I saw some posts here recently on this topic, and managed to get some pics of the one I built recently.

Construction is 12mm marine ply frame, with a 6mm marine ply skin. All joints are glued with epoxy resin.
Over that are two layers of chopped glass mat and epoxy, plus a few coats of paint.
Windows are 4.5mm polycarbonate, the side ones being one piece.

I made it to cover the cabin hatch as extra protection, and because I didn't want a cut out for the hatch.
On the cockpit side there is a lip across the top as a hand grip which I like a lot.

The SS hand rails are great.

It's strong enough to stand on and I feel quite snug in there.







Just launched, before the handles were fitted



The flange at the front was glassed on with the frame in place.
I put sellotape across the cabin top to stop the epoxy sticking to it.

I like it a lot. Has me thinking about one for my Top Hat now, which would double as a boom gallows too.

I keep looking at this one to be honest and wonder if it could handle and main sheet sail track attached to the end of the boom
Even if it had a soft top or half soft top

good topic !!!!

ive been thinking about this kind of thing as well !!!! common all you hard spray dodger /doghouse / pilot house designer /fabricators ................ bring them on !!!!


HG to be able to have the main traveler on top would be great for a tiller steer yacht !

but for a wheel steer the traveler just in front of the wheel i recon may be the go ... for single handing ease

Great Job.
A hard dodger is on my to do list as well. One of the first jobs I did when I first got my boat was to replace the soft dodger.
A lot to be said about not doing anything to a new boat untill you have used it for a while and really figure out what you want.

Here is my dodger, it is 100% f/glass. There is no lamminated ply structures exposed to enviroment by my experences. It was made inside of the ply "mould". Sacrefical mould was shaped and reinforced "in situe" on the boat. Inside of the dodger's casting foot "flange" of 50mm was formed, for bolting it down.











As reinforcement for posts half of 16mm pvc tube was used end later its hollow space served as electrical cables ducts. Ridgit top serves as base for semi flexible sol-panels and added hand grips on top edges helps too. Stay dry and see ahead on the pasage is my motto. (For me it may become handy "one day" I do hoppe).

manitulak, that is impressive!

This was my first attempt at such a thing, but the sentiment is the same - "Stay dry on the passage"

I found another photo of it before fitting.

manitulak that is a wonderful light but strong weight job !!!!!


it does seem though both you blokes have a piece off equipment that is common in your work places .
..............................................................................................................................................................

the trusty old milk-crate

Here my construction HO2 has all my construction pics. It high dencidy 10 and 15 mm pvc foam and carbon uni .....dont get lexan perspecs bent as it fades in the sun.

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SandS said..

manitulak that is a wonderful light but strong weight job !!!!!


it does seem though both you blokes have a piece off equipment that is common in your work places .
..............................................................................................................................................................

the trusty old milk-crate

Yes, it may be base of design process and definetly finishing can not be done whithout .
minimum 3, more better.
Disclamer, nomber of milk cratels does not garantee quality of work done.

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Libran said..
Great Job.
A hard dodger is on my to do list as well. One of the first jobs I did when I first got my boat was to replace the soft dodger.
A lot to be said about not doing anything to a new boat untill you have used it for a while and really figure out what you want.

A lot to be said about not doing anything to a new boat until you have used it for a while and really figure out what you want.

If Id taken that advice Id be sailing last season

Hard dodgers mostly look beautiful when you are standing behind them in moderate weather when there is a bit of spray coming over the bow.

They get real ugly looking when they are not part of the original design of the yacht and when you wish you did not have the windage they cause in a heavy blow.

OK for coastal cruising but not good for ocean sailing. Correct clothing is required.

I would of thought the other way round cisco. More useful in the ocean when you want constant protection from the elements, & most sailing is done downhill.
And less needed on coastal, because you know your going to be tucked into a cosy cove in a day or three.
My main concerns would be windage while anchoring & crazing on the clear sections. But I haven't done much sailing on yachts with hard dodgers.

