Hard (top) Dodger Construction

[Triton106]

For some time now I have been wishing that I have a dodger for Blossom (well, for me and my crew). As I knocked off various projects the dodger project is starting to rise to the top of the list. I have decided (or it has been decided for me) that I cannot afford to have a canvas shop make it for me. As a result, I have been looking at ways to make it myself. In addition, I have considered various designs and start to settle down on hard or hard top dodgers in lieu of the more common canvas dodgers.

Let me first explain, I am not talking about completely hard doger but some combination of hardtop or hardtop plus hard coaming but with a canvas front. Where I am (San Francisco Bay Area) it does get hot in the summer in marina so having an open front is important for air circulation. Although I know I can always build a hard dodger with opening front window I am not looking for that level of complexity in construction. I have seen a couple of hard top/hard combing designs in my marina that I thought are pretty good in design. Here is an example of hardtop/hard combing on a Cheoy Lee Offshore 40.




The owner explained to me that the dodger top and coaming are entirely made of fiberglass from a female mold. He also sat on the top to demonstrate how strong the dodger is. The only short coming is that it is bit small and does not protect the skipper from boarding waves from the front or side.

The other type of hardtop dodger I like is the design from Tartarooga. Here is a sample of their product.





I anticipate that this will be a huge project which I accept. The question that I have is what are the pros and cons of each desgin? What aspect of the construction will be most challenge and not get right (I am very concerned to spend a lot of time and end up with a real eye sore which I have seen in other people's attempt to build hard dodgers.)

[Hirilondë]

The vanity in me requires that everything I do on my boat has to look "right". By right, I mean to me, and includes all my quirks. I can only accept a soft dodger. I have concluded that the reasoning is that it represents removable. The fact that I never remove mine, except in storage, is besides the point. To me, any dodger looks out of place and awkward. But if it is soft I know it is removable and this some how makes it OK.

If you can live with, or even like a hard top with snap on front and/or sides, then maybe it is for you. But I can't imagine it will come in any cheaper than an all canvas one. Even without your labor.

[Tim]

The first question that comes to my mind about the "hard top" dodgers with soft fronts/sides is what do you gain over a well-built regular dodger?

Aesthetics aside, the supposed advantage of a hard dodger is that it's sturdy, permanent, and, well, hard. Taking away these features to include canvas windshields and possibly sides seems to negate this, leaving one with just a hard top that's never removable and probably can't look as good as a well-designed soft dodger.

If supposed strength for waves and serious offshore work is what one is looking for in considering a dodger, is a partial canvas arrangement somehow better than a full canvas arrangement? I say no. It's also arguable whether a full hard dodger is somehow better suited offshore, but that's stuff that's too involved for here.

Aesthetics are, to some extent, relative and personal. One can make their own compromises and choices there and who is to say what's right or wrong for anyone else. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a successful (to my eye) home-built hard dodger, with or without full sides. So somehow, a version that includes only a hard top, with soft sides, is sort of like an inboard/outboard engine: something that combines all the worst aspects of both types while improving on neither.

[Quetzalsailor]

One of the dandy advantages of a canvas/bows dodger is that the thing folds flat on the housetop. Better for visibility and reduced windage when racing. Better for reduced windage and drag when at risk of being pummeled by water and weather. If you're in the path of really nasty weather, the canvas comes readily off and stows below, along with the sails, lifesling, etc.

In general, I doubt most of the hard dodgers which are light enough to be tolerated on a small boat are strong enough to resist a good pummeling.

In general, I think most boats look better without dodgers or with dodgers folded down; ours surely does.

[Triton106]

Ouch! The experts have spoken out decidedly against the hardtop dodgers.

Let's start with what we agree upon - that dodgers of any kind in general detract from the aethetics of sail boats. However, they are functional in that they provide shelter from wind, wave, and rain. In SF Bay I would say dodgers are highly desirable having been dranched by boarding wave/spray a few times. In Southern California where I learned to sail (like Marina Del Rey or Newport Beach) they are not so important. Off shore, they are very important/desirable according to the folks I have spoken with (I have no offshore experience myself.)

