Chaps for the RIB

[Roy M]

Anyone have photos of their chaps on a RIB? I'm purchasing an Avon 310 and am going to install them on mine.

[JPA Cate]

Haven' had yet, thinking that hypalon was bullet proof. BUT, have now seen some in action on friends' dinghies,and think they might be wise. What was done in their case, was what looks a shortish cover, above the rubstrake. Affixed by velcro. Use PTFE thread for the stitching for longevity. Should be fairly easy to make your own, but I recommend making a cheap pattern first, perhaps out of cheap tarp material.

Ann

[SailSummerWind]

Asked a sailmakers for chaps for our 11ft Carib and got estimates between 1000$ and 1500$, with explanation "it is time consuming and complicated"?
Any prefabricated chaps out there?

[robert sailor]

Personally I believe if you have a good dink made from Hypalon and you keep it clean it will last for many ears in the tropics. If you buy a cheaper PVC dink then I would be putting chaps on it as they have a very short life in the tropics.

[nhschneider]

It's probably no help to you but the local dinghy manufacturer here in Phuket makes the best looking chaps I've ever seen - they don't even look like chaps but they're rugged and even attractive.

Cholamark Dinghies Phuket

By the way, I was a member of SWYC for 14 years. My three kids were very active in the Junior program. Great club.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[CaptTom]

I was thinking, I can buy a pre-made dinghy cover for like $100US. Is it that much of a pain to just cover the whole thing when not in use, rather than keep chaps on all the time?

[RDW]

Sailrite has an instruction item, I think video and written, that was excellent. I made my own. It was a winter project. I used clean thin plastic to make a pattern. It was a lot of work, but I can not say how long it took me. I do think they will add years to the life.
I did not do this on mine but if you hate arriving with a wet seat, I was going to make a flap of material that you could lift up and cover your rear while underway.
I made portions of mine out of "boat blanket", a material from sailrite. It is the same stuff that you can make fender covers out of.
Get some netting material and elastic to make some pockets. I made a large pocket at the front made of water resistant material.
I am a little anal. I even made a cargo net to strap to the handles (suspend) so when you are bringing a lot of stuff to your boat, it does not get wet in the bottom of the boat.
If you wanted to go cheapo and easy, buy some boat blanket and cut and glue it to your dinghy. For sure take this with a grain of salt but it is the only way I can see you getting it done for your goal of $100.
I am a little different so take everything with a grain of salt.
RDW

[colemj]

A dinghy cover is a pain - you will get annoyed with it quickly and then not use it at all.

Sailrite posts some very good instructions on how to make your own chaps on their website.

Mark

[RDW]

Mark, I made mine 7 years ago and have never taken it off. It does look a little dirty but so did my dinghy. I leave it on passages with the dinghy upside down on deck. I leave it on all winter, on hard, on deck with boat covered.
I do think with the cost to have one made you might be ok just taking the sun damage and buying a new dinghy.
RDW

[colemj]

Are you talking about a cover or chaps? I was responding to another poster's question about a dinghy cover instead of chaps. I have yet to meet anyone who was not annoyed by their dinghy cover, and most of them later moved to chaps.

Mark

[RDW]

Mark, sorry my mistake.
rdw

[knot smart]

here is the email of a "little old man"
sgentilejr@aol.com
he goes by the name sailor sam. hes retired and makes sail covers an other things for extra spending money .. his prices are very good .. you email him a scetch and measurements and he'll make it to spec in any color sunbrella, he'll give you a better deal if he has left over material that he's trying to use up and get rid of.. he charged me $250 for a main sail cover and $50 to patch and lots of stitching on a genny.. super nice guy, talk your ear off though

[chouliha]

Roy be sure to use the Tenera thread. We are on our second set of chaps now and the thread has outlasted the material. We used a light silver sunbrella. To dark and you will burn your ass.

Good luck

Chuck
Jacaranda

[Wanderlust]

I'm about to start a project for chaps on my aged PVC RIB, hoping to extend the life a little more. All the instructions I have found are for chaps held in place with a drawstring below the rubbing strake, whereas I plan to have velcro attachment above the strake ... as mentioned by Ann T Cate above. Matt Grant from Sailrite confirmed this method as OK.

I have the Sailrite instructions and a couple of others, which I need to modify for my plan. The materials have just arrived so I can begin soon.

Any construction pointers specifically for the velcro method?

[Delafontaine]

Here is the long and detailed video from Sailrite on
How to Make Dinghy Chaps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1q7o4zcR8E