The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Building a Robust and Practical Hard Dodger

The Dodger We Had 

When we bought Turnstone she had a canvas bimini enclosure that came down to a low-profile windshield. It was cleverly constructed and would fold away to have the cockpit completely open.

But it had several shortcomings:

  • The supports were right in front of the primary winches, thereby fouling the arc of operation.
  • We didn’t trust its strength when the wind really piped up.
  • The visibility was extremely limited.

What We Wanted

In our home waters of Alaska, if there’s enough wind to sail you can usually count on being cold. And much of our coastal region is a temperate rainforest so, like in Scotland, the driving rain can be rather uncomfortable—it’s not surprising that a true pilothouse is a common feature for many Alaska-based boats.

And, before heading back home, we plan to cruise in the eastern Arctic, including Norway, Iceland, and Greenland, and expect to encounter similarly cold and wet conditions.

So we decided we needed a tougher structure before heading north, plus we wanted to add solar panels and sturdy handles in the cockpit area.

Going The Whole Hog

I debated about whether to replace the existing bimini, but when we reached Scotland, where we planned to spend several months off the boat, and after being introduced to a competent local welder, I decided to start from scratch and build a new hard dodger.

A Chilly Work Location

We reached Scotland just before Christmas after sailing north from the Mediterranean. It was a blustery winter passage across the Irish Sea and we were happy to arrive at Corpach Marina, near Fort William, to start the project.

Though it was, unfortunately, often dark and raining or snowing, eventually the new dodger came together.

Here is an overview of the design and build process:


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Andrew Kirkpatrick

I often wonder if such a big dodger affects the righting movement of a knocked-down boat? Not the weight, but the way it would act like a scoop? Would it also affect the speed of a boat in the wind?

John Harries
Matt Marsh

A dodger, almost by definition, is open at the sides and stern. It may have a slight roll damping effect while the boat is completely upside-down, but this will be very small compared to that of the mast. It shouldn’t entrap water in such a way that would inhibit the boat’s ability to self-right. Its main effect on stability will be its weight, above the deck, raising the centre of gravity and therefore reducing the righting arm.

A pilothouse, which is mostly or fully enclosed, is a different story. Here, you really do need to carefully consider the effect on inverted stability, both when the pilothouse is free to flood/drain and when it is sealed up tight.

Eric Klem

Hi Andrew,

On the stability issue. Most of the time people talk about stability, they look at it statically only and in that case, the upwards movement of the CG and the buoyancy (If there are closed volumes) of the dodger are the only thing that matters. Given that cockpit and dodger size do not scale linearly with boat size, this is an example where you can get away with more on bigger boats. I am incredibly pained every time I see someone building a hard dodger for a 30’er using 3/4″ plywood covered in many layers of glass, you have to be careful to be weight efficient here, especially on smaller boats.

However, if we look at it dynamically, it gets more complicated. If you are moving quickly forward and get knocked flat such as a broach in a breaking wave, the dodger traveling through the water will actually add righting moment. However, when the boat goes to right itself, the water trapped in the dodger will indeed hurt you. In both cases, the speed is important and the direction is too (forward speed can generate lift on the dodger whereas just roll makes it act mostly like a damper). If the boat is rolling extremely slowly, both effects are negligible but if it is fast, then they can be quite significant. Dinghy sailors will recognize that this is similar to when your sails hit the water. When capsizing quickly, the boat will suddenly kind of stabilize once the top of the mast hits the water and that is simply the drag on the sails and mast as it goes down through the water. Similarly, when righting, it goes quite slowly until the sails are out of the water then quite quick. In both cases, all it does is impact the speed of these actions but if there is something else like the next wave coming, it can impact the boats position to that which could matter.

These are all trade-offs. Given the helm forward layout of Patrick’s boat and where they cruise, the large dodger makes a lot of sense and I would think is definitely worth the tradeoffs. I suspect that moving the helming position aft to lower the dodger would have been just too much work for this boat but I think that is what would be required to lower the dodger. On the other hand, a high dodger like this would not be my choice for cruising in the areas we do especially with our helm aft, I suspect the performance hit would be too great for the added comfort. But the process followed by Patrick is an extremely practical one for DIY’ers. I am a huge hard dodger fan and occasionally think about doing it to our boat but we don’t need that level of robustness right now, the effort is too great and frankly it is hard to make one that looks decent.