What would your criteria be from those that have one, should you be able to see over it while standing in the cockpit, large as possible or small so it doesn't block your view of the sails etc?
cheers

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cisco said..

Hard dodgers mostly look beautiful when you are standing behind them in moderate weather when there is a bit of spray coming over the bow.

They get real ugly looking when they are not part of the original design of the yacht and when you wish you did not have the windage they cause in a heavy blow.

OK for coastal cruising but not good for ocean sailing. Correct clothing is required.

I agree. Mate put one on his Northerner/Compass 28. Was not good to windward in fresh conditions before, hopeless now.

One should wonder why the original designs did not include hard or even soft dodgers on most yachts except so called pilot-house cruisers? And if they did, the construct is very strongly built and is structurally part of the surround.

Anything not constructed that way might be swept into the briny at the first knock-down including instruments, ropage, the lot, attached to it may be even before by a large wave.

The holes cut into the front of the dodger on one of the pictures are prime examples of this. One would be safer with half-circle cut outs on the bottom edge of the front wall. If the dodger goes - and it will go sooner than later - at least the ropes and so the sails are going to be saved.
God forbid to attach any boom tracks to it. The first gybe in high winds will damage it or rip it off.

Beside all this it definitely ruins an otherwise beautiful yacht's look.

I am - and this is my personal opinion - strongly biased against most so called 'comfort additions' to a yachts and this includes lazy jacks, cockpit dodgers and any other additions which raise the superstructure, increase windage, raise the centre of gravity of the yacht and so alter the balance of the lot, which is a very important point of the original design.
Every grain of extra weight one adds to the yacht far away from the ballast or keel alters - raises - the centre of gravity and so, increases the forces acting on the hull enormously!

A good set of oilies are better investment after all we are out there to enjoy our natural environment.

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sirgallivant said..


A good set of oilies are better investment after all we are out there to enjoy our natural environment.

Yeah... Nah. Love your philosophy but my wife's not gonna buy that, Sir.

I agree some spray dodgers spoil the look of a nice old or new racing yacht.

But if the SV is being used for cruising , semi live-aboard or any ocean sailing down sth ..... in my opinion, good solid spray dodger or even better pilot house is a must.

you blokes up nth that recon, put on a coat ,hahaha,. you obviously have never been out in the wet and cold wind down here for any extended period.

i recon to be able to control the SV from the comfort of a wheelhouse , would be ideal , especially in Victoria and below.

but even up nth the rain [ it rains more in sydney than melb ] and sun would piss me off ....

Its wet weather gear for me for a while yet
But i can easily recall chartering a 40. Foot cat
In the witsundays only on it for two hours poking my head through the bimini while steering and looking down at me rather sun burnt foot glaring up at me like a stop light

While I can fully sympathize with the notions of not being cold and wet and being comfortable, it really depends on the yacht.

If I was to fit a hard dodger to my yacht it would ruin it and I should be horse whipped for doing it. My mate built one for his Adams 31 centre cockpit using foam sandwich. It looks pretty good and works well. He got sick of replacing his canvas dodger numerous times and built his solid one based on the canvas dodger shape. I will see if I can get a photo of it and post it for you DrRog.

If you want to be comfortable I reckon go the whole hog which puts you in the motor sailer bracket and there is nothing wrong with them if designed right. I did a delivery trip from Bundy to Sydney years ago on a Salar 40. When we had to punch a southerly blow with 3 metre swells for a day and a bit, the solid dodger became a thing of unsurpassed beauty. But on the Salar it is not a proper pilot house.





Popular in Aus are the Adams 36 motor sailer or the expanded to 40 foot versions. When you are getting into this type of yacht though, you are talking serious money so you need to be retired, wealthy and living onboard.





The very best pilot house yacht I have ever seen was Valhalla which is a Bollard Pilot House 40. She is very much a proper yacht with a low and sturdy looking pilot house fully enclosed with aft doors opening onto a proper aft sailing cockpit.

The whole yacht had a low line to her and not the high slab sides like the two examples above. Unfortunately I am unable to find an image of her.

that adams is nice with the dog house ! ............. now we are talking comfort and sensible sailing !!

