Hard Top on a Tsunami?

[jongolds]

What's the material underneath the top?

[Water Rat]

1973Tsunami,

The top is a molded fiberglass top (glass on all sides)with a balsa core. It was sprayed with Awlgrip snow white (forget the actual color name), but on the underside area I had them spray it SeaFoam Green, to help cut down on glare.

[Scott]

Scott,
Sorry, just noticed your question about the panels. The front 3 are Barrett Bonded (very similar to EZ2CY i.e. hard acrylic) and the side panels are Strataglass.

So what do you think about the Barrett Bonded ( they now go by Rainier ?? )
Took a good look at them at a boat show and they looked nice ... with their very clean stitchless design. They were giving EZ2CY some flack, but thats sales for ya and the EZ2CY booth was 50 feet away!! ... I was expecting them to be less than EZ2CY. But I got a "casual" quote from a local installer and they were higher !!!

I thought I was told the polycarbonate is tougher in regards to impact. Also I was told they are a bit delicate with regards to scuffing. Then if it scratches it cant be polished out. I dont quite get it, they seem pretty tough. Do you have any issues with them scratching from day to day use i.e. cleaning ??

[Bryan A.]

Nice top!!! I wish I didn't have to go under a bridge on the way out. Any chance that thing folds?

[Water Rat]

Scott,
My main reason for using Barrett vs. EZ2CY is that my canvas guy (Ken's Canvas, Warren, RI) preferred the Barrett, but I think I remember him saying part of that was issues in dealing with the manufacturers themselves. I've been on a number of boats with both and I see little if any difference between the two. Scratching is not an issue as I either leave them in place all the time or they are hinged at the top and can be swung up and attached to hardware mounted in the hardtop above the helm area. Oh yeah, and wash them VERY carefully.

Bryan A,
I wish. Limits me a little bit. The outriggers are easy enough to drop for bridges (Rupp tournaments w/ tower mounts) and the light mast can be taken down (2 screws) for the rare times I trailer it.

[Scott]

Tsunami …my apologies for jumping into your original thread

Thanks Chris

We have factory authorized dealer/installers of both within 20 minutes of the boat. I wish there was only one, it would make my decision much easier. I just need one panel, the front one, and it will stay mounted all the time. Both will fabricate with Stamoid; the difference is in the bonding or stitching of the panel. Both use C tracks and flaps to hide zippers and tracks. EZ seems to be more popular however Barrett seems to be making its mark. Again thanks for the info.

[jongolds]

no problem - I'm learning.