How useful is the windscreen on a fly bridge? Most, but not all trawlers seem to have them. Does it deflect the wind adequately? My boat (Cheoy Lee 28’ trawler) does not currently have one, is it worth adding?
Fly Bridge Windscreen
- Thread starter David C
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ancora
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If you are referring to a venturi...yes it does deflect the wind. I wouldn't have a boat without one.
Spike
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The venturi is pretty amazing on our boat. Sitting at the helm I have virtually no wind with the windows open. If I stand up the difference is very noticeable. On the cool days we've had coming up the east coast this spring it's very comfortable even with all the eisenglass open.
heysteve
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How to create one is the challenge. Our boat originally had one but its long gone. I'm thinking of cardboard templates for the plastic and some kind of bracket to hold the pieces together. Finding a good fabricator seems key unless anybody knows of any generic brackets.
mvweebles
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Here's a Cheoy Lee 28 listed in Italy. Zoom on the flybridge shows a venturi. Guessing it was an add-on. While it's not bad craftsmanship, it's not what I'd expect from OEM Cheoy Lee - note it partially wraps around, which would be fine and make the fabrication of the Acryllic wind screen easier as it stops short of the severe bend in the caprail. Would be a fairly simple DIY project. Some stainless flat bar, a 3-inch bench vice, and a heavy mallet would get it done quickly. Polishing would take time.
Peter
Peter
CharlieO.
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We don't have a windscreen on our boat, come to think of it I don't have any on my motorcycles either.
I do not use my side enclosures on the flybridge, we just run with the bimini top.
I just drive from inside if the weather/wind dictates it.
I do not use my side enclosures on the flybridge, we just run with the bimini top.
I just drive from inside if the weather/wind dictates it.
mvweebles
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It's remarkable the difference a venturi makes on a flybridge. Channels bulk of wind around the flybridge vs over it. Even on a slow boat such as my Willard 36.
I have a windscreen on my ancient BMW R69S. I didn't care for the windscreen so removed it. Different dynamic. Not sure why, but different.
Peter
CharlieO.
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I wouldn't complain if I had one but I have plenty of other stuff to maintain and or improve before adding a windscreen. Now if a windscreen happened to fall in my lap, I'd add it to my list.
Sunnfjord might actually have drawings for that.
RT Firefly
Enigma
Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Yes. Windscreen.
Welcome aboard. Yes. Windscreen.
Gdavid
Guru
They are remarkably effective, the difference in comfort at the helm when standing versus sitting really illustrates this especially if you are trying to have a conversation.
On motorcycles, in my experience, the height of the windscreen relative to the rider's helmet height and position is really critical and the wrong height can create some terrible turbulance which makes sense considering relative windspeeds on a bike are much higher than boats, especially trawlers.
On motorcycles, in my experience, the height of the windscreen relative to the rider's helmet height and position is really critical and the wrong height can create some terrible turbulance which makes sense considering relative windspeeds on a bike are much higher than boats, especially trawlers.
heysteve
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Alas... like so many other brands they are long out of business. I don't think they made many recreational boats as they were heavily into Alaskan fishing boats back in the day. I do have a picture of the boat as she left the factory in 1984 so have something to go on. It would be an interesting project.
After some discussion with our canvas guy, we removed our windscreen.
We leave the Bimini and enclosure on most of the time. When underway, we usually open it up on all four sides and wind really hasn't been a problem. There's still some vinyl at the bottom so maybe that helps a little. It's just never been an issue.
The other option was to design the vinyl enclosure pieces around the windscreen, which itself was old and due for replacement. The deciding factor was appearance. The old vinyl, with a bump-out for the windscreen, looked kinda stupid. The windscreen never really blocked the wind anyway, because the vinyl always covered it. The new one looks cleaner, and one less thing to clean/repair/replace/worry about chipping.
We leave the Bimini and enclosure on most of the time. When underway, we usually open it up on all four sides and wind really hasn't been a problem. There's still some vinyl at the bottom so maybe that helps a little. It's just never been an issue.
The other option was to design the vinyl enclosure pieces around the windscreen, which itself was old and due for replacement. The deciding factor was appearance. The old vinyl, with a bump-out for the windscreen, looked kinda stupid. The windscreen never really blocked the wind anyway, because the vinyl always covered it. The new one looks cleaner, and one less thing to clean/repair/replace/worry about chipping.
