Where to hook tow rope

We'll since I bought my '68 last year today was the first day I towed anyone. I pulled tubers all day long. They loved it and the boat performed great; but the tow rope, tied to the pylon, was almost intolerable for those sitting in the back seat. In fact it almost knocked one pretty little thong right out of the boat and she has the marks to prove it. What do you do about that in one of these old small CCs? Anyone?

We use the lifting ring as well for any activity that has kids in the boat.

Ski Safe!

Wow, I to have wondered about useing that ring for towing. Kids in my boat will also be much happier. Thanks guys -Brad-

DavidF, glad you could confirm that there
have been no long term effects in using the
lifting ring for tubing.

BTW, I noticed in the early SN model 2001 brochures that CC used to promote that it had both Ski pylon and a rear (spool) ski attachment. Would be nice if they still had
both on newer models. Seems like they dropped the rear spool when they went to
the rounded tail in 97 or so.

BKH

I have been pulling 2 tubes at the same time with my 1969 Mustang using the rear lift ring for several years without any problems.

Rosser wrote: You can run the rope thru lifting ring and up to pylon to put pull on pylon without rope swinging thru passenger area.Works great.

Clever idea. Only concern I would have is
potentially slack. If the rope slacked
between the lifting ring and the pylon, and
if a little one had a hand on the rope,
or an arm wrapped around it, they could
easily break a finger or arm when the
tube snapped back. At minimum, a snapping
rope could leave a pretty good welt if it
hit the back seat passenger in the arm, side
of the head, etc.

BKH

Sorry to get off topic but i need to lift my boat off the trailer to carry out some trailer repairs, As the name suggests is it ok to lift the boat by only using the 2 lifting rings? or is it better to jack it up from underneath?

is there a better way to lift it to be on the safe side?

Brad:

There is another way for the DIY'er, but it is time comsuming. You simply use a floor jack and landscaping timbers (cheaper than 4x4's) to block up the boat. You need enough timbers, cut to say 18" long, stacked in an alternating box pattern to support the boat in three place. Two at each rear corner and one at the keel in the front.

Sounds easy, but the hard part is that you have to reset the supports many times as you pull the trailer out from under the boat due to the trailers axles, etc.

So, place the floor jack (using blocking if necessary for height) under the keel. Jack the boat off the bunk boards. Place the blocking under the hull to support the boat at this height. Do the same at the other end of the boat. The boat is now support above the trailer and the trailer can be pulled out from under the boat until part of the trailer hits some of your support blocking. Now jack the boat up again and reposition the blocking to the other side of the trailer obstruction. If you have a prop cage, you can see how tedious this can get, but it works and is how I lifted my '93 off the trailer in my driveway.

Good luck.

David F. Have used the same blocking technique on a 98 sport nautique.

The second time we did it, we got smarter.

We built a cradle to go across the bow with
some 6X8 lumber we took off a constuction site. Used a come along into the front lifting ring. Lifted just enough to clear
the trailer (inch or two). Then we used
the floor jack to lift the rear and inch or
two. We moved the trailer forward a couple
of feet and inserted the complete blocking assembly in the back. Once the back was secure, we carefully pulled out the trailer.
Stuck a floor jack under the front just
for security, while we blocked out the front.

It took about a quarter the time as having to
block and move, block and move. We thought about using the frame of the garage door rather than building a cradle, but I wouldn't have been able to close the garage door until the project is done.

BRAD K - perhaps a dumb question, (I'm not familiar with the boating environment in the UK) but if all
you need to do is work on the trailer, and you
don't need to work on the bottom of the boat,
why not just put the boat in the water? Or,
if that won't work, why not just borrow another trailer and put yout boat on that while doing your repairs?

BKH

I've used the rear ring alot over the years when there are passengers in the back seat. I hate to ski from back there, mostly the height of the rope. Before the days of wakeboarding, we would tie a tube to the lift ring and two kneeboarders to the pylon (on each side of the tube) with ropes about 18" shorter and drown the person in the tube. With a shorter rope, all you had to do is hold a constant carve wash their ears out. People would actually jump out of the tube.