So, given that I want a dodger the remaining question is what kind - soft or hard or hardtop. TIm, David, and Quetzalsailor have spoke the virtues of soft dodgers. Here are my thoughts on the virtues of hardtop dodgers examplified by Tartarooga (hard dodgers are not in consideration due to construction complexity) -

1. If molded right they are easy on my eyes than soft dodgers - but we agree this is a personal taste matter.
2. They are stronger and the top is suppose to last a lifetime (unless destroyed by a monster wave).
3. They give me a feeling of permmanence and security like a good hard dodger or pilot house (i.e. the area under the hard top feels more like a protected part of the interior than the cockpit.) This is again personal, somehow soft dodgers just don't give me that feeling.
4. They provide a platform for solor panels which I plan to install.

I agree with what Tim, David, and Quetzalsailor said about the issues with the hardtop dodgers. On the whole I still come out in favor of the hardtop dodgers.

[mitiempo]

Ray
I too am in favor of hard top or totally hard dodgers as opposed to canvas. If done right they will cost a great deal less than purchasing a soft dodger. This assumes you will build the hard dodger but would purchase a soft dodger. If you are able to fabricate a soft dodger the costs would be more comparable.

The majority of the soft dodgers I see around here are never folded down. For those that would like to do that (rare) a soft dodger is the best option. But for those who never fold it down a hard dodger will last a great deal longer in sun and weather than canvas. Even in good weather there is a good case to be made for shade and spray protection. A bimini can be attached to the aft end for extending the protection from the sun.

I once saw a picture (British magazine Practical Boating Owner) of a boat where they took a mold off of a canvas dodger and built it out of fiberglass - complete with wrinkle marks. It looked like canvas but was much more durable.

The pictures you posted of the yellow and red dodgers are good examples. I think they look as good with the hard top as they would with a soft top (color notwithstanding).

[Tim]

Note that I'm a big proponent of dodgers in general--I love mine, and wouldn't go without. I never fold it down or take it off during the season. It has an opening front panel for ventilation, and removable wings as well, so it's versatile, but it's always there. I don't mind this. I think a good dodger can look good, whether its soft or rigid. Few things look worse than poor canvas or amateur hard dodgers.

I have nothing against hard dodgers except most of them look like boxes dropped onto the boat from considerable height, slightly mashing the box appearance but not really hiding the fact that it's a box.

There are far too many personal choices when it comes to dodgers to suggest one size fits all. I question my own ability to mold an attractive hard dodger without 200 hours of labor, and for my own needs wouldn't see the benefit to do so. I like the contrasting colors and textures available with acrylic canvas products, and feel these suit the lines of most sailboats better. My personal opinion only, of course.

I don't mind the looks of that Tartarooga hard top as shown (I hate the high gloss bright colors), but don't see it being much of an advantage over a quality canvas product since the thing's mostly canvas anyway. This might be a tougher thing to make look right on a boat as small as a Triton, though. The boats shown have wide, modern cabin trunks that seem fairly well suited to the wide, flat airplane wing shape of that top.

One must do what suits one's own tastes and needs, not others. The idea here is to showcase a few pros and cons to help you on your way.

I think the biggest challenge with a hard dodger is making it look attractive. The normal plywood things, like that monstrosity on the otherwise attractive-looking yawl in your original post, are abominations, but sadly this is mostly what one thinks of when "hard dodger" is mentioned.

I've seen some nice ones, usually on high-end custom boats (where of course money and time were of little object during construction, and the dodger was probably carefully designed by whoever designed the custom boat on which it sits). The time to build a sweet, fair, shapely plug that carefully integrated with the boat it was intended for, form a fiberglass part off it, and fair/smooth/paint it seems extraordinary, but that's what it would take to make something that looked nice.

I challenge you to build a nice one and prove it can be done! Get to work.

[mitiempo]

And if you do please post pictures!

Here are a few examples of hard dodgers - the last 2 pics show a Triton that looks ok but not great. The hard hatch dodger on the racing boat looks as modern as the boat does. And 2 that look pretty good.

