Awning for all seasons

The awning design came about after Allan and his partner Keryn had lived with conventional boom tents on their own boat and other people's vessels. They listed all the problems with existing designs and looked for ways around them.

The biggest stumbling block was the fact that No Fibs has a top-zipper sail cover and lazy jacks, so a conventional boom tent wasn't going to work, unless the jacks were converted to quick-release types. But that idea was trialled by the pair, with the resulting tangles and 'skied' line-ends the order of the day.

Back to the drawing board.

What if the awning was split into port and starboard halves that rolled up against the sail cover when not in use? This concept would use transverse, flexible battens. It looked good on paper, but the rolled-up awnings would be very bulky along the side of the sail cover and make zipping up difficult, heavy work when the mainsail was dropped into the bag.

The thinking caps went on again.

The final idea was zippered port and starboard awnings that connected to the lower edge of the sail cover and could be unzipped when not in use. A stern section could then be zippered across the aft edges of the side awnings.

The couple talked the idea through with Shane Beashell of SB Marine Trimming of Mona Vale, in Sydney's north. Yep, it could be done and Shane suggested fibreglass sail battens in sewn-in pockets for the bracing job.

The prototype was duly made up and worked well from day one. It took two people about five minutes to put up and to also take down.

The sole problem was at the batten ends, where a number of tethering arrangements were tried. The one that worked best was a line with a stop knot that passed through an eyelet in the awning's outer edge and through a hole drilled in each batten cap and batten end. This was then tied off on the life lines.

After a couple of lost batten caps, the hole in the cap and batten end was enlarged to make room for a few wraps of whipping twine through the hole to secure the cap to the batten end. A neater way of securing the caps to the batten ends is a hollow rivet - that job is planned for a wet winter's day.

The battens were originally stowed below deck when the boom tent wasn't being used, but were a nuisance. Now they're slid into the gap between the mainsail and the sail cover. The end caps are tied together as well as to the boom end fitting, so they can't slide out when the boat is sailing and the boom slopes 'downhill'.

Now the couple enjoys a boom tent that fits quickly and easily and, thanks to its flexible battens, is height-adjustable to provide additional shade protection as the sun shifts, or to keep out the wind.