We bought the boat in 1995 from Stu Davis, who had installed the Dinghy-Tow himself. We had never seen one except in your ads, so were totally unfamiliar with it prior to buying the boat. Needless to say, we are impressed! It has lived up to its promises.
We have a Westerley Corsair, (36 ft. center cockpit) sailboat and tow a Caribe C-9X RIB dinghy with a 9.9hp Evinrude 2-cycle outboard. The combination weighs just over 200 lbs. The system is easy to handle, and I often lift and launch the dinghy without any assistance. There is some flexing of the stern pulpit (or the push-pit, as the English call it) but I don't foresee the need to add any reinforcement at this time.
The outfit is easy to deploy and we have had the opportunity to test it in an emergency situation. At one point, with an engine that was overheating, we had to use the dinghy as a towboat to reach shelter on a Canadian island. With about 30 yards between us and the waves crashing on a lee shore, the dinghy was launched, the gas tank added, and the boat was safely pushed to shelter.
Our slip at the Apostle Islands Marina in Bayfield, Wisconsin, is on a header dock in a highly visible area. Most of the curious passersby want to know just how the Dinghy-Tow works and where it is made. Late in the season I found your web site and offered it to a number of people in answer to their questions.
Sincerely,
Wayne and Jill Hansen
