This is the most beautiful designed hard dodger build I have seen on RU-vid. By my opinion it is in a class of its own. Very, very well done! And thank you for sharing!
Beautiful !!! I had a canvas shop for 34 years. Amazing job. As a sailor I would like to give one piece of advice. Handles, Handles, Handles. You will never be sorry, even if they don't "look" good. Again true craftsmanship.
Thanks James. We discuss what kind of handle we wantfor and it probably be an custom made one that follows the line of the dodger. Thanks for the good advice.👍😁
This is the only RU-vid video that really spent time on the design process, and the revisions to make it "perfect". It looks amazing finished - Well done
Great videos! I used to own a boat building company here in Canada, and you did everything right....I am rebuilding an older 37 foot boat at the moment and will be building my own hard dodger using very similar techniques. I use MDF for the mold as it gives a smooth finish and releases well.I think I will build male plug out of plywood and then cover it with mdf so that I have a female mold to do the layup on. Also, as quick tip for other builders, you can use childrens modelling clay in the corners of female molds to round them out and it does an excellent job. Great work!
Thanks for your advice, the childrens clay was a good idea can be useful for other projects. MDF board 👍👍. Thanks for watching and good luck with your project.
Been considering a hard dodger build for years but I've seen so many horrible, ugly DIYs. Yours is beautiful! By far the nicest I've seen. Truly a compliment to your boat. Congratulations, I hope you enjoy it for many, many years.
Great job! We are considering to do one on our classic Ingrid 38, thanks for showing the process, we will keep some of your lessons mind when we do ours. Thank you for taking the time to show us!
This fall I will be building a hard dodger for our Catalina 310. I enjoyed your discussion of your thought process in the design. I have learned much. I also want a clear windshield ("windscreen" for those speaking British English) with no supports breaking my view - much like an automobile. Looking forward to your next videos.
We are in the early planning stages of building a hard dodger, and found your beautifully built dodger on RU-vid. I certainly will adopt some of the tips and techniques that you talked about. We live in Tasmania, that’s the most southern state of Australia, where it gets cold during winter so if you want to use the boat it must be warm and secure. Great work guys.
Outstanding build, thank you for sharing. It was great fun to share in your design deliberations. My partner and I watched the first two episodes and both loved the uninterrupted windshield but thought, “what about ventilation in hot climates? This may be fine for Sweden but what about the tropics?” Please share your solution for that when you decide to modify your design - which you will 😉.
Thanks to both of you! Yes we are thinking of the ventilation, it's in the design thought and grows. When it happen we share it! Thanks for watching and shared your thoughts.👍😀
Fantastic job, I feel like many new production yacht designers will have to think hard to compete with this aesthetic. The design of these is so important, many ugly examples out there. I also like your video, the pace the music, your piece to cameras were great. Are all Swedes as chilled as you guys.
Thanks for all kind words!! We agree about your thoughts of the yacht designers. Ha ha I think people in Sweden are different like all over the world. Cheers from Sweden!!😊😊
very well done, thank you for sharing your process, I am about to start my hard dodger and would love to learn more from you. Which plastic did you use for the main front panel? would you incorporate bigger solar panels next time? I have a ketch so I need to accomodate the mizzen.
Hi, sorry for late answer. Fun that you like our build, the front and side panel is polycarbonate. The solar panels is ok size for us 350w on the dodger. Hope you will bee satisficed whit your dodger, we are happy whit our. Good luck.
Thanks, nice you like our video and for your comments. Sorry we don't have any material list. But we will think about that when we do the next work with the boat.
This was an incredible job, and the result was beautiful! Looks like it was done by professionals! A couple of questions, if you don't mind - how many days (overall - I assume it was many weeks all together) did it take you? And what was the approximate cost of the materials (apart from solar panels)?
Thank you so much! It was a lot of work but unfortunately we don't count time and money so our answer is not exact. Time around a month and around 2500 dollar It was one of the hardest things we have done with the boat but we love our dodger. Cheers!
Congratulations with new hard dodger,it looks very good but what I wonder about, does it give any better shelter than the spray hood? are you planning to sail in rough areas where hard dodger is only alternative?
Hi! Yes we feel that it protects us better. The fabric one is always good when it's new, after a couple of years it start to leak and the windows feels a little foggy. Our was like that. (13 year old) This is our feelings and thoughts about it. We think you can sail with an fabric spray hood in all conditions. Sail on.👍😁😀
Your hard work paid off, this turned out beautiful. I will be making a hard bimini and dodger for my Easterly 38. Because I am in the south of the USA, I will be making the front of the dodger as a soft canvas piece that can easily be opened or removed. Did you install lights under the roof? I figured this might be a good idea.
Hi, It sounds like a good idea with a soft cloth. It is always a good idea to think about how you want it to work, we discussed many different designs and models before deciding how to get the best out of it for us. We will install lights in both white and red under the roof.
It turned out fantatic! I am planing on making a hard dodger next spring and was wondering where did you get the frames around the windows? Are they made of aluminum? I live in Sweden so would be great to know where you bought the material. Thanks for the videos! Best regards from a new subscriber 😊
Hi Christian, the frames are made of G10 4mm epoxy plate. I bought it on eBay. I think aluminum or stainless will be fine too. Good luck with your dodger! Thanks for watching!
Hello guys. Thanks for sharing this amazing video. Give me a lot of ideas about how to build a dodger for my small sailboat. I hope you can share more videos. take care guys and if you one day planning to come in Mallorca, please let me know. :-)
Hi Eric,we have solar panels on the arch and on the dodger. The problem with a boat you want to have as much solar panels as possible but not so it looks ugly. Thanks for your thoughts and tips. Best regards from Sweden 😁👍
Interesting isn't it that yacht designers never consider what a helmsperson has to go through being out in all weathers, all temperatures and as a result few design yachts with a hard dodger.
Your dodger design is great, it looks great. I would like to see how you like it when sailing. One note, you need to work on your communication skills. They are very distracting.
... I really like your "Hard Dodger" ... it has curves to it, everywhere ... a boat w/ no curves just is not correct ... May I ask, why did you not make the dodger long enough to have (6) solar panels on it ??? ( you can never have enough electric power these days ...) ... it would also protect the companion-way and front end of the cockpit ie: gives the crew somewhere to hide, duck under in bad weather ... the helm, well it's tough to be the helmsman ... HaHa
hi Harry! We thought about many different solutions,and the longer dodger as well. The reason it dont work for uss is we want access the deck with out struggle. And also the design of it, the dodger looked really long. Yes electric power is really nice too have! we have the bimini-top to fold out over the cockpit and we are for the moment upgradeing it to be able to connect to the dodger.
