targa bars

[mikereed100]

Gosstyla,

A PVC targa? I love it! I'm a big fan of stuff, especially on boats. Strong, light, cheap and hardly ever rusts. How did you attach it to the boat and what did you cover it with?

Mike

[gosstyla]

The PVC pipes provide some structural support. They are covered in Divinycell foam and 15 to 20 layers of E-glass fabrics. I suspect many/most targas on cats are constructed that way these days.

[northerncat]

any photos of the construction process? i have only ever seen targa bars made out of strip plank and as i am planning to go down this track would like to see dome alternative methods of construction
sean

[Weyalan]

Iirc, some of the modern dufour designs aimed specifically at the charter fleet have a solid class "targa bar" and mount the main sheet traveller up there...gotta keep the decks clear of useless "stuff" so that one has unlimited places to put on's martini, no?

[dana-tenacity]

Sorry, I just think they look dumb, something a teenager might stick on a car, but not on my boat.

[sv_makai]

Our Voyage 380 came with a targa bar and it is one of the best features of the boat. It increases our useable cockpit space by raising the the travel up from the cockpit a putting it over our heads. We have also mounted our solar panels to it and the top of the bimini. The panels don't look like they were added on as an after thought and we didn't need to build a seperate structure for them.

Because of the combined strenght of the bimini and targa bar the builder put a cat walk up on top. I can access my sails without having to climb dangerously above the deck and it puts my eyes 15 feet above the water. The view is great and have used it as a look down when entering strange harbors.

I don't think I would make one out of PVC unless you were just trying it the design and style out. PVC is strong enough to last or provide and real structural strength.

[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Bil/My%20Documents/jost%20pirate%20019.jpg[/IMG]

[gosstyla]

sean
I tried to put up a photo but couldn't get it to work - nor as an attachment. Don't know if it is just me or a combination of Firefox, ZoneAlarm, etc. I notice many others don't seem to have my problem.

Also, I do have the construction design drawing prepared by Crowther Design. It probably would be a copyright violation for me to send it to you. But if you are really interested send me your email address and I will send you a low resolution copy. That way you will be able to see the general approach but not all the specifics of the E-glass layup, etc.

My targa supports the traveler and hard bimini so I believe Crowther specified the PVC internals because they were very concerned about the strength required.

[cat man do]

Sean, I had a composite one on my last cat that we made out of 9mm ply webs x3 in the uprights with 6mmply skin. the curved top was 2 laminated wrc beams [3 layers of 42 x 19 WRC bent and glued ] this was then skinned in 6mm ply. solid hoop pine blocks glued in where dinghy lifting blocks went. Used bending ply to get nice big radiused corners from uprights to top and reinforced with 600 gsm uni in this area. Wrapped it all in one layer of 200 gsm plainweave. This was incredibly strong, we could stand on it, it looked and was part of boat not an afterthought. As your still building I would highly reckomend making a mock up from scrap and living with it for a few weeks in position until you get your style right and then building, after all ther'es some bloody shockers on the back of some cats. Would love to show a pic, but mine are on old format and i'm not savvy enough yet to scan a pic, can't even get my digital stuff on here yet as the files all seem too big.
Hope this helps a bit

Dave

[cat man do]

Since last post I've figured out how to get pics on, so go to gallery and there are some there

Dave

[PHIL+MARYANNE]

For the ultimate in Radar Arches/Targa Bar/Cockpit Enclosure, checkout mantacatamarans.com. Looks a bit clumsy - I call it 'the jungle gym', but it was one the BIG reasons we chose Manta. It holds everything from Dinghy to Radar to solar panels. The back seat puts you high up, and is a great place to hangout, sleep, etc... So add another thing one can add to the arch - YOURSELF!
Cheers!
Phil

[northerncat]

finally got around to constructing mine, in the absence of knowing any other technologies i built it the way i understand

[northerncat]

in situ
sean

[northerncat]

well all i have to do on the targa now is to glass and fair it, it weighed 40 kilos when i had finished it before i attached it to the boat, the bridge from the roof to the targa is so i can run my wiring back to the rroof as i will have solar panels and lights on my targa

[northerncat]

oh yes and it easily supports my weight and has very little sideways movement
sean