Which type of dodger is best?

[penfold]

I worry that in very bad weather a hard dodger might get swept away taking half the deck with it.

You have a very pessimistic view of the strength of your deck moulding, why would you consider taking an unfit vessel to sea?

As long as it or the fixings are weaker than the deck it attaches to there is no concern.

 

[coopec]

You have a very pessimistic view of the strength of your deck moulding, why would you consider taking an unfit vessel to sea?

As long as it or the fixings are weaker than the deck it attaches to there is no concern.

What about windage of the hard spray hood (dodger)?

 

[penfold]

There's windage; everything on a boat is a compromise, you're exchanging the foldability of a textile sprayhood and tubular frame for the solidity and robustness of a hardtop.

 

[coopec]

There's windage; everything on a boat is a compromise, you're exchanging the foldability of a textile sprayhood and tubular frame for the solidity and robustness of a hardtop.

If my yacht was steel (or aluminum) I'd go for a hard dodger. But my yacht hull and deck is cored which would make mounting a hard dodger a nightmare. I will have to study how soft dodgers are framed to see they would be easy to mount on my yacht.

I associate solar arches, life raft mounted on deck, dinghy davits and hard spray hood (dodgers) with coastal cruisers which never venture more than 100km from a safe haven.

I want my yacht to meet the criteria of a "Blue Water Yacht" (This is a steel version of the yacht I am building)

There's some lovely Bavaria soft dodgers here:
Sprayhood Gallery - Tecsew

 

[geem]

If my yacht was steel (or aluminum) I'd go for a hard dodger. But my yacht hull and deck is cored which would make mounting a hard dodger a nightmare. I will have to study how soft dodgers are framed to see they would be easy to mount on my yacht.

I associate solar arches, life raft mounted on deck, dinghy davits and hard spray hood (dodgers) with coastal cruisers which never venture more than 100km from a safe haven.

I want my yacht to meet the criteria of a "Blue Water Yacht" (This is a steel version of the yacht I am building)

There's some lovely Bavaria soft dodgers here:
Sprayhood Gallery - Tecsew

Under that is my acrylic canvas sprayhood getting a soaking. We were hard on the weather in fairly nasty conditions. Sprayhood was fine but we did get some water spurting through the zips?

 

[coopec]

Under that is my acrylic canvas sprayhood getting a soaking. We were hard on the weather in fairly nasty conditions. Sprayhood was fine but we did get some water spurting through the zips?

I gave a link to Bavaria "spray hoods" (Dodgers) above. One that caught my eye was this one. Maybe I am wrong but that is in two parts?

 

[geem]

I gave a link to Bavaria "spray hoods" (Dodgers) above. One that caught my eye was this one. Maybe I am wrong but that is in two parts?

Yes. We have the same sort of set up. The aft section removes for sailing.

 

[dunedin]

Coopec, the key question is whether the boat has been designed and built for some form of sprayhood, whether canvas or fixed.

Most modern boats have a moulded raised lip (water deflector) in the deck which curves around the coachroof - from the sides and round in front of the hatch. This provides the base on which to attach the front of the sprayhood. It is generally designed in a curve which matches the shape of the sprayhood poles, so that the sprayhood can fold neatly down in front the the moulded lip. The hinges are generally at the rear / outer end of the moulded lip.
The other key design feature is some way to get ropes through under the sprayhood to reach halyard / reef winches and stoppers - without allowing too much water to come through along with the ropes! Again this is normally designed into the deck moulding.

Were any of these aspects included in the original deck?

If the deck has the spray deflector / moulding, I would be very tempted to get a canvas sprayhood fitted (a very standard job) and go sailing, and worry about hard tops later. Big danger of a theoretical design of a hard top not working with how you sail in practice.

 

[roaringgirl]

We have a 70s centre-cockpit Swedish ketch. She's built for crossing oceans and has the same windscreen you see on HRs. We have a canvas sprayhood/dodger firmly mounted to the top of the windscreen. The sprayhood has a big smile-shaped zip in it which we open for visibility when manoeuvring and for breeze when necessary. We also have a bimini which is a separate piece of canvas on a separate structure over the cockpit. There's almost no gap between dodger and bimini. We have zip-on shades for the sides of the bimini when it's hot, and zip on windows for when it's cold/wet.

I'd be very happy with a hard dodger, probably not a hard bimini. The worst conditions we have encountered on our circumnavigation so far are 55kts & 6m seas underway and 65kts in harbour. Both dodger and bimini stayed up on both occasions.

 

[Tranona]

If my yacht was steel (or aluminum) I'd go for a hard dodger. But my yacht hull and deck is cored which would make mounting a hard dodger a nightmare. I will have to study how soft dodgers are framed to see they would be easy to mount on my yacht.

I associate solar arches, life raft mounted on deck, dinghy davits and hard spray hood (dodgers) with coastal cruisers which never venture more than 100km from a safe haven.

I want my yacht to meet the criteria of a "Blue Water Yacht" (This is a steel version of the yacht I am building)

There's some lovely Bavaria soft dodgers here:
Sprayhood Gallery - Tecsew

Tecsew are probably the best maker in the UK. This is my old boat
tecsew.com/boat-covers/tonneau-covers-zip-attached-to-sprayhood/bavaria-cruiser-33-tonneau-cover-zip-attached-to-sprayhood/ They use CAD for design and cutting and I sat down with John who owns the company to design the tonneau cover (the sprayhood was his standard design for the model). worked out very well and he made similar for other owners afterwards. just had a sprayhood and tonneau made to a similar design for my new boat, but made the old fashioned way by a different supplier.

 

[coopec]

Coopec, the key question is whether the boat has been designed and built for some form of sprayhood, whether canvas or fixed.

