Just finished my new dodger and clutches are so far forward there isn't room for levers to swing forward. I am having to relocate clutches and teak mounting block. Anyone else have this problem? If you've ever pulled up those blocks you won't forget it.... Catalina used heaping share of bedding compound making sure they stayed there.
Could be that your front "window" slopes back at a certain angle.
Can you post some pictures of the problem?
I had to move mine aft about 6inches. The factory position doesn't allow for a decently swept back dodger.
Yep... Catalina didn't allow room. It just suprised me as I've never heard anyone else mention this issue. 6 inches on mine too. Took a floor scraper to pry the teak blocks off the deck. For the archives.... Thx
Hi,
Same problem with mine too.
When I want to open completeley the clutches, I open the Zipper of the front section of the dodger to give some room.
Can't change the angle of the front of the dodger, it follow the line between boom and traveller car.
An alternative to moving the rope clutches is to have a sail maker sew in a piece of stamoid where the clutch makes contact with the glass. My son, a canvas expert, has done this for us only at the location of the starboard main & jib halyard clutch. The port spinnaker and spare halyard clutches are not opened often enough on our boat to make the change there.
It is a good design and has worked well.
Gary
Quote from: gwp on February 27, 2015, 04:20:26 PM
If you've ever pulled up those blocks you won't forget it.... Catalina used heaping share of bedding compound making sure they stayed there.
Sounds like this is too late, but did you consider simply adding new wood blocks aft of the existing ones instead of moving them? IIRC, this may have come up years ago, but it took me a few days to recall the concept. [Don't know if I could find a link, either. Might have been ina
Mainsheet article.]
I had the same problem when I had the Dodger fabricated for my C34. There was major interference between the front clears and the clutch levers. The fabricator got round this problem by cutting out a section of the clear and fabricating a nacelle-like pod in the clear material which provided the necessary clearance.
This has worked well and avoids the major work involved in removing and relocating the clutches.
Guys : Surprisingly, I've never heard of this problem before!! Mine were perfectly located.
It would seem to me that any canvas make would design their dodger to accommodate where the clutches were installed. I'm sure that the clutches were installed by the factory and not the dealer.
A thought
Ron's right. The connection to the dodger face is pretty far forward of the clutch location, at least on my boat.
Like these pictures show.
2
3
I hope that this and the next photo will illustrate the way that we overcame this issue. The angle of the dodger front window is the core problem.
Regards,
Ross
Photo Number 2
Ross, nice solution. Do you have any pictures from the side of your boat showing the angle of the front of the dodger?
Can't say that we ever really had an issue with the clutches, but when we had our dodger redone, we had the forward slope angle match that of the mainsheet going up to the boom, so now it is more vertical. The space below is great and the visibility through the front also seems more clear.
Here is a more head on shot. I know the cover prevents from seeing through, but it does give us more space inside. Honest. :D
Stu,
How's this?
Ross
Thanks, Ross. I seems that Fred's point about the front of the dodger being somewhat in line with the mainsheet makes a lot of sense.
Stu,
To add to the discussion,I specified that the dodger had to fold flat for racing. This resulted in the steeper slope on the front screen to allow the stainless frame to fit behind the traveller without interference, when folded.
Regards,
Ross
Ross,
Thanks. It's always great when "The Reasons" behind the decision-making process are shared.
For others: just about every dodger I've seen has been built differently.
In my (distorted) "perfect world" I would eliminate the dodger entirely, except for long upwind passages. But haven't done it yet... :shock: 8)
Quote from: Noah on March 18, 2015, 05:48:01 PM
In my (distorted) "perfect world" I would eliminate the dodger entirely, except for long upwind passages. But haven't done it yet... :shock: 8)
OK, finally we get to sing: "
It never rains in Southern California!" :clap
I sailed from 1983 to 1998 on our old boats without dodgers here on SF Bay. Never again, couldn't imagine it. It's colder in summer here than winter. And at least half of our trips are upwind. And we always do the upwind legs the first half of the day. :D (...except for coming back from the Delta! :shock:)