solent based cockpit tent/sprayhood recommendations

[steveeasy]

I cannot really comment on sprayhood or dodgers as I believe some term them but for cockpit enclosures a lot turns on what you want in terms of zipping side panels and framework . Ours has zip out panels which while zips can be a pain gives the option to motor or sail with a Bimini top and as much side cover as you want etc. Fixed side panel are much cheaper but then you cannot replace with net panels or cool down etc . They are pricey but a decent cockpit cover is rather like adding an orangery to your house but at same time when arriving in hotter climates you just want some sun protection. I think 6k seems rather high depending on size of cockpit but as you buy once the cheaper all attached panel variety might not in longer term offer same usage.

Fair comments. A Twister is quite narrow and the cockpit is not exactly the size of a football pitch. I had hoped id get a good quality sprayhood for 12-1400 and the cockpit cover perhaps another £800. But its a lot of work and ill ring round. plenty of recommendations on this thread. by the way id not get zipped panels included for £6,000 its an extra.

Steveeasy

 

[ashtead]

Steveeasy we are slightly larger at 12.8m but I rather suspect that while the metreage of Sunbrella is less the process of pocket creation for poles etc is much the same. All I can say is our Tecsew one is vastly better fitting than the Cj marine version we had on our 10.8 Bav . Clearly I cannnot comment on other makers but I have had experience of both these 2 . If you are local to Gosport ever take a trip to Haslar as many Tecsew versions down there. I think there is another good maker at Thorney marina btw if you are looking about for quotes . No connection with either co BTW but Tecsew seems one of the few customer centric businesses I have found in the marina supplier world.

 

[nicappotamus 2]

Tecsew,
Just enlighten me please. by any chance were they a little expensive at all or roughly in line with other companies. Ive just been given some prices for a sprayhood. For an 8mtr is wow, nearly more than my boat cost, nearly more than a new engine, more than a set of sails, more than my annual mooring on a pontoon berth on the Hamble. How much would you expect to pay for a good quality sprayhood on a smallish Twister.

Steveeasy

about 1.7-2 times the price of the other quotes but I haven't bottomed out the zippy window question. They do however have an excellent reputation as you can see. Our funds will not stretch that far tho.

 

[Tillsbury]

Or you could buy a good walking foot industrial sewing machine and the materials and do it yourself. I’ve spent about gbp1000 so far including the machine and materials for a full enclosure on a 50-footer. Not only can you use better materials (Tenara thread etc) you can do other stuff afterwards: I’ve just received 12m of Alcantara that I’m in the middle of replacing all the saloon cushions with and making a full set of cockpit cushions.

 

[nicappotamus 2]

because of excellent pre ordering service I'd like to commend Tecsew, Arun Sails (gosport) and Covercare of Thornbury for being helfpul and providing quotes without too much chasing.

There are others who failed at the first hurdle, leaving me wondering what they would think if they asked for a quote from a supplier, chased and still the supplier couldn't be arsed to quote for business.

All of the more helpful firms have been recommended to me by various people, so stand above the pack. Thanks to the guys on this forum for your help too.

 

[maby]

Or you could buy a good walking foot industrial sewing machine and the materials and do it yourself. I’ve spent about gbp1000 so far including the machine and materials for a full enclosure on a 50-footer. Not only can you use better materials (Tenara thread etc) you can do other stuff afterwards: I’ve just received 12m of Alcantara that I’m in the middle of replacing all the saloon cushions with and making a full set of cockpit cushions.

I was going to suggest something similar - particularly for the gentleman with the Twister. I was looking at some pictures of Twisters on the web and they appear to have split backstays which make the construction of a DIY Boom Tent very easy - my wife designed and built one for one of our boats some years ago. Use the boom effectively as the top pole of a large ridge tent, put a couple of shroud cleats on the two backstays to support the back end of the tent and hold the sides down to the guard wires with adjustable webbing straps. The result is certainly not as good as a full cockpit enclosure, but we entertained guests to supper in the cockpit in the summer with heavy rain falling and nobody got wet.

While an industrial strength sewing machine will certainly make light work of it, it is not absolutely essential. My wife successfully stitched through two thicknesses of Sunbrella with a decent domestic sewing machine. She found that the modern machines are not really up to the job - built down to a price point and only really able to sew through dress grade fabric. She ended up using a forty year old Singer bought for a few tens of pounds from a charity shop and that didn't blink at the job.

 

[maby]

because of excellent pre ordering service I'd like to commend Tecsew, Arun Sails (gosport) and Covercare of Thornbury for being helfpul and providing quotes without too much chasing.

There are others who failed at the first hurdle, leaving me wondering what they would think if they asked for a quote from a supplier, chased and still the supplier couldn't be arsed to quote for business.

All of the more helpful firms have been recommended to me by various people, so stand above the pack. Thanks to the guys on this forum for your help too.

Did you get quotes for window blinds in the cockpit enclosure? They do push the price up quite a lot, but our experience is that they more than justify the extra cost. In the summer, you can drop the blinds on the sun-ward side to avoid overheating and dropping them all at night converts the cockpit into an additional cabin for guests - or even for you in the really hot weather when the temperature under the canvas soon drops to more comfortable levels than it is down in the main cabin.

 

[maby]

because of excellent pre ordering service I'd like to commend Tecsew, Arun Sails (gosport) and Covercare of Thornbury for being helfpul and providing quotes without too much chasing.

There are others who failed at the first hurdle, leaving me wondering what they would think if they asked for a quote from a supplier, chased and still the supplier couldn't be arsed to quote for business.

All of the more helpful firms have been recommended to me by various people, so stand above the pack. Thanks to the guys on this forum for your help too.

P.S. think carefully about the colour before ordering. When we ordered the enclosure for our first large boat, my wife insisted on it being a very dark fabric that would not show the dirt. The week after it was fitted, we were sitting in the cockpit on a sunny autumn afternoon in southern England - and it was like being in a sauna! I'm told that decent southern England sun puts out about 1kW per square metre - we were sitting there under the equivalent of a four or five kW heater with the air temperature well over 20 degrees.

That was an expensive mistake - we ordered a second set of canvas in a pale grey the following week! It did mean that we had a "winter set" in charcoal grey that soaked up all available heat and a "summer set" in very pale grey to reflect as much as possible, but we paid about £5k more for that enclosure than we really had to!

 

[LadyInBed]

OK, if you want a sensible price contact Paul Barford
barfordsails@btinternet 07773 926172.
He isn't Solent based (he's at Abbotsbury) he does reasonable work but needs pushing to get the work completed but as he isn't VAT registered or based in a big boat area his prices are comparatively cheap.

 

[Adrian]

TecSew in Gosport are the Gold Standard of cockpit enclosures. Their technology is excellent, build quality faultless and customer service fantastic. They are not the cheapest in the business, but you really need to get a quote from them before comitting to anyone else.

+1 done quite a bit of work for us from bimini to outboard cover, all excellent.

 

[steveeasy]

There was someone based in Weymouth who I'm told made a really nice hood and enclosure for what was an extremely good price and I mean a very good price.anyone know who this is?

 

[LadyInBed]

There was someone based in Weymouth who I'm told made a really nice hood and enclosure for what was an extremely good price and I mean a very good price.anyone know who this is?

Paul Barford used to be in Weymouth above the Dive Shop next to the fuel berth and LB Stn.