Keeping the BRe cockpit dry

[Jonathan Stuart]

The BRe's coming does a job good of protecting the BRe's cockpit. But...in choppy seas a wave can be dumped on the fore deck and some of that water is "trapped" on the windward side of the cabin. It runs aft and doesn't flow out of the scuppers fast enough (or at all). Instead, if you're healing enough - which you probably are in those choppy conditions, the water flows in to the cockpit through the gap in the coming where the sheets run. This isn't enough water to be dangerous, but it's enough to be irritating and especially if you're cruising and hence trying to keep as dry as possible.

My fix was to infill the coming gap with a piece of hardwood (teak surround salvaged from 1970s aluminium patio doors) - see attached photo. I also took a deep breath and took a saw to the gunwales to open up the scuppers. The original slots were so narrow that they didn't work very well and were easily blocked.

So far I haven't found a downside and I think the mods look quite good too! Just thought I'd share this in case others are interested.

Jonathan

[basz]

It looks smart Jonathan! Did you glued the wood, or did you use a kit? Or maybe epoxy?
Bas

[Jonathan Stuart]

Bas,

Thank you! Apart from being practical I now think the boat looks better too. I just used Geocel silicone sealant to bond the wood in place. The wood doesn't have to resist much force and I didn't want to use epoxy or a structure sealant (Sikaflex, etc) that would be harder to remove if this modification didn't work. So far so good...

Jonathan