Archives

Project Details

Fabric 1

Softouch
Producer/Manufacturer: Marlen Textiles
Primary Use: Main Fabric

Design Name
Kyle Van Damme

Design Company
Marine Tops Unlimited

Fabrication Name
Sue Tetzlaff

Fabrication Company
Marine Tops Unlimited

Please describe the project specifications

This boat came to us fresh off a remodel with a brand new paint job and a new interior and flooring as well. The customer was looking for a full travel cover to protect his boat from the weather elements both while sitting on its trailer outside and while traveling down the highway to various waterways across America for poker run boating events. The material had to be something with a soft inside lining to protect the custom paint on this boat which was a $50,000 investment alone. So after looking at the various options and discussing the different materials, the customer settled on the Softouch material from Marlen Textiles. We designed and fabricated this cover to also protect against road grime and rock chips on the lower nose of the boat and that meant having this cover reach well below the water line. It is custom made to fit this boat on the trailer it sits on with straps in specific places to attach to certain points on the trailer with a craw string pocket at the bottom to tighten it all up even further.

What is unique or complex about the project?

This was a huge cover for this Donzi 38zr performance boat and it took more than 60 yards of material to fabricate it! It was a challenge simply to move this thing around the sewing tables and get it onto the boat. It is achievable with one person, but you needed to eat your Wheaties this morning, that's for sure... Getting the cover to fit very snugly was a requirement as this boat will be moving down the highway at speeds in excess of 70mph for many hours at a time. It was important to get all the straps sewn onto the cover in the correct places, be the correct length, and sewn to the cover at the correct angle, so that required a lot of very detailed measurement. The cover also had to split in the front to get around the trailer bow pads and bow eye and then Velcro back together and fasten at the bottom so we were able to put some tension on the bottom edge of the cover. All in all, this customer was very pleased with the finished cover and this Donzi should be ready to roll in style whenever it gets to its next boating event.

Content is submitted by the participant. ATA is not responsible for the content descriptions of the IAA award winners.