Most modern boats have This provides the base on which to attach the front of the sprayhood. It is generally designed in a curve which matches the shape of the sprayhood poles, so that the sprayhood can fold neatly down in front the the moulded lip. The hinges are generally at the rear / outer end of the moulded lip.
The other key design feature is some way to get ropes through under the sprayhood to reach halyard / reef winches and stoppers - without allowing too much water to come through along with the ropes! Again this is normally designed into the deck moulding.

Were any of these aspects included in the original deck?

If the deck has the spray deflector / moulding, I would be very tempted to get a canvas sprayhood fitted (a very standard job) and go sailing, and worry about hard tops later. Big danger of a theoretical design of a hard top not working with how you sail in practice.

Yes that's the way to go. "a moulded raised lip (water deflector) in the deck which curves around the coachroof - from the sides and round in front of the hatch." I could attach the hard dodger to the "molded raised lip".

Apart from the problems of bolting a hard dodger to the cored deck any load on the dodger by (say) a breaking wave would be spread across the whole deck by the "raised lip" rather than just 4 -6 bolts.
(Why didn't I think of that?)

Maybe some time down the track a version of Riada 11's dodger is a possibility?

 

[penfold]

If my yacht was steel (or aluminum) I'd go for a hard dodger. But my yacht hull and deck is cored which would make mounting a hard dodger a nightmare. I will have to study how soft dodgers are framed to see they would be easy to mount on my yacht.

Why should it be a nightmare? If you want it to be removable then construct a separate coaming with hard points for attaching and a wide flange that can be bonded to the coachroof with polyurethane. From the picture you posted there is no coaming so this would be no bad thing anyway, without a coaming a sprayhood would be prone to water running underneath.

 

[Kelpie]

Surely the correct answer is a Jammy Dodger

 

[coopec]

Surely the correct answer is a Jammy Dodger

You are on the wrong thread Kelpie but thanks for trying anyway.

What do Australians call Jammy Dodgers?

Arnott's Raspberry Shortcake are jam filled biscuits that are most popular in their home state of Victoria. Where they were launched in the 1960s. Often known as jammy dodgers in England, these biscuits have a unique Australian twist.

 

[Beneteau381]

I made one from 12mm foam and 750gsm glassfibre. All the windows open. The windscreen hinges to horizontal and has a shade cover. The height was dictated by the boom when reefing. The geometry was dictated by the existing empty space.

You will find that getting the seal where a new structure meets the deck difficult, but its easy. Make your dodger (God Pod) lay packing tape where the dodger will sit on the deck. Make up some filled resin (peanut butter), spread on the edge of your structure.. Plonk buttered structure on the packing tape (you will need help for this, it will be quite large) and leave to set off. Grind down the filled , now hard, resin and coat with glass tape. Remove packing tape. Spray paint. I made our edge where it meets the deck as a flange. Fix with sealant or screws and sealant. Perfect fit.

Ours has withstood seas over the cabin roof and 55 knots.

Jonathan

Amateur building of hard tops always look like an amateur build. The proportions are never right! What we call B&Q garden sheds! Sprayhoods done right are a delight to the eye, are strong, sturdy and withstand more than the vast majority of us will be out in.

 

[Daydream believer]

Jammie are my favourite ?

Only sort allowed on my boat
I have a friend with a 40ft Jeneau. Often go aboard for drinks. Getting below with that stupid sprayhood up is the most back breaking exercise ever. It is like doing a limbo dance.

How people can winch the sails up or just get to the hatchway beats me.
On my boat I can get my weight over the cabin top winches to reef or hoist the sails. On his, he has to either stand bent up like Quasimodo or reach under & try to turn the handles at arms length. He has to come out from under it to see what he is doing as he cannot just look up. When helming he has to stand up to see over the b..y thing & it provides zero protection. Most useless bit of kit known to man. If one wants to stop spray or rain going down the hatch then slide the b..y hatch cover shut
If one wants to go camping go buy a tent or a campervan

 

[dankilb]

Only sort allowed on my boat
I have a friend with a 40ft Jeneau. Often go aboard for drinks. Getting below with that stupid sprayhood up is the most back breaking exercise ever. It is like doing a limbo dance.

How people can winch the sails up or just get to the hatchway beats me.
On my boat I can get my weight over the cabin top winches to reef or hoist the sails. On his, he has to either stand bent up like Quasimodo or reach under & try to turn the handles at arms length. He has to come out from under it to see what he is doing as he cannot just look up. When helming he has to stand up to see over the b..y thing & it provides zero protection. Most useless bit of kit known to man. If one wants to stop spray or rain going down the hatch then slide the b..y hatch cover shut
If one wants to go camping go buy a tent or a campervan

We’ve got a 42’ Jen and our sprayhood only takes a couple of inches of height below the boom. There’s full standing headroom (I’m 6’1) everywhere aft of the bridge deck and plenty of space to swing a winch handle standing up.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Often known as jammy dodgers in England...

Never! They have always been, and forever will be, known as JAMMIE dodgers. There's nothing remotely resembling jam in them, so they can't possibly be called jammy.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Antipodeans should stay out of British biscuit cultural matters as they lack sophistication. One only has to experience Tim Tams and Boris Johnston as evidence of cultural ineptitude. (-; The Jammie Dodger: -

Jammie Dodgers - Wikipedia

 

[Daydream believer]

We’ve got a 42’ Jen and our sprayhood only takes a couple of inches of height below the boom. There’s full standing headroom (I’m 6’1) everywhere aft of the bridge deck and plenty of space to swing a winch handle standing up.

6ft 1 inch is NOT standing headroom. Sorry - not allowed to say £$%^& on the forum but think of Snow White.