Replacing canopy with fibreglass

[diehard]

Hi everyone
New to boating and I tried to post this last night but failed!
I just bought a Sealine 215 in good condition except for a small crack in the canopy window. It occurred to me that replacing the front canopy with a fibreglass hard top might improve the boat for wet or windy weather.
Can this be done? Is it a good or bad idea? (I suspect bad because most of my bright ideas lately tend to have fatal flaws!).
Has anyone done this or is it utterly bonkers?

 

[Sneds]

Interesting as I've often thought about doing this to my Mustang 2800, hard top and open back

 

[rafiki_]

Hi everyone
New to boating and I tried to post this last night but failed!
I just bought a Sealine 215 in good condition except for a small crack in the canopy window. It occurred to me that replacing the front canopy with a fibreglass hard top might improve the boat for wet or windy weather.
Can this be done? Is it a good or bad idea? (I suspect bad because most of my bright ideas lately tend to have fatal flaws!).
Has anyone done this or is it utterly bonkers?

You can get a new window section put into your canopy for £50 ish. To build a hardtop sounds a bit more of a mission, as I doubt you will find one, without moulding it from scratch. You will then have to work out how to fit it to your screen etc. good luck with this.

 

[U4]

It may also add a considerable amount of weight, which could change the attitude of the boat.

 

[Kawasaki]

Hi everyone
New to boating and I tried to post this last night but failed!
I just bought a Sealine 215 in good condition except for a small crack in the canopy window. It occurred to me that replacing the front canopy with a fibreglass hard top might improve the boat for wet or windy weather.
Can this be done? Is it a good or bad idea? (I suspect bad because most of my bright ideas lately tend to have fatal flaws!).
Has anyone done this or is it utterly bonkers?

I looked into this a few years ago
I had a Nimbus 'soft top' 27
The cost etc put me off, although most Nimbus 27's of the Era were 'hard top' it was still daft money etc
Bet it would be quicker an cheaper to flog yours and by a hard top similar vessel
Canvas can be a b"mmer but then when it is nice (twice a year, maybe) it's Brill!

 

[wipe_out]

I looked at it as well but with creating the moulds so you have a nice looking 3D shape and getting the right structural rigidity plus the mountings etc.. it was just far to big a job and would be very expensive compared to a fabric canopy..

 

[rustybarge]

It may also add a considerable amount of weight, which could change the attitude of the boat.

Just as reference, a 2.2m by 2.2m hard top on this 7.6m patrol boat weighs 250 kg.
foam sandwich construction, acrylic windscreen, toughened glass side windows, small door.

That's a lot of hamper weight, high up on a boat.

 

[Momac]

Yes its a bonkers idea - dont do it.
A hard top on a boat like that would probably look horrible.
Get the damaged canopy window replaced as suggested . Or if the canopy is looking tired it would be better still to consider having a new canopy made to fit the boat.

 

[diehard]

Folks
Thanks for the advice. I think I will just replace the window......easier, cheaper and safer.

 

[FalconSteve]

I looked at doing this to my Falcon 27. Falcon Sports Boats did make an aftermarket hard top for my boat and I found a photo of one on the internet when I first bought mine; it looked horrible. I didn't give up straight away as I spent a little time assessing why it looked so bad compared to boats designed with hardtops from the factory, the bottom line was it looked top heavy and the horizontal break in the windscreen where the hardtop met the original was a focal point which highlighted the height of the hardtop. so I guess my opinion is not to do it as an add on .

If however you are a persistent b*&*$r then I suggest your base boat would be a good candidate but the work, as others have already said would be extensive. First you need to remove the old front and side windscreens, I'd cut the radar arch off (if you have one) as well. To start the rebuild, recruit a body work specialist and design a hardtop from the ground up which follows the original line of your cockpit as it rises from the foredeck. Looking at your boat model on the internet, the angle might just be appropriate, although I think you'd end up with quite a large wasted section at the bulkhead. The question then is will it require the internals of the cockpit to be reconfigured to sit further back into the boat. If so then you are really talking serious money and definitely sell yours and buy the right boat ready made.

As a first step why not try and do a bit of Photoshop combining between yours and say a nimbus or even a finnmaster grandezza 27 which IMHO is a pretty sexy boat. Morphing the 2 is reasonably straightforward, in fact if you find a picture of each from the same angle I'd be willing to have a go for you, it won't take me too long to get something which will permit you to make a considered assessment. If you want me to have a go send me a pm.

If you do decide to go ahead it will make for a fascinating thread on this forum, so please keep us up to date (with pictures of course)

Good luck and think carefully,

Steve