Convertible cabin top for flat deck boats

[Ron Bowman]

I'm trying to figure out a good way to build a convertible cabin top for my flat deck boat in order to satisfy the anticipated requirement that we have a cabin top to race in this class. I would prefer to keep my flat deck. I like that configuration better than with a cabin top. So I'm looking for any ideas this group might have for building something that will leave my mast, rigging and deck as is but will still satisfy class rules. Something that i can put in place for class racing but can take off for day sailing and local handicap racing.

It would be nice to have something that can easily convert a boat built to other rules to one that measures in for our purposes.

Any ideas?

Ron

[Tim Ford]

I thought you were being granted an exemption. Pardoned. Absolution. That kind of thing. I mean you had a cabin, you just...ah...lost it, right?

Heck.

[Ron Bowman]

I think that would cause problems in the future unless there was some kind of official process for others getting an exemption too based on, perhaps, deviations from the rules that do not appreciably affect performance. The safest, least controversial way to approach it is to change my boat. if I could do that and keep the flat deck, I'd have the best of both worlds. I really like the flat deck boat better than with the cabin top. And there are likely to be others built in the future since they will be allowed under the Portland rules. Flat deck boats are easier to build and more solid. Cam cleats on the edge of a 1/4 inch thick cabin top put a lot stress on the cabin. My cabin top would torque out of shape when I used a halyard to lift my keel. Something to consider is that easy construction will translate into more boats being built.

I don't know if I'll be able to add a cabin top this summer, though. The sailing season is so short up here that I don't want to start a major reconstruction right now.

Ron

[Tim Ford]

Good point about the future problems.
So, I guess this would have to be something installed in halves? or in some other kinds of sections to accommodate your keel-stepped mast? From the pix last fall, looks like you are using a soft vang. Would you move the vang attachment up higher? It looks tricky and it seems like the cabin would be just something cosmetic, at best.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Tough assignment, Sensei.

[Ron Bowman]

Halves might be a good way to do it to go around the mast. I hadn't thought of that. Clipped or bolted together and maybe bolted to the deck too. It might be possible to build it in one piece too and just drop the mast through a hole in the cabin top after the top is attached. A bit of hassle to run halyards after the mast is stepped and the cabin top is over the top of the turning blocks, though. So halves might be a better solution. My mast is stepped at the deck now but the deck is flat so I lengthend it to keep the same mast height as when the cabin was still in place. I could raise the vang up over the top of the cabin for class racing. Right now the vang goes to the base of the mast to a C-Tech mast step. I could use a loop of dyneema for a vang attachment just over the top of the cabin.

Ron

Ron

[Kevin]

Ron,
I appreciate you considering this the way you are. Really shows that you are the stand up kind of guy we want to go sailing with. The vang purchase is what the rule really limits. Cockpit starts at 110 on your boat and forward of that is where you deck start so no complaints there from me. I would go with a 1 piece unit that is notched for the mast with the vang elevated. It could be open at the back so you have access to all of your rigging the way you have it no for the most part. Exception might be your prod articulation lines.

That's my thought for the moment.

Kevin.

[Ron Bowman]

Notched or in halves are both good ideas. Now the question of the day is what materials should I build out of? My original plywood cabin top was a pain to build. And I don't have the frames to torque the plywood around any more. I think Andrew Clauson built his cabin top out of honeycomb or some such. Any suggestions on the materials and methods? I guess I'm not entirely opposed to plywood but there must be a better way to build than to have to torture those plywood side pieces into shape.

Ron

[slowpoke]

Ron, I'd just find some a big block of styrofoam, or glue up one from smaller pieces, then cut to shape, notch where you need to, and attach it with velcro strips. You could always tell everyone it's your lifeboat! The rules simply require a cabin top, make it easy, make it cheap.

[Ron Bowman]

Styrofoam is a really good idea!

[slowpoke]

Make a couple extra to sell to the NA guys when they want to play with us!

[Tim Ford]

Styro cabin!!! I love it!

[jerome]

Yeap cool idea but İ dont think styrofoam will take epoxi resin. İ think it will melt. So unless you dont even want to laminate it and give it a minimum strength and protection, it will not work. Cheap Pink isolation foam will take epoxi.
but İ love the idea any ways of a foam cabin top......which doubles up as a life boat !

[Kevin]

Check in with Chad on foam. He got some scraps from somewhere to make his cabin roof. I think he had to use a heat gun to get it to bend around his "frame". You would probably need build something for that but it could be regular ply, nothing fancy.

[Ron Bowman]

I like the foam idea a lot. No frames, Kevin. Just a ten inch thick block of pink foam insulation glued together and then carved into the shape of a cabin top. Maybe a layer of glass on top for durability. A notch to slide around the mast. Some slots or hollow area at the bottom for halyards and the tack line. Seems like a fun project. Great idea, Rocky.

In other news, the boatyard is open for business here in the icebox. I pulled hardware off the deck yesterday to finish painting after the cabinectomy. Last fall we didn't finish painting the deck before the Epoxy Cup. It's just primed now. And we cut about an inch and a half off one end of my traveler to allow me to get the car off the track without removing the track completely. It's a pain getting access to the back sides of the traveler bolts so by shortening the track, we only have to remove the two bolts that hold on the end cap to slide the traveler car off the track for service.

Ron

[Kevin]

Ron, I was thinking of the frames as something to form the foam over, not as a permanent part of the cabin roof. You would glass the outside, pull the frames out and glass the inside. Result should be a hollow, strong and light part. I don't know if you can bend the pink stuff if you heat it up. I'm guessing that you can but that would be an experiment. I know it breaks if you go too far as I have made plenty of little pieces in the past.

Glad to hear that the boat yard is finally open for you. Looks like this week is finally going to feel like Spring in this neck of the woods.