[Chris Campbell]

I've always liked the Halberg-Rassy style, with a rigid windshield and a soft dodger on top (Malo does it as well, perhaps some others). Not sure how you'd pull it off as an afterthought, though - it wouldn't be easy, and even less easy to make look good. Tim showed us some in canvas that a company in Maine (Gemini Canvas) is doing a few years back, though... link to thread

Halberg Rassy 31 with windshield, top folded:


And a Monsun (not a great shot) with the top in place:


And the place in Maine:
top down

and up


I suspect Gemini doesn't do theirs cheaply, they look really good, and well made. Shows you that there are all kinds of options, doesn't it!


(edited to add one with the roof in place)

[Rachel]

Nice addition to the thread, Chris, the opposite tack (hard windshield, soft top).

I once spent a day on an Amel Super Maramu, and they have a setup very similar to the Hallberg Rassy with the hard windshield and then a foldaway soft top. That was really handy. The way it was set up on the Amel, it was so quick and easy to deploy and stow, that the Captain probably changed it fifteen times over the course of a day. It was a one-handed deal. (The Amel has the helm to port at the forward end of the cockpit - jut on the after side of the cabin, so the helmsman is handy to it.)

I guess in some ways the zippered center panel on cloth dodgers might give you a better breeze, but there is something to be sail for the super quick/easy of the Amel style (not that it's so hard to raise the center panel on a cloth dodger, but it's not a two-second, one-handed operation either). Actually, on the Amel the hard windshield panels opened too, but of course it's a much larger, more complex boat. I'm not sure if you could scale this down for a Triton, but it's an interesting concept.

Here are a couple of photos:

I wonder about another possible advantage: By folding the dodger top forward, could one potentially eliminate that narrow area you typically get going forward, where you have to kind of squeeze past the dodger? I'm not sure about this because I can't completely visualize how the sides would lay out.

Here is a not-as-close-up-as-it-could shot of a homemade windshield on an Allied Chance 30/30. The "rim" is bent/laminated wood, as I remember it. Really nice looking, with a curved windshield panel. I can't remember if he ever made a top for it or not, but he's done some fairly extensive cruising with it.

[Triton106]

Chris, Rachel,

Those rigid windshield softtop dodgers on Halberg Rassy and Amel are very pretty and although I have seen them before I did not consider them because (a) they are far beyond my skill levels (with five fingers and no opposing thumb and all), and (b) they do not provide a platform for a solar panel.

I have never seen the Gemini drop top dodgers before. But for the same reasons I cannot consider them for DIY.

Tim Wrote:

I think the biggest challenge with a hard dodger is making it look attractive. The normal plywood things, like that monstrosity on the otherwise attractive-looking yawl in your original post, are abominations, but sadly this is mostly what one thinks of when "hard dodger" is mentioned.

I've seen some nice ones, usually on high-end custom boats (where of course money and time were of little object during construction, and the dodger was probably carefully designed by whoever designed the custom boat on which it sits). The time to build a sweet, fair, shapely plug that carefully integrated with the boat it was intended for, form a fiberglass part off it, and fair/smooth/paint it seems extraordinary, but that's what it would take to make something that looked nice.

I challenge you to build a nice one and prove it can be done! Get to work.

Well, the boss has spoken. Better get out the fiberglass and resins and start mixing ;-) I will keep this thread and post any future progress on the project.

[Rachel]

Chris, Rachel,

Those rigid windshield softtop dodgers on Halberg Rassy and Amel are very pretty and although I have seen them before I did not consider them because ...... they do not provide a platform for a solar panel.

You have probably seen my semi-rant about having solar panels on top of the dodger, so I won't ramble on about it here, other than to say that I would not repeat that location myself (have tried it). A real pain to keep from being shaded. OTOH, maybe solar panels have evolved since I used them and that doesn't matter as much (I know they had panels before that were partial-shade tolerant, but they were generally more low-output and maybe not as good in other ways, if I remember correctly). Or you may be more accepting of the trade-off than I was.

