Hard Dodger (Sprayhood) Illustrated Guide - Examples, Tips

[pcmm]

I'll throw mine in. Sunbrella sides with a hard top. I can see over the dodger from the helm but can duck under the dodger and reach back to the wheel when it's crappy out. there is enough shelter to sit under the dodger too. Though when the canvas wears out I'll probably replace it with hard sides as the canvas cost MORE than the rest of the structure combined!

[Wombat]

I have had a number of compliments on my home built hardtop which we added to "Wombat of Sydney", our Beneteau First 47.7 in 2009. The final results have been very pleasing for long passages and sitting on the hook. We made our out of 3/4" Kledge Cell foam and 600 gram double bias cloth on each side. It is very nearly bullet proof!

A couple of things that have made it really work for us and I would recommend be considered on your projects are:

1 - make sure that it is strong enough to stand on(two men can stand on ours makes it very easy for folding sails etc)

2 - make the fairleads for lines such that each line runs through its own tube (this makes it such that the lines might get damp inside the dodger, but no water comes through, making the entire area usable.)

3 - make the windows in the dodger out of plexiglass (you can take green water over the top and not have it push in the window(we know another boat that had a window collapse and a great deal water went below)

4 - Have a overhead port which allows you to see the gooseneck for easy reefing

5 -put recessed cockpit lights in the ceiling which makes night time on deck nicer

6 - put a water-tight power box under the dodger which has both AC and DC outlets for enroute use

7 - consider having the top extend aft enough to create a dry area of a useable size, it also makes sunny passages more enjoyable

8 - For cold wet weather have sunbrella/vinyl side and back curtains that slide in place

Of course all of the above may not apply to your application but I do highly recommend a hardtop or hard dodger for live-aboard or long passage sailing.

For those interested in more pictures, this is a link to our FB album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=d1bab1089b

You can never be too comfortable enroute!

[jmh2002]

^^^ All of that makes 300% absolute total good sense.

And great pics too, thanks

[DenverSailors]

Originally Posted by Wombat

I have had a number of compliments on my home built hardtop which we added to "Wombat of Sydney", our Beneteau First 47.7 in 2009. The final results have been very pleasing for long passages and sitting on the hook. We made our out of 3/4" Kledge Cell foam and 600 gram double bias cloth on each side. It is very nearly bullet proof!



A couple of things that have made it really work for us and I would recommend be considered on your projects are:



1 - make sure that it is strong enough to stand on(two men can stand on ours makes it very easy for folding sails etc)



2 - make the fairleads for lines such that each line runs through its own tube (this makes it such that the lines might get damp inside the dodger, but no water comes through, making the entire area usable.)



3 - make the windows in the dodger out of plexiglass (you can take green water over the top and not have it push in the window(we know another boat that had a window collapse and a great deal water went below)



4 - Have a overhead port which allows you to see the gooseneck for easy reefing



5 -put recessed cockpit lights in the ceiling which makes night time on deck nicer



6 - put a water-tight power box under the dodger which has both AC and DC outlets for enroute use



7 - consider having the top extend aft enough to create a dry area of a useable size, it also makes sunny passages more enjoyable



8 - For cold wet weather have sunbrella/vinyl side and back curtains that slide in place



Of course all of the above may not apply to your application but I do highly recommend a hardtop or hard dodger for live-aboard or long passage sailing.



For those interested in more pictures, this is a link to our FB album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=d1bab1089b



You can never be too comfortable enroute!

Fantastic project and terrific advice!

[daletournier]

Hi Wombat, I rarely see a good looking hard dodger on a mono, yours looks great,well done.

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Hi Wombat, I rarely see a good looking hard dodger on a mono, yours looks great,well done.

I was not interested in having a "box on top", so we did a lot of silhouettes on the boat and got back 50 ft to see how it looked. We did that from all angles to end up with the shape we went with. The biggest compliment that we got was when an Oyster owner asked if they could take a number of photos to use in getting one made for their boat! Don't know if they did or not, but it was nice.

