What do you think of the trend toward hard tops

[DavidJ]

There is a very positive trend towards hard tops with the Sealine C39 just joining the fashion.
I am sometimes forced into putting the front canopy on my Sealine S37 and I get an instant feeling of stuffiness. The hardtops have a sunshine roof but I need fresh air not the sun beating on my head.
I guess the marketting boys know what the're doing but I can't see it.
David

 

[petem]

I know what you're saying, used to get the same problem on my Targa. However, we all drive hard top cars so it must be possible to feel comfortable in a hard top boat. As you say, it's probably got more to do with ventilation and being able to see out the thing. If they can get it right then they'd be ideal for this country. I'd buy one.

 

[mustard]

Pershing started it with nice looking hardtops, i think. I was tempted by the C39, nice looking, but a well speced basic shaft driven one is 225K, and a well speced s/h Targa 43 is a lot less, roomier and even prettier. Seems Sealine might have misssed the boat here, but the boat was aimed at the med anyway....

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

>
I guess the marketting boys know what the're doing but I can't see it.
>
...and the planet you are currently orbiting is?



I don't much like my soft top, nor does SWMBO, its soft and still a s0d to take down in the unlikely eventuality of wanting to. Seriously considering taking the front part off and desigining/building a hard top over winter.


Two beers please, my friend is paying.

 

[tripleace]

I love my soft top and love being able to put the bits on a wnat and take off bit.

Ie if family want shade or not I can take off/on their side.

Big advantage in having a boat with an arch split in a tripod.

best layout I have ever had



"Take control & then take the commission"

www.cleverdic.co.uk
www.dic.co.uk/mortgages

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

What do you do when its raining or when the spray is flying over the top of the screen? Soft tops on sports cruisers are a total pain in the butt because they take for ever to take down and put up. With a hard top the cockpit can be part of the accomodation because its so easy to batten down the hatches when the weather closes in.
Does'nt stop this new C39 looking pig ugly though!

 

[ari]

Tell you what else you could do with a hard top. You could put some steps up the back, put some sides on the top, and a helm position and some seats, then if the weather was bad you could drive downstairs, and if the weather was good you could drive upstairs. I think that would be a splendid idea. I've even thought of a name for it, you could call it a "flybridge". Yeah, I reckon that could catch on!!!

Ari.

 

[duncan]

I have a hard top boat and a cabriolet car - which I put the hood down when it is not raining and above zero.....
I am convinced the stuffiness is a state of mind but the bug bear is vision through glass at night - just doesn't hack it.

 

[ari]

Quite agree, I couldn't envisage having a boat where I was forced to be "indoors" when I was out in it. I appreciate that they have a sunroof, but a car with a sunroof isn't the same as an open top car and a boat with an enclosed helm and a sliding roof is still boating indoors...

If the weather is that bad I wouldn't be out, and if the weather is remotely reasonable I want to be out in it, not sheltered away from it. If I really really wanted an enclosed helm then I'd definately opt for a flybridge boat so at least it left me the option if open air boating when the weather was good.

Ari

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Nah, cant see your 'flybridge' idea catching on if you ask me. You would'nt put a ladder on the side of your car and sit on the roof driving it, would you?

 

[lanason]

Mr Bean did just that with a Mini so imagine what you could do with a big 4x4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adrian

......the answer is not 42 - so what is it ?? ........

 

[ToMo]

Have you got yours yet?

TôMö

 

[ari]

Poster: lanason
Subject: Re: What do you think of the trend toward hard tops

Mr Bean did just that with a Mini so imagine what you could do with a big 4x4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adrian


HAHAHAHA!!! Watch out for low bridges!!!

Ari.

 

[stewart]

C39 - why?

C39 - saw them a few weeks ago for the first time and spent about 15 minutes trying to work out what the point was and then gave up. Really don't get that one........

I must say though, there have been many times this spring and early summer when I've sat through 3 days of torrential Spanish rain (in doesn't fall mainly in the plain by the way) wishing I had a hard top, not to mention how much easier it to close up rather than struggling with a huge tonneau cover at midnight before heading to the airport. But then the sun comes out and it all makes sense having an open boat.........

I guess I could very easily be persuaded into a predator 68 but for anything below 60' I wouldn't even consider a hard top in the med as you end up with so little outside space.

 

[tcm]

Re: hardtops

I don't think that there is any difference in the amount of outside space if the manufacturer makes a hardtop, stewart?

Seems the hardtops have arisen cos so many people want shade of a bimini. So, instead of making tent job, make a proper grp moulding.

But imho, newer hardtops aren't the same as a durable bimini - they take away the open-air feel of the boat. Larger boats are worst, and the whole front of the boat is enclosed with a "sunroof" in the hardtop as on leopard 27 "open" and princess V65 which is almost gloomy to drive.

Bad effects of the hardtop is not limited to stuffiness - there's much more noise reflected back from a hardtop than ther is on a "soft-top".