Rachel

[Triton106]

Rachel, you are right that is far from an ideal location for solar panels. Only thing I can say is it is better than nothing. The alternative is to mount them on the pushpit rail as James Baldwin has done some of the boats he worked on. I don't think that is a great location while under way. I have to read up more on how much efficiency is lost by mounting on top of the dodgers under the boom. Would it help to tie the boom off center to one side of the panel?

[Rachel]

Hi Ray,

Yes, it does help to crank the boom over so it is off-center. There are a couple of problems with that though. One is that when you are sailing this does not always work (of course); and the other is that if you are at anchor the boat can swing and thus the boom does not "stay" off center in relation to the sun. Same goes for the sun moving around its daily arc when the boat is not moving, or not moving in synch with the sun. Then too, you have the backstay, and other lines, the mast, etc.

I've been on two boats that used solar panels. One one the panel was mounted on the stern pulpit; on the other it came mounted on top of the dodger (and was shaped wrong to move elsewhere). On the first boat it was basically "fit and forget" (although it was demountable for stowage below in rough going); on the second boat it was a constant pain keeping it out of the shade - mostly of the boom.

My friend who owned the boat (although he did not install the panel) was a little bit "Oh are you sure you're not being a little too critical?" when I said "Hmm, how is that dodger mount going to work with the boom there?" but after living with it day-in and day-out for awhile I don't think he would have chosen that location again either. That said, it did work, and it was in a space we weren't using for anything else -- so it had its plusses.

I think I would opt for either the stern pulpit area or - a location I have seen and thought looked nice but not tried myself - in the "weathercloth area" on either side of the cockpit. A friend has two there (on on each side) and they can be left down (i.e. up against the weathercloths) or rotated up to be like two horizontal "shelves." I've seen fairly complicated systems but his is very simple, consisting of cushion clamps, pvc rods, etc. I'm not sure if there would be room for this on a Triton or not.

I would always like them to be removable in case of really wanting to strip the boat, but basically "permanent" most of the time.

I don't mean to be too negative about your dodger mounting choice, but I just wanted to let you know my experience.

On the other hand, "The Chicken Wing" was always easy to spot in the anchorage ;)

Rachel

[Tim]

Simple decisions on boats are nothing if not complicated.

[captphil416]

Dear Ray; Aesthetics are of course your own choice. My Triton came with a cheap aluminum bimini frame that I cut down to make a dodger frame. I then Installed the frame on the boat, and stabilized it with lathing strips. To this I pop riveted 3mm marine ply. Next, I applied 3 layers of glass to the exterior and let it cure one week. The structure was then removed glassed and cored on the inside. I measured, then reinforced the window frames and cut them out. The center window was made from automotive safety glass. The side windows were glazed with .093 acryllic carefully bent into shape with a paint stripping gun. All seals were done with 3m strip caulk. All windows were installed floating with no thru bolts, held in place with 1/4" wood strips. This dodger came through a trans Atlantic voyage without problems. Solar Panel mounts and a boom crutch were incororated into the design. Over the years this dodger has evolved into a near pilot house. This project is not all that difficult, but is extremely labor intensive ( ie it takes a long time) As for the solar panels, they kept the batteries up for two years without assistance. When in port simply move the boom to the side, and while at sea the main seldom masked the panels. To be fair Deep Blue was designed to consume only 0.7 amps nightime draw with all instruments and nav. lights running. Sorry no pics. I'm computer illiterate. Good luck with your project. Phil

[Rachel]

Sorry no pics. I'm computer illiterate. Good luck with your project. Phil

Then I want to know how you're posting here? ;^)
Seriously, if you have a digital camera (and thus the basis for photos to post), I can help you learn how to post photos. If you want to.

Also, I'm glad you posted about your dodger-mounted solar panel putting out enough charge for your needs, as that's a handy counterpoint to my moaning about it ;) Actually ours mostly did, although we had a few more goodies to support, such as occasional RADAR, VHF and SSB radio use, a laptop, interior and running lights (pre-LED), propane solenoid, GPS, and battery charging of AA's for various things. Also there were two of us, so a bit more usage in lighting. I think we probably needed the output from our panel a bit more, and thus we were more strained by the need to continuously make sure it was not shaded. Then too, I had prior experience with one mounted on the stern pulpit, which we never gave a thought to. I will say the look of it was nice on the dodger top, as it blended in with the lines and did not take up any space we would have used for anything else.

