Making a hard sprayhood...

[V1701]

Afternoon all,

I want to build a hard sprayhood (for a Bowman 26) and would be interested to hear from anyone who’s built one, thinking of doing one or has done similar fibreglass work.

Specifically:

What materials to use?

Whether to try to make use of an existing hoop frame or make a new frame?

Whether to have flat or curved windows?

How to attach it to the coachroof?

Any thoughts/ideas welcome…

Thanks,
David.

 

[scruff]

Check out "sailing project atticus" on youtube. He did a really good couple of episodes on making a hard sprayhood / Dodger. Worth a watch

 

[dancrane]

I haven't watched it yet, but here it is, below.

...and part 2...

Of course, theirs is a permanent hardtop, rather than just a non-flappy sprayhood. I suppose there is every variation in between, like the simple windscreen aboard a Seadog, to which a fabric tent can be attached.

Looking for a small yacht that that doesn't require the helm to be entirely exposed, I noticed that the companionway of an Achilles 24 (which has a very low boom) would allow the helmsman to sit facing forward under a (fairly low) shelter made simply from stainless pipe, holding acrylic panes. It would need steering lines led forward too.

If the pipework can be bolted (and ideally, made collapsible) to hardwood platforms on the coachroof, the hardtop is there for long miserable wet upwind legs under power, but can be unbolted and folded away for high-summer sailing.

Just an idea forming, nothing I've drawn any plans for.

 

[salar]

I would make a female mould from melamine face ply or hardboard, with the corners of plascticene smoothed with a radius tool. It may not come out perfect but you can tidy it up with gelcoat, sanding and polishing to look factory made. All my internal mouldings were made that way (see rebuild blog - the mouldings were very early on). For example: galley and side panel for helm position



Windows: flat polycarbonate. Roof nicely curved with a generous overhang. Angled front windows. Make it with an internal flange to bolt to the coachroof. Draw it up to scale first to get the angles and curves right so it doesn't look like a cold frame from someones allotment.

 

[coopec]

I'm not knocking other comments but for a 26ft yacht I'd consider something like this. I'd use a male mold and definitely it would be cored (Divinycell, Klegecell or similar) for strength and lightness.

But there is another alternative which might be more suited to a 26ft yacht and I will upload details when I can get Windows 10 working correctly (It is not just my computer because lots of others have the same problems)




HOORAY!! Finally did it!
This dodger would suit your yacht I'm sure. It would be supported by a frame but would have epoxied glass cloth covering. The good part about it is that it would be sacrificial so that if the deck was inundated the dodger would be carried away without damage to the yacht.




The other dodger (Riada 11) is really cool but it would be for a bigger yacht.

https://www.google.com/search?q=yac...qejlAhUk7XMBHVGhDMYQ_AUIESgB&biw=1143&bih=706

 

[V1701]

Thanks very much for all the replies, I now have plenty of food for thought...

 

[Quandary]

There is a well known and frequently used Freedom 35? here, Arran Comrades, with a rigid hood made up from varnished plywood with acrylic windows, it is about 5 years old now and seems to be lasting well. I will see if I can find a photo. somewhere.

 

[dancrane]

Arran Comrades...

 

[coopec]

Might be just me but I don't think a varnished ply-board dodger is the way to go. My personal preference is for a soft covering over a frame or a fiberglass dodger.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Might be just me but I don't think a varnished ply-board dodger is the way to go. My personal preference is for a soft covering over a frame

I agree with you Clive but in the rainy and cold UK a fiberglass dodger may make sailing more bearable.

I love sailing with my dodger folded down even at night. I do have a seperate sun cover over my steering station

 

[V1701]

Thanks all for the further replies...

Having now watched Atticus's build (and what a fine (but very time consuming) job they made of both the solid part and the cloth/plastic window part) I'm inclined to try either ply or similar plastic board to what they used, glassed over and with perspex windows at front & sides. It would be formed from either 4 or 5 flat pieces - 2 sides, 1 top and either 1 or 2 at the front (1 at the front might look a bit odd/2 at the front might look much better than 1).

Rona (a Bowman 26) has very narrow side decks so it would enable fitting good hand holds for going forward, the roof would be available to put solar panels on, the whole thing would be much more sturdy, durable and useful (including windows that can be properly seen through) than the existing cloth one that's getting a bit tired now, as well as being less expensive...

 

[salar]

If you glass over board or a more modern material you have a few problems: it will be heavy if the core is ply, water could get into the ply and eventualy rot or delaminate, and whatever the core used, you would either have an ugly rough finish or spend ages with tissue, filler, gelcoat, elbow grease and polish to make it look smooth. I would recommend having a look at the female mould method, using a melamine faced board to give a good finish. The GRP units around my boat were made as one-offs by a professional and you can't tell them from a factory-made GRP moulding.

 

[dovekie]

I too suggest that the female mould, then gelcoat then GRP is the way to go. You can make the mould in hardboard, it bends to nice curves, and easy to cut and shape. We did that on the rigid spraydodger pictured here. You can see that there are are only two curved surfaces. The laminated wood capping at the stern edge adds a lot of strength. We chose to then add flat sections to the inside of the mould, to give flat areas of laminate for windows. The front window opens. The whole thing is great for grabrails going forward, for solar panels, for resting the boom on, etc.

