Canvas over the sailboat in winter

[danstanford]

I have had a large and complex cover for one of my boats that took half a day for 2 people to assemble. I have paid for shrink wrapping for several years for another, but this low profile cover I have for my most recent boat is the best solution and only takes me an hour or so by myself. The little bags are filled with sand and do a great job keeping the cover in place over a blustery winter.

[Rightbrainer]

I built a very functional mast-down winter cover that shed snow quite well using a heavy silver tarp and simple frame. My boat is much smaller than yours, but the concept should scale reasonably well. You may want to add cross braces (bottom chords) to firm up the legs.

I used 2 x4's to make A-frames and an old stripped mast for a ridge pole. You could use a 2x? on edge padded with carpet for the ridge. There is probably something in the Lowe's Depot fencing department, too. The working mast makes a lousy ridge because the chafe from hardware will destroy your tarps. I had one A-frame for each set of stanchions. The frame was stabilized with fore and aft guy ropes tied to deck hardware. The stanchions poked through the tarp to increase the pitch, which made a big difference in shedding water and snow. I duct taped the tarp around the stanchion bases to reduce leaking and flapping.

It is very important for it to shed water and snow or you'll get hundreds of pounds of captured H20 that could collapse the whole rig. Weight the lower edges of the tarp (milk jugs/sand) in addition to tying down so it all stays taught. My boat doesn't have pretty rub rails, so chafe isn't a concern for me.

I think fewer, chunkier frame members rather than lots of lighter strapping is more reliable. With a little imagination, you could make the frames fold, so they store more easily in the summer.

[JimsCAL]

Taking off on some to the good comments Rightbrainer made above regarding using tarps and making a frame to support it.

Steep is good. Rain runs off and snow slides off. Question becomes how do I get a steep angle and with the stanchions there?. Requires slitting the tarp at each stanchion or removing them and the lifelines completely.

I found that as long as the tarp is good and snug and well supported so there are no places water and snow and collect, even a shallow angle will work. My PVC electrical conduit frames are attached to the stanchions and lifelines and two tarps goes over everything. I have a frame at every stanchion plus one in the middle of each span.
The lines running from the grommets from one side to the other are enough to tighten the tarps so no pockets are created that can collect water. I do go down every couple of weeks in the winter or after a snow to check things. Sometimes lines need a bit of tightening or the PVC frames shift a bit if some heavy snow sits on top to tarps. No big deal