sprayhood costs, yachting rip-offs?!

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yourmomm

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hi-ive just been quoted £580 (!) for a tiny, albeit custom-made, sprayhood-this seems excessive to the point of fairy-tale outlandishness to me, as my (ever-so-reliable-and-mechanically-sound) car only cost me £550!! how hard can a sprayhood BE to make?! or am i just a scrooge-type skinflint, ignorant of the true costs of sailing? many thanks for forumites' extensive knowledge as usual.....
 
I agree ...... just watched a mate of mine go through it as well ... he paid about same ...
 
/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I am gobsmacked at the cost. I would have liked a little one for mine, but I was thinking about £100 or so. If that is nearer the going rate I think I will shelve that idea..... I can replace both my sails for that amount!
 
agree with twister-ken. i had my new mainsail cover made at a local industrial sewing place, he usually makes toolbags, aprons, that kind of thing. gave him my old crusader one as a pattern, four weeks later, one brand new sailcover. 50 quid. can't beat that. not when sailmakers, etc want roughly double.
 
I paid around that figure for my wheelhouse cover which is a lot bigger..I should shop around..my highest quote was double the one I finally accepted.

I am thinking of buying a heavy duty sewing machine from Ebay and making my own bits and bobs...actually I ran up a cover to go over the front (glass and varnish bits) of my wheelhouse..I used a 'double delivered' patio set cover and my wife's sewing machine...not so difficult and I'm sure I would improve with practice!

Nick
 
They are expensive. I have a well equipt sewing shop for leathergoods, and I just made a sprayhood for a pal.
Just the materials cost £100 at trade price.
All the farting about involved in making a one off easily comes to another £400 at workshop rates.

Now if you ordered 1,000 sprayhoods all the same, I could do them real cheap - more like £40 in time.

And NO I wont make one for you. Or cushions either.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I am thinking of buying a heavy duty sewing machine from Ebay and making my own bits and bobs...
Nick

[/ QUOTE ]


My wife had a modern sewing machine (Singer) that was never very much good. Recently it burnt out the motor. My mothers old Singer treadle machine in a cabinet was used as a decorating piece in our house. After the demise of the new one I decided to use the old one. I downloaded the manual from the web and went about servicing the unit, mainly just cleaning and lubricating, shortening the belt etc. Bought some denim needles and I'm just finishing off a sail cover.
What a stunning piece of engineering. Best thing to come out of Great Britain. Its a pleasure to use. Easily handles sail cover material.
 
well, maybe theres a solution in there somewhere-are there 999 owners of a curtis and pape 1970 wooden ketch built to fisheries specifications and which need a new sprayhood out there somewhere?! get in touch!! thanks for your response barnicle, and your point seems well-made-however, there seems to be a unanimous body of opinion which suggests you have an uphill PR battle ahead of you convincing others of the validity of these costs? surely there must be a cheaper way? couldnt you simply take the pattern off the old hood and save time/money?!
 
My gurlyfriend replaced our canopy. The materials alone came in just under £400, though this left enough for cockpit cushion seats and a sail cover.

The labour involved is pretty high, in fact, I would suggest not a great deal different to building a new sail.

Are you also getting the framework and fittings, seems fairly reasonable after watching one being built, ok, she was an amateur, but only at building canopies, otherwise it is very much her trade.
 
You don't seem to take on board well meant advice. One offs of this sort cost a great deal. If you want to put together a database so manufacturers of hoods and sails can use them I'm sure they'd welcome it. Most of them will still go and measure up, or take customers measurements though, as most boats have been adapted heavily through the years, so there is no guarantee that any measurements at build still hold.
 
I was a sailmaker in another life (when I had hair!) and well remember the old boy who made the covers using a big treadle sewing machine.

I, too, was gobsmacked at the price of a sprayhood and poles for my Macwester, but take the point that one-offs cost. If the materials come to £400, then a couple of hundred quid for a days labour to make it is not bad.

Personally, I can't figure out where to source the tubing for the frames, nor can I figure how to bend and fix them. That will be something to consider on the long winter nights. Meanwhile, a scrap of canvas stretched around the front of the hatch, and tied to the boom and guardrails will keep the wind off when at anchor.

BTW, my wifes standard domestic sewing machine works well on sail cover type cloth, just take advice on the choice of needle and get the thread tension right.

It's sometimes cheaper to hunt around for patio covers etc in the right material than to buy small quantities, a bit like buying a table from Ikea cheaper than you can get the wood to make one.
 
As Nigel says I spent around that on a sprayhood for my Centaur.... not tailor made but made from existing patterns and fitted by myself....

But having seen it and the detail and workmanship I was glad I spent out.

For a cheaper alternative, where you provide some measurements and finish the bottom edge yourself...
martex marine


Jim
 
You can buy sprayhood kits from here which have prebent frames and I think its supposed to be possible to make them with a normal domestic sewing machine -

www.profabrics.co.uk

I didn't buy one of these kits so I don't know how hard it is to make them up, but I did order the material to replace the "windows" in my existing sprayhood fromm this company and was quite happy with the final result (I stitched the new windows in by hand though, didn't want to blow up the Mrs sewing machine /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif , that was a tedious job!!!)

Chris
 
Interesting replies on this ...

Use of Industrial Sewing Co. - excellent idea .... certainly shows a great diff. in costs.

I'm worried though .... An Industrial Sewing Co. will have plenty of small / multiple / large work to carry probably a sizeable revenue. But probably cannot supply a frame or fittings.

Now the original post - is it a complete new item incl. stainless steel frame etc. ? Or just replace the material ? I suspect its a full job.

The average Sprayhood manufacturer probably doesn't have the bread and butter revenue rich stuff like the Ind. Sewing Co. has ... so his margin has to be greater - otherwise he cannot make a living ......

Don't get me wrong - I'm not in marine sprayhood biz ... nor would I want to be ... but I think the two disciplines are separate enough to be difficult to compare. If only replace material - no problem - great ideas ...

Above is thoughts on it ... anyone else ????
 
Idea .... has anyone done this ?

Bought a kit of stuff for one ... say Martex / Profabrics etc. - then asked an Industrial Sewing Co. to make it up ?

I know that Jim asked a Timber guy about cutting up ply for dinghy kit - the price was silly and ridiculous not to take advantage of !! Straight neat cuts etc.

So maybe with sewing up - they produce much neater stitching etc. ?
 
Yachting rip-offs?!

Best chance you have is to try and get someone who doesn't realise - or know - what they are doing, and get them to give you a fixed price. Go with the lowest quote and let them have the pain of all the p1551ng about trying to make it fit.

Can't remember how much mine cost (a lot, but it is a large hood), but even for a Fulmar of which there are loads, they daren't make it without measuring up for spray rails and winch locations first. Even then had to take it back to make adjustments after initial fitting.

PS. The sprayhood will be a purpose made item for you to cherish. Your car is clearly a heap of [--word removed--] that no-one else wanted. Despite that, the car will probably outlast the sprayhood if you look after it!
 
I made a new sprayhood this year. The reason I did it myself was that all the canvas work needed replacing which justified buying an industrial sewing machine on ebay.

I think the reason they charge so much for a sprayhood is the difficulty measuring and fitting which could mean two or even three trips to your boat. I believe they make up a template on the spot from cheap fabric. I used the original sprayhood as a template which was probably a mistake as the fabric stretches over the years and I found that the panels were no longer flat.

BTW the total materials cost for sprayhood, stackpack, dodgers and fitted cockpit cushions was a little over £300. Doesn't include the cost of the sewing machine (£180) but I hope to get this back, less commission, on ebay.
 
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