Spray hood from Martex Marine???

[jimbouy]

I decided against making my own sailcover, but having had several Centaur owners provide dimensions as well as those I measured. I had one made up by Martex Marine and it seems alright to me. Infact it's fine.

So I'm considering getting a spray hood made up by them as well. Martex
supply a frame to fit. I then supply some measurements so they can supply
what is described as a semi tailored cover to fit. Leaving me to mark and
stitch the lower edge.

The price is £300, which suits my budget.

So does anyone have experience?

Can a spray hood only be any good if it's "profesionaly fitted"

(yes I've asked on WOA as well, all opinions are welcome)

Jimbouy

 

[cdw58]

I made a frame from plastic plumbing pipe & a cover from old bits of clear plastic & tape. When I was happy with that I had the frame made then adjusted the plastic template to fit, before getting the sprayhood made. I marked all the fixing points ideal places for the windows ect with a marker pen. It did require a few attempts with with templates until I was happy but in the end it worked out well. There had never been a sprayhood fitted before. I did get a lot of advice from the people making the sprayhood.

 

[aidancoughlan]

Hi Jim,
I am getting a Sprayhood for my Westerly Merlin made by Quay Sails from the previous sprayhood as a pattern. They were extremely reluctant to consider making one from 'standard' westerly measurements, advising me to get it measured and made locally in Dublin rather than risk a bad fit - OR send them the old sprayhood to make an exact copy, which I did. They would only consider this if I was using the exact same frame - again recommending a local supplier that could measure the actual boat if a new frame was required.

Most of the advice I had at the time,here & elsewhere was consistent with what Quay Sails suggested. I've seen a few dodgy sprayhoods over time too, and didnt want to end up with a bad fit.

ps. The price of my Sprayhood is close enough to what you mention above to consider, I assume others will supply at a similar price - maybe do a quick survey of suppliers close to the boat before making the final decision?

regards,
Aidan.

 

[jimbouy]

Aidan,

one of the draw backs to being berthed on the IOW is that it limits the number of local suppliers. But from the information I'm getting it would seem that i need to shop around.


Jim

 

[paulrossall]

I had a sprayhood made up 4 years ago,by Martex, and and it has fitted and lasted well. You do have to fit the front and sides of the hood to the boat but it is not difficult. I found Martex very good to deal with, very helpfull and would use them again. They do attend most boat jumbles. Paul