Stem to stern canvas makeover

Published On: March 1, 2013Categories: MFA Excellence Awards

Outstanding Achievement Award | Hood Marine Canvas & Training | Merrimac, Mass.

This project won a 2013 MFA Outstanding Achievement Award in the sailboat dodgers category. It provided beauty, comfort and protection to the owners of a classic 1969 vintage sailing yacht.

Our client wanted an entire canvas makeover stem to stern. His old dodger did not have a nice shape to the sides. It did not fit the overall clean lines of his classic Hinckley. He wanted a better fitting traditional-style dodger that was aesthetically more pleasing for his Hinckley. He requested a welded, leather wrapped aft handle.

We needed to create a smooth transition from the narrow cabin top to the much wider cockpit coaming. We accomplished this by mounting the frame outboard of the cabin top, midway to the coaming. When patterning we bridged this gap with a straight line from outboard of the coaming to the nose of the dodger. The gap that was created by so doing was filled by a tab of fabric going straight into the cabin sides and secured with a fastener. This created a smooth transition on the sides, eliminating the large inward dimple of his previous dodger.

Our client was ecstatic with the traditional fully rounded overall look of his dodger. He especially liked the toast Sunbrella color and the quality workmanship of all his new canvas.