Eric

Brian Russell

That’s a sturdy and stylish addition to a gorgeous boat, Patrick. I’m sure you will be smiling when the green water slaps that dodger and you stay snug and dry. As to a “performance” penalty? Everything on a boat is a compromise. The cost-benefit analysis for a hard dodger and a full enclosure, even if one is not in higher latitudes, tells me that without it, my partner is simply not going to be agreeable when I mention the Viking Route to her. Going a 1/4 knot slower wouldn’t even be part of the equation – we wouldn’t be going at all!
Quick question: You mentioned an ice pole, or tuk; where to source in Scotland? Did you buy something or DIY?
Here’s a link to my boatbuilding blog showing our hard dodger. Much simpler design, and much easier to build while the boat is next to the metalshop!
http://www.odysseyyachts.com/Odyssey_Yachts/BUILDING_BLOG/Entries/2016/1/15_Hard_Dodger.html

Brian on Helacious, currently at St Katharine’s Docks, London

Felicity Critchlow

We spent two winters at St Katharine’s dock. We loved it. Say hello to Gus and Helen on Wings. Alan Critchlow “Voila”

Brian Russell

I looked at some 1.25″OD x .125 or.188″ wall 6082 tubing, not too expensive. Great idea about the foam. Do you have a blog showing your route through/around Greenland? Or maybe that’s another article for AAC?!

Felicity Critchlow

We cheated, we bought a HR 352. An old Rassy, but the big draw was the hard windshield dodger. We have recently added a back drop canvas. It makes for a small enclosure for cold or inclement weather. We plan to cruise the lower St Lawrence this summer.

A buddy of mine, Jean Pierre, had a solid dodger made for his Chatam 10 meter. He sold the boat in Peru. Someone walked down the wharf and asked how much.JP bought an Amel and continued cruising.

Benjamin Glazer

Hi Felicity. As a fellow recent 352 owner, it was also a big draw for me. I am getting rid of the current bimini set-up and would be interested in how you incorporated your back drop canvas. We have the cockpit tent which came with it as well but that is really only practical when at harbor due to visibility and standing room height. Many HRs have a full hard dodger and roof so longer-term I am thinking about going that route. Great job Brian.

Dhara Thompson

Nice article Patrick, thank you. I replaced my canvas sprayhood with a fibreglass doghouse last year. I agree with and recommend the template idea. I made a few cardboard models first using architect drawings of my boat, a Standfast 40. This gave me a scale and helped me order the right amount of materials. I then made a real size template from 20cm thick cheapo foam which I could easily cut and carve to shape, look at from off the boat and make sure the winches could be used comfortably.

I then screwed 10mm high density foam onto the cheapo foam and glassed a layer of fibreglass over. Took it off the boat and removed the cheapo foam and screws and glassed the inside.

The whole thing has a 6 inch overlap of glass sheet holding it in place. The windows are polycarbonate which bends to shape amazingly well with a heat gun. I discovered though that when you cut polycarb you need to sand the edges really well before bending or else hairline cracks can appear later.

The project was a big stretch for me, but I was fortunate to be able to watch and learn from an experienced neighbour who was building a dinghy at the time.

Here’s a short video of my construction:

https://youtu.be/qMGn8pbrwd4?si=downEBbnrLGoecVI

The increased visibility and shelter offshore is a complete game changer for comfort and safety. I also have water collection and extra solar panel power. A removable canvas backing seals it all in nicely for winter and night watches.

Other tips I learnt from my neighbour were:
– using hose for the edges which can be glassed over, for a neat finish
– Hose surround on the roof for water catching, with fine sand inside so it doesn’t crack when you lean on it
– finding an existing feature of the boat to copy and help the new structure fit in. I copied the angle of my transom for the rear angle of the structure.
– where there are fittings, like handrails, drill out some of the foam inner and and replace with epoxy filler for a bit more strength around the bolts.

John Tis

Well thought-out and designed project. I would be concerned that such a large volume of acrylic/glass both on the hard dodger and the large windows on the deck salon/pilothouse would be a problem if the boat were thrown over in heavy seas. I’m guessing you have storm plates fitted over those expansive DS windows for when it gets rough.

John Harries

Hi John,

I could be wrong, but I don’t think storm windows would do anything useful since I think the point of failure in a really bad knock down or wave strike would be the area where the dodger bolts to the old windscreen flange, either that or the whole works would crumple. The other problem with storm windows would be the added weight high up. Storm windows make sense when we are trying to keep the water out of the boat, but I don’t think they do in this case. More here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/12/27/qa-safety-of-large-pilothouse-windows/

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing Pat decision, but all add ons have draw back as well as advantages and in this case I think vulnerability to green water is one of the drawbacks. The good news is that even if the whole dodger were destroyed that would probably not compromise the watertight integrity of the boat.

