Radar/Solar Panel Arch

[winfarthing]

I'm looking for an arch for the boat that can carry solar panels and also davits for the dinghy. Internet search comes up with US company Atlantic Towers. They supply an Arch in a Box, ready to fit. They look a nice product, made from aluminium. The price seems reasonable too but the cost of freight has really caught me out. The cheapest I and they can find is $850. The total cost of the arch for my 40' yacht is about £2400, including duty, vat, freight etc. I haven't managed to get a quote locally so I don't know if that would be comparable with having one made in the UK. I also have yet to find a UK company that specialises in them. Can anyone who has had one recently advise on what the cost was and maybe recommend a supplier? Maybe importing one from the US could still be cheaper if better freight options could be found, or several people were interested.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Its unlikely that any manufacturer would specialise in a product with such a limited market. It really needs to be custom made for your boat and preferably in stainless.
I would suggest you find a stainless fabricator with experience of boats to custom make for you. It'll be well under 2.5k.

 

[winfarthing]

Its unlikely that any manufacturer would specialise in a product with such a limited market. It really needs to be custom made for your boat and preferably in stainless.
I would suggest you find a stainless fabricator with experience of boats to custom make for you. It'll be well under 2.5k.

I'm waiting for a quote locally from just such a person, but he's so busy its taking time. I'm hoping to get some idea of price from peoples experience on here.
Not sure that it is such a limited market, solar panels are becoming very popular and the most efficient way is to mount them on an arch. The arch can also be used for other applications as well such as antenna mountings, radar, and increasingly also dinghy davits etc. I'm noticing more of them and in my view, their use is increasing. Some that I've looked at are very obviously home made. The US one I'm interested in really looks the part, they specialise in them.

 

[Cardo]

I made enquiries around the Solent for a custom made arch for our 35 footer. The one company that bothered to get back to me said it would be a starting price of £2500. But then that's the Solent, where far too many people have far too much money and are happy to splash it around, driving up all the prices.

If you fancy a long trip, I understand Tunisia is a bargain for stainless fabrication, where an top notch arch, with all the bells and whistles would cost you under €1000.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I had exactly the type made to my custom design and did not take too long. That was about 6 7 years ago and a long way from the UK. Cannot remember cost but would not relate to the UK cost anyway.

As said any competent stainless fabricator should be able to do the job but do the detailed design and look outside the boat supply industry to better prices and delivery.

 

[Magic Star]

Wow. that's a proper one, radar arch.
You can make a loft up there, so much space :encouragement:

 

[oldsaltoz]

Way before you even start to look at this project you to determine what it's going to do and how it effect the boat.

First thing to consider is how it will be fixed to the hull/deck, what strengthening will be required and how will be done and by whom.
I'm sure you are aware of the number of failures that occurred with such structures that were simply added without proper design
and consideration of loadings on the structure of the hull/deck and the structure itself.

Also consider the fact that adding weight to either end of a hull will effect the handling and performance.

Also look at the foam and fibreglass flat sided structures with a wing across the top, a bit like the foil you see on the back of very fast car..

These have a larger foot print and are lighter than s/steel tubes.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[wully1]

I looked into doing the same with my boat and also found Atlantic Towers- they have a UK agent who's name I cant remember.
Anyway, I decided against it on the grounds pointed out above - weight and structural considerations put me off. Making a template and mounting it to see what it would look like was also a deterant.
In the end I bought a flexy 60 watt panel off ebay and temporarily mounted it on the hatch garage to see how that would work and am very happy with its output although it does get shaded by the boom/rigging.

So plan 'A' is to adapt the design of the new spray hood I'm going to need soon to take two 60/80 watt flexy panels and that'll do me just fine.

 

[Tranona]

Unlikely you will find anything ready made to do the job. Although many boats are fitted with arches you will find them almost all different, even on the same model boat. People have their own ideas of what they want and how they are going to attach it, often after discussion with the fabricator.

If you had the GH 31 in your profile it would be easy to build one from the pushpit using stainless fittings and tube from somebody like Baseline, but note you say for a 40 footer - in which case you will probably need something more substantial. You need to find a fabricator who has done this sort of job before and who has the design skills to help you and hopefully able to give you visuals of what alternatives might look like. For obvious reasons it is helpful to have a local person as there is often a lot of work involved in getting it to fit properly. No short cuts really if you want a proper job.

 

[winfarthing]

Unlikely you will find anything ready made to do the job. Although many boats are fitted with arches you will find them almost all different, even on the same model boat. People have their own ideas of what they want and how they are going to attach it, often after discussion with the fabricator.

