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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Hull 922 - Sailing Canopy - Kinda...

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Carl in LA
Captain

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USA
284 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/01/2018 : 22:59:40

I had this idea that a canopy over the Catalina 250 hatch would be a helpful thing to keep the sun out of the cabin and keep the sun off of me when sitting in the forward end of the cockpit... then I thought it would be really cool if you could fabricate a canopy that you could have up while sailing...

Kinda...

The canopy works really well at rest... but boy does if fly around while under sail... maybe not the best idea to have it up while sailing...

I used strings representing the edges of the canopy to make measurements. And as a proof of concept - I made a template out of a tarp. The template exposed that I needed to make the span smaller at the aft end.

The material is a cheap canvas backed with polyurethane... purchased in the Los Angeles garment district for $7 a yard (available on Amazon for $5 a yard). I bought tan because its guaranteed to fade badly and tan would look less bad faded than navy blue badly faded.

The panels were cut on a convenient flat surface. Then the panels were sewn on the awesome Sailrite sewing machine.

The fit is decent although I wish I would have made the pattern go to the outside stays rather than the inside stays. Better luck next time.

The canopy is tied to the Catalina 250 tent support bar.

And that baby flies like crazy in a breeze!!! I'll try placing a dowell along that aft edge - maybe that will calm it down while sailing:)))

P.S. No need for commentary on sail trimming skills... It was blowing a crisp 20-knts today and I was sailing double reefed/no jib... boat speed still peaked at 5.8-knts on a reach... my logic is why do you care about sail shape if you're reefed? It was breezy.

P.S.S. On second look - the canopy and the sail look somewhat similar! Anyway - it was a great day sailing!!!

Catalina 250 - Pretty Good Boat

Edited by - Carl in LA on 06/01/2018 23:08:31

Russ.Johnson
Commodore

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USA
833 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2018 : 16:35:33

Carl,

I know you really want to take care of your boat and I'm right with you.
As a general comment, it's a nice try, but it's not going to work well under sail.
One problem is you can't move forward with all that canvas in the way.

As you have noted, there are two situations. Under sail and at anchor.

A) Under sail, you want to be able to move forward, but keep the cabin cool.
Try moving the canvas about 2 inches above the deck.
Use real line (not stretch cord) and tie the corners to the base of the stanchions.
The breeze will be enough to keep it cool and you can step on it when moving forward.

B) At anchor, you want headroom, so drop the sail and put the canvas over the boom.
Tie the corners to the top of the stanchions.
The boom will give you a lot of support and the canvas won't flap in the breeze.

New topic: The C250 standard reefing is not the best.
In your picture, the clew reef line (blue line) really hurts your sail shape.
I've fixed that by using an additional line from the clew reef cringle around the boom and back to the cringle.
This pulls the leach tighter and greatly improves the shape.
Once you've done this, you will ease the halyard until the clew touches the boom.
Some folks install a cheek block on the boom for that purpose.

Anyway, keep trying new ideas until you get the boat you want.

Russ Johnson
2005 C250WB Hull 793

Carl in LA
Captain

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USA
284 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2018 : 17:53:21

Thanks Russ...

I like both of the recommendations... Thanks again...

Then, I'll follow your lead on the "clew-clamp" too...

This is what I like about topic specific forums - help from others that makes things better.

Carl