North Baltic sea
Guru
Hi,
my experience is with a planing boat and at those speeds it had a slightly positive effect on the air flow, as well as preventing water splashes in the electronics, at hull speed I didn't notice much of a benefit.
NBs
my experience is with a planing boat and at those speeds it had a slightly positive effect on the air flow, as well as preventing water splashes in the electronics, at hull speed I didn't notice much of a benefit.
NBs
Pete Meisinger
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Plus it is something to hide behind in the rain.
pete
pete
the first time i saw a sunnfjord was in fact in sitka when i was a kid. a family friend bought one new and had it set up for power troll. it was a 42 like yours, and a really nice boat. we were fishing a canadian built 36 footer at the time and i thought the 42 was huge in comparison.
i used to drive past sunnfjord often when my brother kept his boat at tyee in tacoma. obviously been a few years ago now as i didn't know they were gone. unfortunate, as they would have been perfect for the replacement venturi. (stating the obvious)
The venturi on my boat is not a wind screen, it is a wind deflector. With no Bimini, the wind is deflected up and over the seating and even the standing positions. With a Bimini deployed, the deflected wind is captured by the Bimini and makes the standing position the worst location to find your self trapped in, as you now get a concentration of the direct wind and the deflected wind. In decent weather, we tend to pull back the Bimini and enjoy the uncovered flybridge. In wet weather we go below. Oce at anchor we redeploy the Bimini.
My own venturi was OEM "bronze" coloured plexiglass. Like most Taiwanese trawlers of 80s vintage, the "bronze had faded to a purplish colour that was quite unattractive. When I had the misfortune of dropping the folded Bimini onto the venturi and fracturing one panel, I took it to a local glass shop for an estimate and was told that the colour couldn't be duplicated, and wouldn't I rather have a whole new venturi in an actual "bronze" colour? On seeing the sample of the current colour, I went for it. The glass shop guy had a replacement of the whole thing within a week of getting my old pieces. He used 1/4" plexiglass, used the old pieces as patterns, used an oven to soften them and made them droop (or sag) into the correct shape, and voilá, I had my new venturi. after 25 years or so, this version is still the correct "bronze" colour.
Check your local auto glass shop. If the first one you go to gives you the blank stare when you ask, move to the next. You should find one that can do the job for you, without huge expense.
My own venturi was OEM "bronze" coloured plexiglass. Like most Taiwanese trawlers of 80s vintage, the "bronze had faded to a purplish colour that was quite unattractive. When I had the misfortune of dropping the folded Bimini onto the venturi and fracturing one panel, I took it to a local glass shop for an estimate and was told that the colour couldn't be duplicated, and wouldn't I rather have a whole new venturi in an actual "bronze" colour? On seeing the sample of the current colour, I went for it. The glass shop guy had a replacement of the whole thing within a week of getting my old pieces. He used 1/4" plexiglass, used the old pieces as patterns, used an oven to soften them and made them droop (or sag) into the correct shape, and voilá, I had my new venturi. after 25 years or so, this version is still the correct "bronze" colour.
Check your local auto glass shop. If the first one you go to gives you the blank stare when you ask, move to the next. You should find one that can do the job for you, without huge expense.
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Comodave
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On our last boat we had a venturi windscreen. When I made the enclosure I put aluminum bar stock along the top edge and bolted it to the S/S brackets. Then I patterned the front panels and sent them to an EZ2CY fabricator. He made the front 7 panels and I installed them. They snapped into the aluminum bar stock. I fabricated the rest of the enclosure myself. So when we were underway and wanted air in the bridge we would unzip the 2 sides and bottom of the EZ2CY panel and hinge it up under the hardtop and secure it to the frame. Then we had airflow but the windscreen deflected most of the air up and out of our faces when we were seated. Easy. Looked good and was very functional.
fgarriso
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Yes it is. We have a flybridge wind screen and it works very well. We operate the boat from the pilot house about 90% of the time. Warm when it's cold, cool when it's hot, and always dry. 
