Anyone heard of sharkskin in place of canvas? I know weight is a key factor, but what about cost and does it keep the UV rays off the boat. Were talkin about a 30 ft. spectre cat so does anyone know the cost. I`ve got 1 bid for 1200.00 in the sunbrella (canvas).

Frank, who did you get the estimate from? I looking for one for the 302. $1200 doesn't sound too bad.

I saw you have the Donzi on the Spectre site now. Did you trade it in? There was a 22zx yesterday at the OPBA lunch.

Yeah, Had to make the move tired of waiting for a buyer. Not a big market in this area for these boats. I was lookin for you at the OPBA meeting Thurs. were you there? I`m tryin to put a face with your name. I was going to the lunch run but changed cause the wife was called away and went by Spectre to talk to the guys who are going to be makin the boat(workers). Can`t hurt to stay on there good side. I saw your Formula on OSO "VERY NICE" did u know the previous owner? Those kinda boats don`t make it to the classifieds.

I met Bill, the previous owner, last year through OSO. I met him at the dock at Bay Pines. I thought he had already sold the boat when I decided to move up. He saw some of my posts about looking for another boat and sent me a message that his was still for sale. Going on the last lunch run with the OPBA is what convinced me I needed a bigger boat. Not a lot of fun being in the middle of four 38 footer's wakes with a 24 at the start.

I have the Sharkskin (from Westland) for my 28' and like it better than the Sunbrella on my previous boat. It repels water better and cleans much easier, lighter too. I can't tell you how long it will last, but after one year of on-off and all the crap a woodland setting will throw at it, it held up fine. I did not use it for the winter though, had the boat shrink wrapped, I wouldn't use it for any winter weather.

The Sharkskin is lighter and very strong and much cheaper. For production boats, you can call Westland and they will provide part number and then Overtons can order it for you. I got a cover for a 36 Baja for under $400. BTW, get gray color as it is colorfast. The first cover I got was burgandy and where it rubbed vinyl on the headrest tops turned burgandy and was next to impossible to remove.

I doubt Westland has a Spectre cover but would assume they have one for any Baja,etc. For the Spectre, call Jay and see if someone already made a template to ease making the next cover.

I had one made last year, I don't know what he called the fabric, it may have been sharkskin, but it wasn't sunbrella. He told me that sunbrella will lose it's water repelling qualities after about three years. It was also more cost effective.

Sunbrella seems to be the best available on the market now.

I had a sharkskin cover on my last boat. They are nice. They are pretty light and keep the water out. My cover was teal and I didn't have any problems with the color running. When I got the boat I have now the first thing I wanted to get for it was a sharkskin cover. As someone already mentioned, unless you have a boat that is relatively common they probably won't have a pattern for it. They didn't have one for my boat.

I just went with the generic 28' sport boat cover and it fit fine. I think I paid $300-$400 price range, but the custom cover for my boat which they had the template was like $700-$800. Not worth the extra cost in my mind.