Ray, one other potential consideration for your dodger design (which you may already have in hand): Where are you planning to carry your dinghy? We had ours on the coach roof just aft of the mast, and a 7' just fit. However, the dodger was kind of long and low (which did give it a nice look), and it carried forward a bit. If we had designed it, and had wanted to trim the forward a bit somehow, we could have carried an 8' dinghy, which might have been nice (not sure I would have changed it for that, but nice to know in advance). I know you'll be dealing with smaller dimensions all around, but I just mention it so you don't come up a few inches short when it would have been easy to change it in the design phase.

[Triton106]

Ray, one other potential consideration for your dodger design (which you may already have in hand): Where are you planning to carry your dinghy? We had ours on the coach roof just aft of the mast, and a 7' just fit. However, the dodger was kind of long and low (which did give it a nice look), and it carried forward a bit. If we had designed it, and had wanted to trim the forward a bit somehow, we could have carried an 8' dinghy, which might have been nice (not sure I would have changed it for that, but nice to know in advance). I know you'll be dealing with smaller dimensions all around, but I just mention it so you don't come up a few inches short when it would have been easy to change it in the design phase.

Thanks for all of your helpful pointers and advice. I have a small Zodiac as dinghy. As a matter of fact I have two small Zodiacs. The old one came with the boat and is rowed (no mount for outboard) and in a fit of my inexperienced enthusiam for reasons I don't even remember I bought a second Zodiac that can handle a outboard perhaps so that I can use the outboard that also came with the boat. Although I actually store the old Zodiac on top of the cabin top fully inflated (I actually enjoy rowing the old Zodiac than motoring with the new one - go figure) . I imagine that after I install the dodger I will have to fold it up everytime.

Aesthetics are of course your own choice. My Triton came with a cheap aluminum bimini frame that I cut down to make a dodger frame. I then Installed the frame on the boat, and stabilized it with lathing strips. To this I pop riveted 3mm marine ply. Next, I applied 3 layers of glass to the exterior and let it cure one week. The structure was then removed glassed and cored on the inside. I measured, then reinforced the window frames and cut them out. The center window was made from automotive safety glass. The side windows were glazed with .093 acryllic carefully bent into shape with a paint stripping gun. All seals were done with 3m strip caulk. All windows were installed floating with no thru bolts, held in place with 1/4" wood strips.

Phil, that sound like a very interesting construction method which I have not thought of. If you could take some pictures it will be greatly appreciated by everyone reading the forum. It's not all that hard once you get hold of a digital camera which can be bought on eBay for less than $100. Mine is very old and beat up but it still works adequately. Tim has a rule for posting on this forum - after 15 posts without pictures you will be kicked off and locked out permanently.

[Hirilondë]

I actually enjoy rowing the old Zodiac than motoring with the new one - go figure.

You're a sick man :>)

[Triton106]

Dave,

Actually not that sick... It's a soft bottom Zodiac which I modifed by building a 1/2" plywood bottom. Under the plywood bottom I added a couple of foam swim noodles to creat a "keel" to add stability. With that modification it actually rows really well. I was suprised by how much stability it improved. I actually sit on the plywood floor and my back is resting comfortablly on the soft dinghy transom (since it does not have a hard transom to support an outboard). It's deceiving fast (relatively speaking of course) and very peaceful (not having a noisy outboard to disturb you) to cruise around the Oakland estuary.

Best toy I ever "bought" and received many complements from the people sailing by or around marina.

[Hirilondë]

With that modification it actually rows really well.

Umm, errr, welll, maybe it rows better, but no inflatable rows really well. ;>)

I agree with you about the quiet, but you need a hard boat to row well, and even then, just being hard alone doesn't mean it rows well.

[Rich P]

http://www.syrebellion.com/info-boot-en.htm

If you scroll down to near the bottom you can see the Solid Dodger on this boat, I actually think it doesn't look to bad, and it should be nice and functional!
I'm probably going to make a removable version for my boat.