Anyway, thanks for the comment. By the way, now I would not consider sailing a passage without it.....even if it looked like a "box on top".

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Wombat

I have had a number of compliments on my home built hardtop which we added to "Wombat of Sydney", our Beneteau First 47.7 in 2009. The final results have been very pleasing for long passages and sitting on the hook. We made our out of 3/4" Kledge Cell foam and 600 gram double bias cloth on each side. It is very nearly bullet proof!

A couple of things that have made it really work for us and I would recommend be considered on your projects are:

1 - make sure that it is strong enough to stand on(two men can stand on ours makes it very easy for folding sails etc)

2 - make the fairleads for lines such that each line runs through its own tube (this makes it such that the lines might get damp inside the dodger, but no water comes through, making the entire area usable.)

3 - make the windows in the dodger out of plexiglass (you can take green water over the top and not have it push in the window(we know another boat that had a window collapse and a great deal water went below)

4 - Have a overhead port which allows you to see the gooseneck for easy reefing

5 -put recessed cockpit lights in the ceiling which makes night time on deck nicer

6 - put a water-tight power box under the dodger which has both AC and DC outlets for enroute use

7 - consider having the top extend aft enough to create a dry area of a useable size, it also makes sunny passages more enjoyable

8 - For cold wet weather have sunbrella/vinyl side and back curtains that slide in place

Of course all of the above may not apply to your application but I do highly recommend a hardtop or hard dodger for live-aboard or long passage sailing.

For those interested in more pictures, this is a link to our FB album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=d1bab1089b

You can never be too comfortable enroute!

Thanks for adding your nice Hard Dodger to the mix.
I like the way it looks. Nice and smooth and sleek shape. .
I also looked at all of the photos via your link above. Nice to see the build process (and even the floating of it on water).

Thanks for adding your text tips too.

I am curious about something, which I could not determine from the photos (too small).

Does your Hard Dodger have some kind of handhold on the outside so one can hold onto it when going forward? Perhaps a stainless hand rail? I could not see one in the photos shared so far. My opinion is that a good handrail is very helpful when going forward around a dodger (soft or hard).

Thanks again for contributing to the discussion.

[jhulmer]

Hi Steadman

I came across this google group pictures that has some interesting hard dodgers for review.

I couldn't figure out how to copy some of the better pictures to post here.

But here is the link:

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/...svbiwucTBYeaYs

[sanibel sailor]

Surprised nobody has posted a Sundeer. I am envious of these. Seems well designed and attractive.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

Surprised nobody has posted a Sundeer. I am envious of these. Seems well designed and attractive.

I don't think that's a factory one on that Sundeer (maybe they evolved over the years?)... it's a little too squared off compared to others. Able/Morris Apogee is another nicely designed set-up with almost pilothouse level of room.


We're currently in the process of putting the canvas front and side on our hard top dodger. Man, getting canvas right is much harder than the little glass work it would have taken to do a completely hard dodger. Regrets

Matt

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

We're currently in the process of putting the canvas front and side on our hard top dodger. Man, getting canvas right is much harder than the little glass work it would have taken to do a completely hard dodger. Regrets

Yeah ain't that the truth ^^^. Plus the canvas is always at the risk of getting wrecked sooner and/or easier, or can just plain look 'old' quicker.

After a lot of years I think I lean in the direction of considering opening, folding, retractable, and/or removable panels/windows/hatches on a hard dodger if at all possible.

[Psy at SEA]

Here is a wet boat solid dodger

[Psy at SEA]

A prototype for an Amel 54?


I like Amel designs, but this has gotta take the cake

[Emoyeni]

This is a really helpful thread that I will use when building my hard dodger. Thanks for posting.

[mitiempo]

Here's a good video of a hard dodger build. Every step explained and a good result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wYICajlek