A Hard Dodger for Fram

Building a fixed hard dodger for Fram had been on my to-do list for many years. The winter and spring of 2026 finally provided the opportunity to start the project. To make that possible, I temporarily converted the conservatory behind our house into a dedicated workshop.

From the very first day of building Fram, I knew that she would eventually have a hard dodger. During countless sailing trips I photographed hard dodgers on other yachts whenever I came across one that caught my attention. Over the years this gradually shaped my own ideas—not only about what I definitely did not like, but more importantly about the proportions and styling that I found visually appealing.

Taste is, of course, highly personal, and what makes one dodger look "right" is surprisingly difficult to define. Even beautifully curved designs sometimes don't appeal to me, while more angular shapes can have exactly the same effect. On top of that, I also had to design something that I could realistically build myself without ending up with a bulky or amateur-looking structure.

Another important requirement was to maximise the window area while still maintaining sufficient structural strength. The dodger also had to remain lightweight. I wanted to be able to look comfortably over it while standing in the cockpit, yet still enter the companionway without performing gymnastics. At the same time, there also had to be enough clearance for the winch handles of the coachroof winches.

I have never liked windows that lean backwards relative to the waterline. Unfortunately, the shape of Fram's deck doesn't make this easy. From amidships towards the companionway and the sides, the coachroof has a noticeable camber, making the geometry more challenging than it first appears.

Altogether, it proved to be quite a design challenge. I certainly didn't make life any easier for myself by choosing a rig with a relatively low boom that slopes upward towards the aft end. There simply isn't a great deal of space underneath it.

From the many photographs I had collected over the years, both during our own sailing trips and from the internet, one particular design kept standing out as the most attractive solution. The examples below best illustrate the style I wanted to achieve.

The yellow dodger in the image above, particularly the shape of its two front windows, remained one of my favourites for a long time. Eventually, however, I abandoned that concept because of its construction complexity. The white dodger on the right was also very appealing, but for the same reason I decided against it.

The two lower examples best represent the style I ultimately wanted to build. They have a sleek, fast appearance that fits neatly beneath the boom, while still being practical to construct using techniques and details that match my own capabilities.

On the floor of the conservatory I first built a full-size replica of the cabin roof. The general shape of the dodger already existed in my mind, and I translated it into a rough dimensional sketch based on the position above the companionway. From that, I cut the first construction frame from PIR insulation foam. All subsequent frames were created largely by eye, each one slightly smaller than the previous, allowing the final shape to develop naturally.

A few flexible foam battens were enough to keep the overall curves under control throughout the process.

The structure itself consists of Corecell foam strips laminated with 450 g/m² ±45° biaxial carbon cloth.

After laminating the first carbon layer on the outside, the structure became rigid enough to be turned over so the inside laminate could be applied. Only then did I determine the exact shape of the windows. I experimented with paper templates until I was satisfied with the proportions before cutting the openings.

The entire process involved quite a bit of trial and error, but in the end I am very pleased with the final result.

The windows themselves were cut from a single 5 mm sheet of polycarbonate. The large overhead window sits in a recessed rebate with retaining strips and is bonded only along its forward edge using 3M VHB tape. Because of its considerable size, thermal expansion was an important design consideration.

The side windows are bonded all around using 3M VHB tape and finished with a black silicone sealant.

Two vertical instrument consoles are positioned beneath the roof beams, each capable of carrying two multifunction displays, giving a total of four MFDs. The NMEA 2000 network cable, together with the wiring for a USB outlet and the integrated LED roof lighting, is completely concealed within the composite structure.