I'm light skinned and don't do well in the sun....and we live in a desert. When I bought our boat I had to have a cockpit sunshade put on. They did a nice job and here's what we ended up with. It's only braced with two poles down below, one on either side of the transom door, and two poles from above, one from each side of the arch. It's made of Stamoid material and after five years of use it shows no wear at all.