[mitiempo]

Really? And that green interior!

[captphil416]

Ray and Rachel; Thanks for your offers of help. When I return to Md. come March I will get some lessons. Meanwhile I have e-mailed Dick Coerse and hopefully he can post some photos. These hardtops are becoming more and more popular with ocean boats. Perhaps we need a separate discussion concerning solar panels. As an old backpacker I took the minimalist route for sure. To use solar as your energy source requires a total rethink of the entire electrical system. FYI the total cost of my dodger was about $450, but if I had paid myself $2.00/hr the price would have been astronomical. For those with dingy storage problems, Chesapeake Light Craft has introduced a nice nester. Good luck all Phil

[One Way David]

Ray, I have little experience but some comments.

Tim is working on a boat with the ultimate dodger that doesn't fold down.

Jessica Watson circumnavigated with a S&S 34 with a very nice hard dodger that took 4 knockdowns in stride. I tried to snag an image but they seem to be protected. Easily googled or in her book.

A soft center and side would improve the duribility of a hard dodger by providing wash-away front and walls for that heavy weather sailing. With proper design and fabrication, a hard dodger could be made that would withstand the seas as well as the cabin top, the deck and the rest of the boat.

If one has the skills to make a hard dodger, they could make a soft dodger. And vice versa.

Back in the day, 1980s or so, not every motorcycle came with a cafe fairing. I wanted one and could not afford an off the shelf item. So, I made one out of hand laid fiberglass. I used chicken wire to mould the form and had at it. I had about 1/1 millionth of the knowlege that is available through this site on working with epoxies and fiberglass. With more information from here and elsewhere, I think I could do a very good job of making a MC fairing or a hard dodger.

Today, I think I would use styrofoam to mould and form. The chicken wire fairing was a tad heavy. Not that I raced or anything.

As said above, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Dave.

[Hulukupu]

Aethetics aside, if a major goal is to have a mounting surface for a solar panel, have you considered a lightweight flexible panel? Lin and Larry Pardey used a pair on their cabin top while cruising. I have done the same with a single unit, including laying it over my canvas dodger. Thin film technology keeps improving and these flexible panels are gentle on the cabin interior when you move it inside to get it out of the weather.

[truehand]

Hi everyone, I'm new here, haven't introduced myself. Name's Dave and I just bought an Alberg 35.

Great thread! I am, so far, a proponent of hard dodgers.
Here's what Palmer Johnson drew up back in '82 for a hard teak dodger on an Alberg 35. complete with spotlight, horn and solar panels.(I wonder if boom gallows could also be incorporated?)


I also found Yves Gelanais' soft dodger interesting on his Alberg 30 in the way he used inflatable struts for the frame so a wave could crush it but it would just spring back.

cheers,
Dave

[Triton106]

Welcome Dave of Toronto! Sorry there are a number of Dave's on this forum. It can be confusing at times.

Interesting drawing of hard dodger on the Palmer Johnson Alberg 35. Do you have more details? While I think hard dodgers are great for higher latitutes like Toronto (beautiful town BTW - been there many times) it is not as practical in SF Bay Area or warmer climate. But I am always interested in different dodger designes.

Also interested in the bow sprit in the drawing. I am pretty sure the original Alberg 35 does not include a bow sprit. Do you have a more detailed drawings of the sprit and sail plan?

[mitiempo]

It didn't have a bowsprit and I don't think it had a V-drive either.

[Zach]

There is no reason you can't make a cloth dodger top design into a fiberglass hard dodger...

From my hotrod days, I would take polyester fleece batting and stretch it over forms of varying shapes of roundness... Stapling it on the back sides of the from. You can make a rounded corner quite easily, or taper a cone to a square with very little jig and fixture work behind it. When done, just cut or grind out the inner works. Small stuff I'd make out of polystyrene foam wrapped in mylar packing tape, glass it then dump acetone in to dissolve the foam, and peel out the packing tape. Epoxy doesn't need packing tape to keep the foam from desolving.

