This US made Sailfish 2660 had the original low half windscreen mounted at an awkward height. The owner could not see well due to the top bar being set at eye-height and he complained that it was a safety hazard. We discussed options, one of which was to make a composite bottom mount plate to raise the existing screen to an acceptable and safer height however this meant that the screen would move aft and require shortening. We then discovered a ‘Hardtop’ full height windscreen which is a standard ‘off-the-shelf’ product which would suit. The company who sells this product also make the side panels to finish the job. A center panel is also required to fill in the gap between the two curved screen panels. Using these parts meant that we would need a top plate as well to connect everything together. Once all the composite parts were constructed and assembled we also decided to add composite pillars to connect the top and bottom plate at the back. The owner also requested back internal storage side pockets built in as well as a composite VHF radio box fitted to the top plate. All the composite parts were made using a foam core epoxy panel, this is light-weight and strong which was important to offset the extra weight of the toughened glass screen and side panels. Another request from the owner was to fit twin windscreen wipers which involved special recessing to mount due to confined space. All parts were painted in colour-matched polyurethane and mounted in place with polymer sealant.
Once all parts were mounted finally, cad templates were made of the side and center panels to be custom produced. We are now waiting for these to be finished and will keep you informed when we have the job completed.