Snapshot: Detailed Design

By Sigrid Tornquist

Providing a new cover for this 86-foot traditional racing yacht meant changing or improving virtually every detail of the original, according to Dave Elliot of David’s Custom Trimmers. The intent was to cover and protect all of the varnish work from the elements, while providing easy access—because the original cover took hours to fit and remove. The new design includes zip-out panels, and every hole for each stanchion has a shaped cone around it for protection, each with a zip-and-flap system to help protect the boat and zippers from the sun.

The cover includes carpet around the entire bottom perimeter so that when the cover is in contact with the yacht, it doesn’t wear on the timber work. “One of the most time-consuming tasks in fitting the old cover was the complex rope system around the bottom of the cover,” Elliot says. “So we redesigned it using webbing and hooks so it could be attached and tensioned more quickly and easily.” In the end, all of the extra details requested by the customer added 120 hours to the project.

Sigrid Tornquist is a freelance author and editor based in St. Paul, Minn. She is also the associate editor of InTents magazine, a publication of the Industrial Fabrics Association International.