Snapshot: Designed for speed

By Sigrid Tornquist

Upholstery styling on a high-performance power boat that can reach more than 70 mph should be equal to its sporty abilities. When a customer brought his 22-foot Donzi with factory original upholstery to Racine Design to be reupholstered, he gave Don and Carole Racine free rein on the design.

After discussing ideas with the client, Carol settled on a sunpad design. She duplicated the flag graphic from the side of the boat and sized it to fit the width of the sunpad. Using a vinyl by Nautolex (that has since been discontinued), she matched its lines to the lines of the paint to make the designs blend together. Using color on the sides and matching embroidery on the fronts gave the headrests definition.

“The rest of the upholstery was just a matter of splashing some color here and there,” Carol says. “I followed the theme to the interior cushions with a checkered flag pattern.”
The customer later sold the boat for more than he originally paid for it. “He told us that because of the custom upholstery he was able to get more than similar boats on the market at that time,” Carol says.

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.