Hope I can attach the images now!

 

[V1701]

If you glass over board or a more modern material you have a few problems: it will be heavy if the core is ply, water could get into the ply and eventualy rot or delaminate, and whatever the core used, you would either have an ugly rough finish or spend ages with tissue, filler, gelcoat, elbow grease and polish to make it look smooth. I would recommend having a look at the female mould method, using a melamine faced board to give a good finish. The GRP units around my boat were made as one-offs by a professional and you can't tell them from a factory-made GRP moulding.

Thanks & yes I agree, part of my problem is I've got nowhere really to work - I live on one boat and the hard sprayhood is for the other one! I'm not overly concerned about having a perfect finish though because she's a 50 year old boat & if I had an immaculate hard sprayhood the rest of the boat would look very shabby...

 

[V1701]

I too suggest that the female mould, then gelcoat then GRP is the way to go. You can make the mould in hardboard, it bends to nice curves, and easy to cut and shape. We did that on the rigid spraydodger pictured here. You can see that there are are only two curved surfaces. The laminated wood capping at the stern edge adds a lot of strength. We chose to then add flat sections to the inside of the mould, to give flat areas of laminate for windows. The front window opens. The whole thing is great for grabrails going forward, for solar panels, for resting the boom on, etc.

Hope I can attach the images now!

That I really like, flat surfaces to mount the windows, very functional, looks good, thanks for taking the trouble to post. Rival 34? The double sail thingy at the back, is that to help keep her nose to the wind at anchor?

 

[coopec]

If you glass over board or a more modern material you have a few problems: it will be heavy if the core is ply, water could get into the ply and eventualy rot or delaminate, and whatever the core used, you would either have an ugly rough finish or spend ages with tissue, filler, gelcoat, elbow grease and polish to make it look smooth. I would recommend having a look at the female mould method, using a melamine faced board to give a good finish. The GRP units around my boat were made as one-offs by a professional and you can't tell them from a factory-made GRP moulding.

You obviously have had no experience in fiberglass construction! (Your post lacks logic).

If you reckon male molded dodgers have an ugly rough finish and you have to spend ages with tissue, filler, gelcoat, elbow grease and polish to make it look smooth. What about female molds?

When you make up the female mold do you spend ages with tissue, filler, gelcoat, elbow grease and polish to make it look smooth. or does it somehow become miraculously smooth by itself!!

Why would you use ply as a core material? Why not use a light weight core like Divinycell, Klegecell or Airex

Look at these dodgers: they are all male molded.
http://marshalldesign.blogspot.com/

 

[scruff]

I too suggest that the female mould, then gelcoat then GRP is the way to go. You can make the mould in hardboard, it bends to nice curves, and easy to cut and shape. We did that on the rigid spraydodger pictured here. You can see that there are are only two curved surfaces. The laminated wood capping at the stern edge adds a lot of strength. We chose to then add flat sections to the inside of the mould, to give flat areas of laminate for windows. The front window opens. The whole thing is great for grabrails going forward, for solar panels, for resting the boom on, etc.

Hope I can attach the images now!

Dovkie. lovely boat you have there. By any chance is your boat currently moored in Tarbert? If so I was admiring it at the weekend just gone. What is she, if I may ask?

 

[eilerts]

I have been playing with the same thought for some years. Not done it, yet. Lack of time, work space (workspacetime?) and a lot of details must still be considered. Perhaps next year..

Female mould seems the most logical, but I'm a bit reluctant to put a lot of work and materials into a mould for just one item. A possible alternative is to use my current dodger as a support for divinycell core, glass the outside, turn it around and glass the inside - and hope it does not warp.
Also, I see a lot of small motorboat hardtops on secondhand markets. I have wondered how much work it would take to turn the right one of those into a hard dodger.

It has become clear to me, that it is actually the hard and clear windows that comes with a hard dodger, that I want. That can be achieved with just a wind screen and canvas top.

About a year ago I met a sailor with a very nice homemade dodger. GRP sandwich construction. Toughened glass front window, acrylic or polycarbonate curved side windows, solar panels on the roof and lots of grip rails. Looks a bit heavy, though.
Have a look:

 

[coopec]

QUOTE Female mould seems the most logical, but I'm a bit reluctant to put a lot of work and materials into a mould for just one item.UNQUOTE

But that's when I would make up a female mold - when I want more than one For example when I wanted X6 dorade boxes.

When I made up the toilet structure I could have gone either way but chose to use a female mold because it was a flat top and front and I could easily get a smooth, flat surface. People seem to forget ply or formica will bend but only one way.

The water tanks were male molded and the waste tank was male molded












One good thing about using a male mold for a dodger is that you get an excellent idea of how the finished dodger will look and you have no problem mating up the dodger to the deck.

 

[dovekie]

Ohlson 38 - no longer mine sadly, but still going strong I gather - whereabouts unknown.
And to the OP, sail at the back is a delta riding sail - not my invention, more info here http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?488503-DIY-anchor-riding-sail&highlight=delta+riding+sail