F21 Boat Cover

[Rick@RISE]

For those that have an F21, or had, do or did you have a boat cover?
Is it just an off the shelf purchase or custom made?

Looking for options!

[Castaway]

We have a cockpit cover for our UK built F21, held on with "lift the dot" fasteners and shock cord. It goes from the mainsheet traveller, around the sides of the cocpit coaming, and onto the transom. It appears to have been supplied by the makers of the original sails, and I think it was standard kit in the 80's when the boat was built. It did not extend over the whole boat, and is now in dire need of replacement, having suffered UV degradation and chafe from being towed around Europe by car. I can maybe rustle up a picture, but I doubt if it would be difficult to get a sailmaker to measure the boat and make one up. One problem: it needs to be supported in the centre, and a tie is supplied which can be fastened to the end of the boom, but since there is no toppping lift, this is not very useful. Perhaps a hoop or stick from the sole would be better. Otherwise, it just collects a puddle of (usually muddy) water.

[Teke's Pride]

When I bought my F21 two years ago, it had a full cover with sand weights along the edges. It had been stored inside the boat for several years while the previous owner had the boat behind his barn. The first time I tried to use it, I found the seams were dry rotted so I don't know how well it worked originally. One of these days I may take it to a sail/tarp maker and have them use it as a pattern for a new one.

When I got the boat, the previous owner was storing it on its trailer with the mast down. He had lashed 2 tarps over the mast providing a pup tent like covering that seemed to do well enough. I used a single 12'x20' blue PVC tarp from Lowe's as a cover when I had the mast down. This past winter I made a canvas cover for the cockpit. It extended from the traveler track to the transom and rested on a frame of 1" PVC pipe. This worked very well while I was storing the boat on the trailer with the mast up.

Now that the boat is in a slip I too am looking for a solution for both shading the cabin for the hot Alabama summer sun and to keep debris out of the cockpit. I have thought about hooking a couple of 12' spars to either side of the lazy-jackss and draping canvas or garden shade cloth from them creating 2 awnings (one for port and one for starboard) that could be un-clipped and furled around their respectivee spars and stowed below for sailing.

I'm down to one part-time job right now (thanks Mr President) so that project will have to wait until I have some more income.

[Rick@RISE]

We had a stretch of 100+ temps in the DFW area. I actually blistered my foot on the boat from the heat.
When I get a cover/shade I've got to try and make sure it's easy enough to handle, putting in place as well as removal. I've got an idea of what I'd like.