The polyester fleece sags a bit between the frames, but if you have frames it doesn't take much to ride a straight edge along and glass up to where it is close, and pull putty to make it smooth between them.

The polyester fleece gets saturated with polyester resin, lightly dabbed with a paint brush until it is resin rich. It takes a lot to fully wet it out.

Once it kicks off, while it is green rip mat off the roll in chunks, and saturate it by dunking it into a bucket of resin sticking it in place. You can glass over a very complex shaped surface without it putting up any fight at all. You could core it with blocks of foam that are smaller than the radius that would make it look like a polygon sticking them in place evenly over everything, sanding and fairing the blocks, then glassing the outside the normal way... just studying where the darts and seams would normally be on a cloth dodger.

From here you can either call this your plug, and get it faired smooth on the outside, making the inside of your part smooth. If that is the case, break out the drywall mud and smear it over the top of the surface. Once that drys, take some bondo and cut it with polyester resin (both of them catalyzed... until it is runny. Kick it off hot) to give the dry wall mud some body that you can bring to a smoother polished finish. From here you can either wax the snot out of it, or paint it. Don't use car wax, get some actual mold release wax. Spray or brush everything with Poly Vinyl Alcohol... (PVA) spraying makes a nicer finish, as there aren't brush marks.

I used to use Dynatron Dyna-Delite, which is a bit more expensive than the normal old bondo... but it doesn't shrink as much and has a smaller grain size.

If you are only making one and a little weight doesn't matter... sand the outside fair just takes making templates that describe the corners at there station lines, and skim coating in putty. Once you have some material on top of the glass to sand fair, shape the corners with a strip of sandpaper on a piece of 2 inch PVC pipe working in X pattern if they are straight and not tapered... If not, just get as long of a flexible a long board as you can make. I used to use pieces of rubber floor mat, like the industrial anti-fatigue mats... black with the smooth side and ribbed side as they lay flat and will conform to most anything.

The glory of something that isn't flat, and doesn't have any real defining shapes is that so long as the top surface is fair with no low spots it looks the part. Flat is easier to make, but looks clunky to the eye if everything is flat and then a big curve on top. The top needs to have some taper (like on a cloth top) where the camber and width changes along the length. Taper in the sides, and round up the front. A touch of overhang in the back. Also you can study the proportions on some good looking hard tops. They are short, not very long along the length of the boat, and taper more than you'd think as they go forward.

Lastly, when you are done you could shoot it with paint that has a flattening agent in a cream color and from 20 feet no one will no the difference.

Cheers,

Zach

[sail_fix]

I have a thread on this subject over at Ericsonyachts.org, and certainly appreciate the thoughts and pictures here.
While this is down my project list a ways, it is something we need for our boat. Every wet trip offshore reminds me of the value of a good dodger.
If I chicken out of building a mold for a hard dodger, this is probably our top choice in a fabric dodger:
http://www.iversonsdesign.com/
His work is very very good.

Choices and Options... as they say...

LB

[Rachel]

Also interested in the bow sprit in the drawing. I am pretty sure the original Alberg 35 does not include a bow sprit. Do you have a more detailed drawings of the sprit and sail plan?

I have a question about that too; Dave just started a thread specifically for his boat and its Palmer Johnson refit - not sure if you saw it yet - but I'm going to ask a question over there.

[One Way David]

Name's Dave and I just bought an Alberg 35.

I am jealous.

Zach, you are a wealth of knowledge and may rival Rachel to the knowledge of trivia award (sorry Rachel).

From my hotrod days, I would take polyester ...

I wish I had known about polystyrene and mylar back when.

Achem. Other posts on the Questions and Answers; plumb, square and level...

The glory of something that isn't flat, and doesn't have any real defining shapes is that ...

Well, maybe not plumb, square, and level but applies to esoteriosity of perception.

Dave.

[Poda]

Name's Dave and I just bought an Alberg 35

Welcome Dave! Where are you based out of in Toronto? Beautiful boat you have there :)

[captphil416]

Ray; You can see Deep Blue and her hard dodger in the mail bouy section of the current issue of Good Old Boat. Lots of luck Phil