Peter Dunbar

Thank you for all the details on your hard dodger story–super helpful and photos really convey the joys of boatwork in Scotland. I have an Ovni 435, so sailing in Scotland I am super tempted to build a hard dodger. However –and I want to thank all the commenters who discussed the risks to stability and windage. I am not worried about windage as I already have a canvas dodger and the metal one would be the same size, but the stability issue seems important. Can anyone put a hard dodger on an Ovni make a comment?

Colin Speedie

We didn’t have a hard dodger on our 435, although we often wished we had!
But I did see this nice example on a 435 at Burnham on Crouch, which the owner had designed himself, and it was well executed and looked sleek. I’m sure it would be possible to track the owner down.

Ovni-435-hard-dodger-1
George L

I won’t repeat the good observation that have already been made by others. Only minor points.

  1. 11K is a bl…y good price for this.
  2. seeing the Hilti on the floor makes me think that your welder isn’t cutting corners on tools. that’s a reassuring sign
  3. looking at the Vendee Globe, the hardcore professionals are sailing from the inside. the wind on the cheek thing apparently doesn’t matter if you take off 9 days off the record in comfort. confirms your choice of the large dodger

I hope it will give you a lot of fun and a good time

Rob Gill

Hi Patrick, interesting read, well written and illustrated – thanks.

We have had a hard dodger on our Beneteau Oceanis 14.5 metre sloop since 2019. Built in fibreglass over ply – we too went for full standing headroom giving our first-mate better visibility from the aft helms.

And we also chose acrylic, mainly for weight saving as we have a continuous wind shield design (see pic). More than five years now of active cruising (but not live aboard), we have one small scratch (from the mainsheet I think). The acrylic remains as clear now as the day it was fitted. Our “care” regime is:

Wash down the windscreen regularly to clear salt and dirt,use a bio-degradable car wash and soft cloths,polish with “Rain-X Plastic”, not Rain-X – which will make acrylic go opaque over time,annually remove and launder the mainsheet with detergent and fabric softener (our mainsheet and traveller are just forward of the dodger).
WRT UV damage; our dodger is open year round to NZ’s incredibly harsh sun, thanks to our thin ozone layer above. Based on our experience to date, I don’t think UV will be an issue in your cruising grounds!

Br. Rob

IMG_3835-Large
Dick Stevenson

Hi all,
I believe I may have shared this in the past. In any case, the following is an alternative to staying out of the elements that may be more appropriate for smaller boats.
Being comfortable at sea and at anchor is really nice in general and is a safety issue*
The enclosure to be described was designed to provide: protection from the elements (cold and rain), good visibility, no increase in profile to the wind, a minimum compromise for hearing, and no compromise at effectively operating the boat. Enclosures/hard dodgers have great appeal and are easier to execute in larger boats as evidenced by some of the high-end vessels intended to wander widely. Alchemy is a 40-foot boat and her enclosure can realistically be executed on any boat with a dodger.
It was inspired, first by being cold and unhappy motoring down the ICW in late fall, coupled with observing the effectiveness of ice-house see-through plastic door-way flaps that provide easy access from the cold interior to the warmer exterior with minimum transfer of cold/heat. It has kept us comfortable for ~~20 years and has endured 2 Atlantic crossings, numerous gales and one storm level wind from astern.
Description: At the aft end of the dodger are three panels covering the dodger opening side to side and top to bottom. They are secured to the dodger trailing edge by a zipper arrangement as are the sides. The three panels zip together. The center panel is the “door-way”.
This enclosure is designed with, but not limited to, a couple in mind. When underway, 2 can sit on the cockpit seats fully protected: families will not fit. More often, the on-watch is sitting comfortably on a cushion chair, feet out athwartships and protected, with a 360-degree view and a good view of the chart plotter and instruments and easy control of the auto-pilot. Rain and spray that usually curls around the edges of the dodger into the sitting area are thwarted as is the cold wind. Books, IPads, Kindles and the like can be on-watch with you and not in danger of spray etc. Since you are, in many respects, basically outside, there is no temptation to under-dress and the middle panel/door allows the crew an easy exit to work the boat and for the regular 360-degree visual sweep outside the door un-diminished by looking through windows.
The above allowed us to comfortably push the season a month or more at each end and has been a valued companion when we visited the higher latitudes of Norway, Iceland, Greenland and a few years in Newfoundland. Frequently, in rainy and cool sailing grounds, the panels were left on all season (they are easily flipped aside for those occasional warm sunny days. In cold weather with a little sun the enclosure quickly warms nicely: like a greenhouse.
When wintering over, the enclosure gave us a bit of a “mud room” before going below and some extra protected storage area. It is also nice to not have the washboards in as they contribute to a “closed-in” feeling when living aboard and over-wintering somewhere.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy**
* Being cold and uncomfortable makes for poor decision-making and physical boat management errors. In addition, fatigue is often a hidden element in many a sailing mis-adventure. It is quite fatiguing to be exposed to the elements, especially adverse elements, for long periods such as occurs on an offshore passage. Fatigue makes for physical mistakes and mental errors of judgment. We find ourselves far less fatigued with our “offshore” enclosure.
** Construction details can be posted or gotten from me directly if there is interest.

