Solid sprayhoods

[catalac08]

Here you are - sprayhood not only down, but removed altogether! That's GPS position on the instruments btw.

View attachment 47633

I think this boat a long way from home makes my point.

 

[dgadee]

I saw a very pretty and well made hardtop on a catamaran that the owner said had been the feature of a PBO/YM write up a few years ago. I think that one was foam cored with a gelcoat outer and flowcoat inside finish and the article covered all the stages in the making of it. The boat name was Rumpleteazer and it was an Aristocrat Catamaran. I think he made the mould and a GRP shop laminated it all up to a high standard but there will be god tips and I imagine there are not many GRP units geared up to do this sort of one off, so maybe useful contacts also. I think the cost in total was £1000, but this also had opening hatches built in but this was pretty wide and large, being a catamaran. (PBO July 2009 by John Waller is the article 5 pages.)

I just downloaded that article. Not really up to much - deals with making a rough mould and then sending it off to be professionally finished.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

In the N uk I think a hardtop/sprayhood is necessary apart from the odd fine day when yes it would be good to get the top down. It probably depends also on the boat-perhaps a larger boat where you are several feet above the water it become less of an issue i.e. not getting waves in the face!

I always try to have the hood down..... nothing worse than viewing the outside world through a hood or pilot house all day

BUT!

If I were ocean crossing I'd prefer a hardtop, not big, very strong, firmly attached with plenty of hand holds, with plenty of vision for'ard, etc...

S.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I saw a very pretty and well made hardtop on a catamaran that the owner said had been the feature of a PBO/YM write up a few years ago. I think that one was foam cored with a gelcoat outer and flowcoat inside finish and the article covered all the stages in the making of it. The boat name was Rumpleteazer and it was an Aristocrat Catamaran. I think he made the mould and a GRP shop laminated it all up to a high standard but there will be god tips and I imagine there are not many GRP units geared up to do this sort of one off, so maybe useful contacts also. I think the cost in total was £1000, but this also had opening hatches built in but this was pretty wide and large, being a catamaran. (PBO July 2009 by John Waller is the article 5 pages.)

I'd have thought that the sort of outfit that makes taxi signs, lorry cab-top streamliners or advertizing signs could make one up.

The Trotter (Grimsby Marine Plastics version of the Pandora) was made by a company that originally made cab-tops for lorries!

 

[Koeketiene]

Is ply the best stuff to make the core?

I would use balsa - much lighter.

 

[pmagowan]

It shouldn't be hard to make a basic frame and fill it with a core, balsa or honeycomb etc. Then it is simply a matter of glass fibre and a bit of microbeads to smooth off and a coat of 2 pack to finish. I would look at scrap heaps for appropriate glass, windscreens etc. I wonder if the method of attachment to the boat should be permanent or removable so that perhaps a foldable sprayhood could be attached during times when you might want to put it down (summer). I find we never put our sprayhood down but from my tiller I look over it. In rain and spray looking through it is a PITA and a solid window, perhaps with wipers, would be much better.

A solid unit also allows handholds, lights, electrics and integrated bimini as well as a solid base for solar.

 

[Sybarite]

I liked what Maurice Griffiths did for his retirement boat "Kylix". He had a dog house which you could sit under, or standing, could look over. That way you get protection without having something so high that it ruins the lines of the boat :

http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=...r=1744&page=1&start=0&ndsp=35&ved=0CCsQrQMwAw

http://www.eventides.org.uk/Kylixclass.htm

 

[Heckler]

I didn't want to divert the thread on sprayhood canvas so....Has anyone made a solid sprayhood/dodger/cuddy - call it what you like.

TimBennet posted "... you can make the sprayhood (at least) out of GRP or aluminium. Replicating the panel lay out from a canvas one makes them the most aesthetically pleasing (IMHO), although with more flat areas like the Halberg Rassey ones, allow you to use real glass which increases their hassle free longevity even further."

I wondered if anyone had tried this, and with what success? If so, how did you do it? And if you haven't done it, how would you go about it?

Thread drift
Sailing across the Irish Sea a few years ago on Sacha in company with our friends in a Moody46. They had a canvas cockpit coverwhich they sailed with up because the wind and rain was coming from the aft quarter. They were in wooolies we were in oilies, wet and cold. SWMBO said we are having one of those so we did!
We have sailed since with it up, always, toasty when it is cold and wet, roll the sides up when it is hot. When we crossed Biscay we lived in it most of the time, it would have been horrible if we hadnt had it. It withstood sustained winds of 25-28kts down the Spanish/Portuguese coasts and didnt flinch when 38 kts hit us entering Figeura da Foz.
Best £1200 we have spent on the boat.
View attachment 47648
I hate Ipads and their poxy pic handling, how do I turn it to the right?

 

[oldsaltoz]

Here in Oz, in the tropics, we only get two kinds or weather.

Bright sunshine and above 30 degrees c. or tropical rain storms, so we need shade or a dry spot.

Wery few craft up this way with out a fixed canopy, though you can a visitor a mile away.

Good luck and fair winds.