Sprayhood suggestions

[Gurrig]

If you want to take up camping, buy a tent & sit in a field.
22 years without such an encumberance has shown me that it is a useless bit of kit designed to cause extreme backache- among other issues
Save your money for something more useful

Each to their own. Your priorities are yours and others are free to decide for them selves. Keep on posting your contributions indicate I hope to give you a wide berth.

 

[geem]

My sprayhood is invaluable in keeping myself and crew dry and protected. My sprayhood is unusual in that it's goes much further after than usual, and one of the first jobs I did was move the two genoa winches further aft onto the spinnaker winch position. No spinnaker winches fitted so was easy. Not under the sprayhood makes winching the genoa easy. Another advantage is the there is room under the sprayhood for two crew to sit each side easily. Oh and it's easy to fold if necessary when mooring etc. And I made it myself using pattern material.

I couldn't agree more. We had a new sprayhood made in 2012. It was longer than the original. We were planing to head to the Tropics. Since we have a mainsheet at the rear of the cockpit, a bimini was not a good option so we were keen to provide some sun protection with a longer sprayhood. The lomger sprayhood has been invaluable but we made one mistake. We chose navy blue fabric. This fabric is the perfect colour for longevity but terrible for keeping it cool in the cockpit. It gets super hot to the point of it being very uncomfortable. Not often a problem in the UK.
We never dropped the sprayhood. Never saw the point. We still have the area of cockpit behind the wheel that is in the open. All sail controls are accessible from the wheel. We can sit four people at the cockpit table, under the sprayhood. When at anchor, we can still sit at the table if it's raining and stay dry.
This season,with the old sprayhood pretty worn out, we took the sprayhood to the next level. We reproduced the exact sprayhood design in foam core composite construction. It's the same size and shape but has more internal area as we don't need a stainsteel frame. Being foam core, it's insulated so stays nice and cool. Instead of plastic windows we have acrylic. The improvement in visibility is dramatic. We also have space on top for 300w of solar and we painted the sides with none slip so we can stand on it to do up the stack pack bag easily.
We have internal lighting and the wires are hidden in a conduit. Side handles make is easier to go on deck when it's rough. Our first sail this weekend was a pleasure. It was 27degC and we didn't expect to be benefiting from the shade in the UK

 

[ash2020]

How often is that & is it worth it? Once perhaps twice a season if you are lucky. Dream on. Compared to constant backache from being bent over trying to use the winch under the tent. Just compare the figures. Then add the risks going forward past it in a rolly sea, to get forward with no hand holds. Do not sail in the Solent on a busy day, because you will never see where you are going.

As he said, each to his own. I think they are wonderful things. We don't all like a face full of wind and spray. I can't wait to make one for my Hunter Medina.
Quite frankly, your reply makes you sound like a boorish, humourless, wet blanket. Why bother with the tent? Just sit in a field.

If you want to take up camping, buy a tent & sit in a field.
22 years without such an encumberance has shown me that it is a useless bit of kit designed to cause extreme backache- among other issues
Save your money for something more useful

 

[Graham376]

Ouch, just been quoted £1681 + VAT for a new sprayhood using my existing hoops. This is for a Sadler 29. That’s pretty much what I paid for the flipping boat as a doer upper!

I don’t have the old sprayhood to use as a pattern unfortunately or I’d have a bash at making the thing myself! I thought sprayhoods cost around the £600 mark?

Anyone know of a cheaper source or better still anyone have an old sprayhood that I might possibly be able to modify and make fit?

Have a look at this Sailrite video and buy a cheap sewing machine off ebay. Machine and materials around £500.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

... We reproduced the exact sprayhood design in foam core composite construction. It's the same size and shape but has more internal area as we don't need a stainsteel frame. Being foam core, it's insulated so stays nice and cool. Instead of plastic windows we have acrylic. The improvement in visibility is dramatic. We also have space on top for 300w of solar and we painted the sides with none slip so we can stand on it to do up the stack pack bag easily.
We have internal lighting and the wires are hidden in a conduit. Side handles make is easier to go on deck when it's rough. …

That is an excellent looking design. Did you make it with a mould or hand lay over the foam and fill and fair. The finish looks excellent and suggests a mold but curious. Also is it permanently mounted to the coaming, or can it be removed by unbolting. It is the sort of enclosure I aspire to for my boat.

 

[geem]

That is an excellent looking design. Did you make it with a mould or hand lay over the foam and fill and fair. The finish looks excellent and suggests a mold but curious. Also is it permanently mounted to the coaming, or can it be removed by unbolting. It is the sort of enclosure I aspire to for my boat.

It's bolted with M8 bolts to the coaming. We built is in an unusual way. We patterned thr three pieces of fabric that made our original sprayhood. These were the window panel, the roof panel and the rear panel. We made a 16ftx4ft laminating table and laid up 2 layers of 300g biax cloth from each pattern. The centre section of each panel had a piece of 12mm core between each 300g layer of cloth. The window pattern was the trickiest as we needed to form the window openings. For this we made window blanks in 3mm ply for the curved windows and we made a window surround in 12mm ply to be cast into the panel for the opening centre window. Once we had made all 3 panels, we removed the canvas but lashed the stainless frame in the correct place then placed the grp panels onto the frame. We cable tied the panels in place then tabbed everything. We added some core to the curved sections to stabilise it then we took the whole thing home to my workshop and cored the inside.
It was a big project but worth it in the end

 

[RunAgroundHard]

@geem thanks for the additional description.

 

[dgadee]

2 years ago I paid £700 from Sail Doctor at Port Edgar for a 30 foot boat. Last year made one for a 37 footer at £250 (excluding the purchase of a machine).

There's someone in Fife who is good value. Can't remember their name.

Move north or make your own.

 

[dgadee]

It's bolted with M8 bolts to the coaming. We built is in an unusual way. We patterned thr three pieces of fabric that made our original sprayhood. These were the window panel, the roof panel and the rear panel. We made a 16ftx4ft laminating table and laid up 2 layers of 300g biax cloth from each pattern. The centre section of each panel had a piece of 12mm core between each 300g layer of cloth. The window pattern was the trickiest as we needed to form the window openings. For this we made window blanks in 3mm ply for the curved windows and we made a window surround in 12mm ply to be cast into the panel for the opening centre window. Once we had made all 3 panels, we removed the canvas but lashed the stainless frame in the correct place then placed the grp panels onto the frame. We cable tied the panels in place then tabbed everything. We added some core to the curved sections to stabilise it then we took the whole thing home to my workshop and cored the inside.
It was a big project but worth it in the endView attachment 196174View attachment 196175View attachment 196176View attachment 196177View attachment 196178View attachment 196179

Impressed by your opening window.

 

[geem]

Impressed by your opening window.

It took some thinking about. Recessing the 8mm acrylic into a 12mm rebate with a compressible seal was a bit of trial and error. It took 3 seals to get it right. I used titanium bolts as A4 stuff always seems to corrode eventually. We will see how the s/s hinges fair. Simple things like the retainers for the hatch handles look simple now they are done but I scratched my head for a while until a found a solution that would work. Everything is fully water tight so more than happy. It was great to try it all out on our first sail this season, last weekend. An over nighter to Holyhead and more than comfortable under the new hardtop. Visibility forward is stunning through new acrylic windows

 

[shanemax]

Never had a spray hood on any of my tiller controlled boats as when sitting at the tiller if you take a wave or spray you still get wet. I use a boom tent so I can sit on the step and get out of the rain or sun and a boom tent produces a wonder breeze/ draft on hot days.