I'm about to buy a new (used) boat and tow tubes for the first time. I've read about how the tubes sometimes submarine and act like an anchor that can exert a huge amount of force on the tie in points, and the engineer in me really gets nervous with that much force on a small area of fiberglass (though I don't have much experience with fiberglass). Has anyone ever used a maximum-force quick release to prevent this huge amount of force being applied to the tie in points?
For instance, a simple implementation might be to attach the tow rope to the tie in points with a cord only rated to, say, 800 pounds and that cord would (intentionally) break before pulling too hard on the tie in point. The more elaborate implementation I had in mind would be a parachute-style release on a short bungee that would pull out the pull cord when the bungee stretched farther than a certain distance. Either way, the idea is that the tube tow rope would release before pulling more than a certain force on the tie in points.
Has anyone done something like this? Or is it just totally unnecessary? Has anyone broken tie-in points (either center ski hook or side transom hooks) towing tubes? I'll have both the center ski hook and side transom hooks available; which should I use to tow tubes?
For instance, a simple implementation might be to attach the tow rope to the tie in points with a cord only rated to, say, 800 pounds and that cord would (intentionally) break before pulling too hard on the tie in point. The more elaborate implementation I had in mind would be a parachute-style release on a short bungee that would pull out the pull cord when the bungee stretched farther than a certain distance. Either way, the idea is that the tube tow rope would release before pulling more than a certain force on the tie in points.
Has anyone done something like this? Or is it just totally unnecessary? Has anyone broken tie-in points (either center ski hook or side transom hooks) towing tubes? I'll have both the center ski hook and side transom hooks available; which should I use to tow tubes?