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Comodave
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Marco Flamingo
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My windscreen had faded to a pinkish color and crazing and scratched. I took it off and found that it could fit crosswise on a 4x8 foot piece of plastic. (It is actually taken off in my avatar). Larger boats sometimes have two or three pieces, probably because of the huge jump in cost to order larger panels. That could be why the aftermarket windscreen shown above looks a little too small side-to-side. 4x8 just barely fit my 30' trawler with a 9' upper helm.
I took it to TAP plastics and discussed material and color. It seems that there are choices that weren't available in the 80's and are more durable. Because the windscreen tips forward, it is beveled at the bottom edge to fit tight against the coaming. I assumed that I would have to finish that bevel after TAP cut the piece. I also told them not to put in the bracket holes, as I didn't trust their accuracy and would do that during the install.
Turns out TAP beveled the bottom edge and put in the holes. Fortunately, the hole placement was accurate and the install wasn't too difficult. BUT if I did it again, I would use a helper or two. And I would install the brackets on the plastic, flex it into place, and then drill new holes in the coaming (if necessary). The bracket would end up covering any old holes, assuming the change is less than an inch, and installation would be much easier.
Because I had to buy a full sheet of Lucite (I think that's what I chose), the cost was about $360. I ended up with more scrap than windscreen, so I now am looking for projects that needs bronze colored plastic. I've only found one. The plastic can be scratched with a diamond tipped stylus. You then wipe ink on the plastic and run it through a printing press. Easy old-school etching. Here is an old boss scratched into leftover windscreen plastic and then printed. I'm sure he would approve.
I took it to TAP plastics and discussed material and color. It seems that there are choices that weren't available in the 80's and are more durable. Because the windscreen tips forward, it is beveled at the bottom edge to fit tight against the coaming. I assumed that I would have to finish that bevel after TAP cut the piece. I also told them not to put in the bracket holes, as I didn't trust their accuracy and would do that during the install.
Turns out TAP beveled the bottom edge and put in the holes. Fortunately, the hole placement was accurate and the install wasn't too difficult. BUT if I did it again, I would use a helper or two. And I would install the brackets on the plastic, flex it into place, and then drill new holes in the coaming (if necessary). The bracket would end up covering any old holes, assuming the change is less than an inch, and installation would be much easier.
Because I had to buy a full sheet of Lucite (I think that's what I chose), the cost was about $360. I ended up with more scrap than windscreen, so I now am looking for projects that needs bronze colored plastic. I've only found one. The plastic can be scratched with a diamond tipped stylus. You then wipe ink on the plastic and run it through a printing press. Easy old-school etching. Here is an old boss scratched into leftover windscreen plastic and then printed. I'm sure he would approve.
Attachments
Venturi-type deflectors are effective and well worthwhile. Motoring at 7 knots OTB (over the bottom) into a 12-knot headwind yields almost 20 knots of apparent wind. A properly designed and installed venturi deflector will make that feel comfortable seated at the upper helm. You and your companions can keep your hats on, open a chart, read a book and even eat potato chips. Wouldn't be without one.
Cap Steve
Member
David, you’re lucky to be in Seattle, we have a great gentleman who has made plexiglass windscreens and venturi’s for boats for well over thirty years, I think 40. He has the original molds for an incredible number of production boats that they shipped all over the country. His shop is located in Redmond and it will be a great loss when he’s gone, molds and all. Call Skip at 206-459-7521 or mikituglt@gmail.com. Most definitely worth a trip to his shop. Anyone wanting a replacement or a new one check him out, he’s in his 80’s and working everyday.
Bellakins
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We love having an enclosure. We have a nice warm place to cruise from, no matter the weather. We can open the "glass" if it gets warm. We used to have a sailboat, and now we smile on cool days as we pass sailboats with everyone bundled up while we sit on the flybridge in short sleeves. It probably extends our cruising season by several months.
gatesharris
Member
Works just great on our little Camano.
I'd take a ride on a fly bridge to see the difference.
Our weather is kinda good here, we almost never go below and only have a bimini top upside.
On the other hand, we're both hikers and have a high tolerance for weather.
It is quit amazing the difference it makes, though.
I'd take a ride on a fly bridge to see the difference.
Our weather is kinda good here, we almost never go below and only have a bimini top upside.
On the other hand, we're both hikers and have a high tolerance for weather.
It is quit amazing the difference it makes, though.
Comodave
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Absolutely correct.