If you had the GH 31 in your profile it would be easy to build one from the pushpit using stainless fittings and tube from somebody like Baseline, but note you say for a 40 footer - in which case you will probably need something more substantial. You need to find a fabricator who has done this sort of job before and who has the design skills to help you and hopefully able to give you visuals of what alternatives might look like. For obvious reasons it is helpful to have a local person as there is often a lot of work involved in getting it to fit properly. No short cuts really if you want a proper job.

Thanks for all the advice. The mounting position, weight etc have been considered. I'm particularly interested in aluminium to save weight.
The GH31 is currently for sale but is slow to shift, leaving me in the unfortunate and expensive position of owning two boats. The Colvic was bought as a long term project for long distance cruising in the future.
I'd still be interested in anyone's experience of fitting an arch, cost, made by who etc.

 

[Tranona]

Think you will find aluminium not strong enough unless low and lightly loaded. Weight of the frame is not normally an issue - it is the gubbins you hang on it that adds weight and windage. As usual it is a trade off - extra weight against convenience.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I wouldn't want one made from aluminium. It would either need to be made from large diameter tube, or it would need a lot of cross supports to get enough strength. Either type would not look good.
If weight is an issue there may be a case for using alloy for the horizontal overhead sections, but then there's an issue of mixing materials.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Mine is mainly 50mm dia 1.6 thk 316 stainless tube and on it own I could lift it easy. As said it all the bit added to give the weight. I have 4 80 watt solar panels plus the radar and wind gen.

I also lift my 15hp mariner outboard and 2.3 KVA generator with the davit blocks the can be seen. The canvas cockpit cover is also part supported with another 4 80 watt solar panels mounted.

 

[macd]

Absolutely agree that aluminium will not save weight, which is why 95% of the arches you see, Ovnis excepted, are stainless. By the time necessary bracing is added, it will be just as heavy as stainless, with more windage; more difficult to repair or modify*; probably uglier; prone to corrosion (both from dissimilar fasteners and the fact that the whole is most unlikely to be anodised). Other than that, it's the metal of choice

Titanium, on the other hand...

* and you very like will want to modify it at some stage, if only to add a few cleats, loops for blocks, etc.

 

[sailinglegend420]

... The arch can also be used for other applications as well such as antenna mountings, radar, and increasingly also dinghy davits etc.....

its a big mistake to put kit on top of the arch - that will cause serious shadow issues and can dramatically reduce the output. See Rogershaw's picture above.

 

[macd]

its a big mistake to put kit on top of the arch - that will cause serious shadow issues and can dramatically reduce the output. See Rogershaw's picture above.

+1, redoubled.

 

[oldsaltoz]

My reason for posting a cautionary note about looking into the problems associated with adding Davits or other heavy equipment was based on our experience. our cockpit cover grew over time. -read on.

Soon after purchase we realised the small cockpit cover would have to enlarged. The climate on the East coast of Australia demands lots of shade and breeze. She already had an arch across the stern, so we sized the new cover so the canvas top could run from the wind screen at the helm to the top of the existing arch.

The structure was all polished 316 stainless steel and supports were 50 mm diameter, the original had a canvas top and 3 large solar panels.

I did the calculations and end result was an additional one metre added to the stern to provide a little more than enough lift. This was accomplished by adding sugar scoops with steps, the bottom being a little larger to accommodate getting off and on from the water.

Just as wall because a year later a Cyclone stripped the canvas from the cover. This was replaced with a foam and glass cover designed to collect rain water into a tank and all wiring for lights, speakers, (music and radio) built in.

This used the spare buoyancy we included in the original modification.

So in summary, never assume that installing a bit more protection from the elements is going to easy or cheap and make certain it's not going to cause more problems by taking you time to do the sums and avoid any possible complications aesthetically, practically and structurally.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Was this on a Cat or mono hull as Cats are more sensitive to extra weight than a mono hull

 

[macd]

Was this on a Cat or mono hull as Cats are more sensitive to extra weight than a mono hull

"This was accomplished by adding sugar scoops".
Or see profile.

 

[rogerthebodger]

"This was accomplished by adding sugar scoops".
Or see profile.

Oldsaltoz was warning about the extra weight of a cover over his cockpit. Yes he compensated for the extra weight by adding sugar scoops. I wish to know if he added the sugar scoops to his cat or was it to a mono hull. Cats a more sensitive to extra weight due to the narrow hull profile than a mono hull would be thus it may not be a important at add a sugar scoop on a mono hull boat at a Cat.