I believe it's a solarr 40 motor sailer my mate has one ketch rigged. Not sure on the spelling.

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southace said..
I believe it's a solarr 40 motor sailer my mate has one ketch rigged. Not sure on the spelling.

There a nice boat the solar 40 been sailing on one years back the owners did the Japanese race I can recall them saying they got stuck in the doldrums and drank the boat dry Ha ha

My favorite would be the fisher 32

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cisco said..
My mate built one for his Adams 31 centre cockpit using foam sandwich. It looks pretty good and works well. He got sick of replacing his canvas dodger numerous times and built his solid one based on the canvas dodger shape. I will see if I can get a photo of it and post it for you DrRog.

That's be great, Cisco - I'm very curious. If it looks good I'll consider it in 10 years time.

This mate of yours, does he do The Interweb? I've been meaning to do an Adams newsgroup / forum for a while now.

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southace said..
I believe it's a solarr 40 motor sailer my mate has one ketch rigged. Not sure on the spelling.

The top photo is the Salar 40 which I think is a Laurent Giles design.

The bottom photo is the Adams 36 Motor Sailer.

Both are reasonably good sailers but the Salar would probably point higher with it's deeper keel.

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SandS said..

that adams is nice with the dog house ! ............. now we are talking comfort and sensible sailing !!

They are nice aren't they? I have seen a 40 version that had a steering pedestal on the back deck and the wheelhouse had a household type toilet in one corner and the wheelhouse was big enough to have a party with 20 people in it.

That particular one was round bilge steel with the hull painted Royal Blue and it looked like glass, the cabin trunks were white and the wheelhouse was made of oiled timber. I think they sold it for $350,000.

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DrRog said..

This mate of yours, does he do The Interweb? I've been meaning to do an Adams newsgroup / forum for a while now.

He is not a big fan of computers. He does use a laptop with C-Map on it but he reckons the world of computers is conspiring against him.

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DrRog said..

cisco said..
My mate built one for his Adams 31 centre cockpit using foam sandwich. It looks pretty good and works well. He got sick of replacing his canvas dodger numerous times and built his solid one based on the canvas dodger shape. I will see if I can get a photo of it and post it for you DrRog.

That's be great, Cisco - I'm very curious. If it looks good I'll consider it in 10 years time.

This mate of yours, does he do The Interweb? I've been meaning to do an Adams newsgroup / forum for a while now.

I got a Adams 42!

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southace said..

DrRog said..

cisco said..
My mate built one for his Adams 31 centre cockpit using foam sandwich. It looks pretty good and works well. He got sick of replacing his canvas dodger numerous times and built his solid one based on the canvas dodger shape. I will see if I can get a photo of it and post it for you DrRog.

That's be great, Cisco - I'm very curious. If it looks good I'll consider it in 10 years time.

This mate of yours, does he do The Interweb? I've been meaning to do an Adams newsgroup / forum for a while now.

I got a Adams 40!

Show off

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HG02 said..

southace said..

DrRog said..

cisco said..
My mate built one for his Adams 31 centre cockpit using foam sandwich. It looks pretty good and works well. He got sick of replacing his canvas dodger numerous times and built his solid one based on the canvas dodger shape. I will see if I can get a photo of it and post it for you DrRog.

That's be great, Cisco - I'm very curious. If it looks good I'll consider it in 10 years time.

This mate of yours, does he do The Interweb? I've been meaning to do an Adams newsgroup / forum for a while now.

I got a Adams 40!

Show off

Nooooooo I'm just saying! However I do have a Love Hate relationship with my Adams!

Just a quick note on hard dodgers and wheel houses.

Take a few pics from side on of your boat and then lay over the new dodger so you can see what it looks like. See SOOOOOO many ugly ones that with a bit of tweaking, a bent/straightened line here, a angled back of a window there, would lokk 100% better.

We did this on my old man's boat, big cabin that still looks a bit big but IMHO looks good on the boat