

Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge.
The boat (an offshore racer) doesn't have any useful fairleads at the bow and If I install any I'd have to re-enforce the forward deck below (not to mention the bowman, who, while physically small is also very opinionated and a bit intimidating at times :-).
I'll organise some very heavy thick tubing as a chafe protector and hope for the best

[Ian McColgin]

I can't imagine a proper off-shore boat without proper bow gear, including proper chocks that keep the line captive in all direction.

The bridle will not work if it's not held at the bow. If the bridle is long enough that the join of the two parts is ahead of the bow, then the bridle will be laying against the headstay as the boat shears about, damaging both stay and bridle. Perhaps there's some other factor in the boat's layout I'm missing but this sounds sufficiently dangerous that I cannot imagine a committee certifying it.

By all means involve your bowman in the project - his life depends on that good working area - but he probably can get it that his life may well depend on the boat's ability to accept a tow.

Thoughts? One might think the chocks can be located a bit back and the bridle can be of such a length that the join can't get up over the stem. Not at all an option is the stem is steep to plumb. There are real problems with chocks mounted at a place on the rail so nearly parallel to the direction of the line, so much so that some lines of boats put their mooring cleats on the rail a bit abaft the stem, another practice that shows a reckless disregard of safe mooring, anchoring or towing.

Real life, a 40' modern sloop was lost a few years back in Hyannis Port just this way. The mooring pendent went to cleats on either rail about 6' abaft the stem. The whole unit was well chafegarded - so well that the bridle bearing on the bow didn't even marr the paint. Yet in a sustained storm the bridle got over the stem and tore against the stemhead fitting. The bridle put an unfair strain on the headstay leading to turnbuckle failure before the eventual chafe-through led to the boat on the beach.

So, work it out right.

G'luck