Mark Wilson

Hi Dick

As a fellow owner of a 40 footer I am very taken by your spray hood curtains. And this comes at a good time for me as my spray hood is literally coming apart at the seams. There have been times when I would have killed for what you have.

My canvas man has asked for photos. Can you post any here? Or send me an email or WhatsApp; my contact details are in the OCC members directory.

I saw something similar on a Dutch boat in Lerwick a few years ago but didn’t take a snap. Your mention of ice houses made me wonder if the use magnets in the vertical sides in the door panel opening might be practical.

Best

Mark

Henrik Rudberg

Hi, just a note that you say Boréal set a standard with a hard dodger, but in that case it seems they rather took after all of the quality sail-boats from Scandinavia: Hallberg-Rassy, Najad, Malö who all had them since 70 or 80ss and I found at least this reference to one of them being first with a fixed wind-screen in the 60s:
https://www.hallberg-rassy.com/yachts/previous-models/hallberg-rassy-rasmus-35

Also the Finish Nauticat boats went a step further as they’ve always had not only a doghouse but a complete deck-saloon with hydraulic steering both in and out. I had a Nauticat 43 for five yesrs and it was a dream to sail also indoors in really foul weather.

John Harries

Hi Henrik,

I can see your point if it was just a hard dodger, but Boréal took that a huge step further to an actual dog house with a door, and forward facing watch standing station, and a hard dodger aft of that and did that better than any other implementation I have seen. This is also very different from boats with a raised salon resulting in a much less boxy profile and lower windage. More here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/02/02/john-and-phyllis-visit-boreal/

Eric Klem

Hi Patrick,

I am curious how you have found dealing with salt spray and this design? Have you made any special provisions for cleaning, do you have to do a lot of cleaning? It is something that I have struggled with a lot and not come up with a good solution for.

Thanks.

Eric

Rob Gill

Hi Eric, perhaps I can help answer your question having had a large solid dodger with an acrylic windscreen on our yacht, since 2019 – see my comment in reply to Patrick above.

We use “Rain-X-Plastic” to polish the windscreen which does a good job repelling solid spray underway. Light spray does settle and dry in the sun and wind but removing these salt deposits is easy with a water bottle and a soft silicone bladed squeegee. If we return to our berth with salt deposits on the windscreen, we usually leave it on, and any rain will clean and rinse the windshield by itself.

I can’t recall an occasion, when we have needed to look around the dodger or felt the need for windscreen wipers and we have been in some lively conditions upwind. Overall our experience is the hard dodger screen is easier to keep clean than the clears on our old canvas dodger.

Rob

Eric Klem

Hi Patrick and Rob,

Thanks for the thoughts, it seems that very careful care is still the best way to deal with this. Patrick, it sounds like you have been in cold enough places that you almost need a clearview screen.

Eric

Paul Browning

Wonderful article and rather than repeating many of the comments above, as an Australian and therefore having perhaps greater tolerance for hotter weather than cold, I’d say hard dodgers are really great things for people making offshore passages in temperate climes as well.

And when you’re at anchor in your beautiful sub/tropical anchorage the shade afforded by a properly designed and constructed hard dodger covering most of the cockpit is much better than from most biminis. We have both clears and shade cloths that can be deployed at the sides, as required. However at least one large opening window is necessary for good ventilation at anchor on warm days.

Also important we found was building in the wiring for lights, speakers, power outlets and navigation devices. Hooks and loops for washing lines etc would have also been very helpful. You got yours done at a price I could only dream of, but ultimately we found a great yard with great shipwrights who did a great job on ours.