Customer Brief
The Crew of this Oyster 885 Yacht wished to provide the yacht with bespoke awnings with two briefs in mind. One will provide protection for the crew during sunshine and more inclement weather, increasing the size of the sociable area of the yacht. The other awning to the foredeck of the yacht would primarily offer dry storage for a number of sails whilst the yacht is fully crewed. Sails could be dried and/or stored away from the direct glare of UV rays or heavy rain on deck.
Concept
The ideal concept utilises existing attachment points providing the greatest area of sociable space and the largest area of cooling and shading of the yacht. The optional mesh side zips allow the customer extra shading and screening whilst retaining the visibility out of the yacht and any breeze the opportunity to filtrate through.
A high peak foredeck awning and an over boom awning were customised for this yacht offering up to 2½ times the coverage of other bimini protection resulting in considerable sun protection and a noticeable reduction in overall boat temperature whilst offering dry storage on the less clement days. After a short while with the awnings in place the air conditioning would usually turn itself off offering energy saving benefits to our customers. We seek to make best use of what is already in place to support the structures and in many cases add little or nothing to what currently exists on-board. The ideal concept is to have an awning that can utilise attachment points already used for normal dynamic sailing loads.
How we did it
Each awning starts with precise digital measurements taken on board the yacht and discussed with the owners and crew. Concept drawings and impressions of the final products were presented to the allow them to visualise the finished product and its attachment.
We incorporate the standard and running rigging of sailing yachts to support the tensile loads and make installation as simple as possible. No battens or spreader poles are required and the lightweight fabric makes crew work easy and storage versatile.
