Photos of Robinhood 36 with hard dodger

[Joe]

Robinhood Yacht Builders have just completed another 36. This one has a custom-made hard dodger, the only one made as far as anyone knows.

I took a couple of pictures and have put them on the web for you to look at.

In order to make the details clear, I used 600 rather than 300 dpi scans so they are a bit slow to load.

Joe



tgjournal@gestalt.org

[Tom Coons]

Robinhood Yacht Builders have just completed another 36. This one has a custom-made hard dodger, the only one made as far as anyone knows.

I took a couple of pictures and have put them on the web for you to look at.

In order to make the details clear, I used 600 rather than 300 dpi scans so they are a bit slow to load.

Joe

Thanks, Joe, for the pictures of the hard dodger. It looks fine and is very interesting to see what they came up with. I gather from the pictures it is made of wood rather than fiberglass? Are the "windows" plexiglass, lexan or real glass? Is the top painted wood or fiberglass? I'm having one built for my CD 31 right now and appreciate seeing what Robinhood did. I'm planning on wood, lexan, and a lower profile. I appreciate your effort getting this out to us on the web. Tom

TacCambria@thegrid.net

[Sam]

I would be interested to hear other reactions. To me the CD is a very pretty, sleek looking boat. A hard dodger, while undoubtedly very practical in bad weather, to me greatly detracts from the lines of the boat. That is why I have avoided any dodger despite pleas from my wife!

[Joe]

Robinhood Yacht Builders have just completed another 36. This one has a custom-made hard dodger, the only one made as far as anyone knows.

I took a couple of pictures and have put them on the web for you to look at.

In order to make the details clear, I used 600 rather than 300 dpi scans so they are a bit slow to load.

Joe

Thanks, Joe, for the pictures of the hard dodger. It looks fine and is very interesting to see what they came up with. I gather from the pictures it is made of wood rather than fiberglass? Are the "windows" plexiglass, lexan or real glass? Is the top painted wood or fiberglass? I'm having one built for my CD 31 right now and appreciate seeing what Robinhood did. I'm planning on wood, lexan, and a lower profile. I appreciate your effort getting this out to us on the web. Tom

The sides are teak lumber. The top is injection molded fiberglass. The "glass" is industrial grade safety glass.

Joe



tgjournal@gestalt.org

[Joe]

I would be interested to hear other reactions. To me the CD is a very pretty, sleek looking boat. A hard dodger, while undoubtedly very practical in bad weather, to me greatly detracts from the lines of the boat. That is why I have avoided any dodger despite pleas from my wife!

I offered the photos for those who might be interested. I wholeheartedly share your view. The first thing my wife and I did when we bought our 330 was to remove the dodger installed by the previous owner. I also don't see the point in the hard dodger on the new 36. If you take a close look, you can see that it doesn't come enough aft to really protect from rain or green water.

Joe



tgjournal@gestalt.org

[Tom Coons]

Robinhood Yacht Builders have just completed another 36. This one has a custom-made hard dodger, the only one made as far as anyone knows.

I took a couple of pictures and have put them on the web for you to look at.

In order to make the details clear, I used 600 rather than 300 dpi scans so they are a bit slow to load.

Joe

Thanks, Joe, for the pictures of the hard dodger. It looks fine and is very interesting to see what they came up with. I gather from the pictures it is made of wood rather than fiberglass? Are the "windows" plexiglass, lexan or real glass? Is the top painted wood or fiberglass? I'm having one built for my CD 31 right now and appreciate seeing what Robinhood did. I'm planning on wood, lexan, and a lower profile. I appreciate your effort getting this out to us on the web. Tom

The sides are teak lumber. The top is injection molded fiberglass. The "glass" is industrial grade safety glass.

Joe

Thanks again, Joe. I agree with Sam that there is nothing prettier than a trunk cabin with no dodger. On the other hand I wouldn't consider cruising without one as getting out of the wind is essential to long term comfort. Sunbrella dodgers start to go bad after a few years, look really bad after 5 and simply must be replaced after 10, and they leak from the get go even with gallons of water repellant poured on them. Out here in CA even cheap dodgers are over $ 1,500. I was due for my third dodger and since I never take it down decided to make something that would last essentially forever and not leak. It all depends on the kind of sailing you do, but for long term cruising they are more important than the auto pilot in my view. I think Robinhood's version looks too much like a pilothouse and the windows are too big but didn't want to hurt any feelings. Mine will unbolt and lift off when you're not cruising and want to look pretty. It's still always interesting to see what others are doing so thanks again. Tom



TacCambria@thegrid.net

[Elizabeth Olsen]

I think a well built spray dodger is an essential piece of cruising equipment. I just had a replacement dodger built this year for our Cape Dory 36'. This first one lasted 16 years. The new one, made from Sunbrella, is tight as a drum and offers excellent visability. I had stainless steel handholds added to the sides and front. They are a great help for standing watch and going forward. I prefer a Sunbrella dodger because it can be easily folded down and placed below when I need to varnish. The hard dodger may be removable, but I doubt that it is light weight and easily stowable. I also hate the thought of adding even one more square inch of varnished surface to the boat. Since I can barely keep up with what I already have. I left my old dodger up year round. I will probably take this one down during December-February to avoid it being wet all of the time in the Pacific Northwest winters. I would be happy to send a photo to anyone who is interested in the design. It's good looking.



olsenclark@msn.com