My new RM Tempest 165 is on order and I’m thinking its time for a new skirt, one that is reliable to stay on for rolling and surf/rough water. Settled on snapdragons glacier trek but am concerned about these skirts being a miss match (too small) for the companies combing sizing guide. Medium skirt for T -165 combing. Any thoughts?? …over down under in Australia
order a custom size
Snap Dragon will make a custom skirt for about $10.00 more. You have to order through one of their dealers.
They made a custom skirt for my Mirage 580 (which was made in Australia). Fits perfectly.
Snap Dragon Deck Listing
– Last Updated: Mar-02-07 5:48 AM EST –
their site will have a listing of boats that the company currently makes spray skirts for. If the T160 is listed (probably is), then the size is very unlikely to be off. Usually folks new to neo skirts think a skirt is too tight to get on. Alot of times, its matter of not having used a neo skirt before and realizing that fairly tight is good. The challenge is getting the skirt on. The technique is to attach the back, grab the front with stiff arms, and lean your hole body forward to get the front on (your body weight does the work instead of trying to "arm" it). Getting a skirt on is always much harder than getting it off. Getting it off, you push the grab loop and push it forward a bit (to clear the coaming) and then pull back. The whole skirt will pop off.
The only company skirt that is notorious for being very small and tight (but still fitting) generally is MountainSurf. I get totally out of breath struggling to get one of these on. Getting it off is never a problem (as described above). But I don't even like using the MountainSurf in the winter anymore because my fingers are too numb in the colder weather to have enough of a grip to get the thing on. MountainSurf has started to make an "easier" on type of skirt.
sing
Should fit…
My snapdragon med. fits my Nordkapp, Caribou and the Tern14 and I’ve used it on a QCC 700 the 165’s cockpit is about the same size as those.
BTW a wonderful skirt…
Send them a tracing
As above, and let them know it has to stay on in tough surf. They can decide whether a custom size is needed. And if it needs to be tightened up, they will do that gratis. I recently had to send back a skirt for my used Piedra to them with a problem that it was pulling off - I sent a tracing and a description of the issue, 10 days later I had the skirt back with a heavier shock cord sewn in and maybe some trimming but I couldn’t tell.
I’ve known of others who have sent skirts back to SnapDragon for a better fit, everyone has been happy. They are a great company to deal with that way.
I have a Tempest 170 RM and use a…
– Last Updated: Mar-02-07 10:02 AM EST –
medium Snapdragon Glacier Trek. The 170 and 165 have the same size cockpit so the medium should be just fine. No need for a custom order. However, if you are going to be doing surf or a lot of rolling you might want to get the Ocean Trek or even the Ocean Tour EXP. Both will give you a more watertight seal and the EXP is reinforced to keep from imploding in surf.----Rich
Thanks for the advice
I’ll go ahead with the medium skirt and see how it goes. The glacier looks like a comfortable skirt to wear and the nylon tunnel suits the sub tropical climate here in South East Queensland
Tony
It’s a great skirt. Hot neo, but …
otherwise very good. I take mine off if the temp is over 60F and if I am not in waves. Hot.
ditto on custom size with snapdragon
The Pygmy Artic tern requires a custom size and I’m also ordering the Glacier Trek (Large)
That said: The $140.is a ‘wee bit’ over “$10. above standard cost”.
I figure you get what you pay for and given all I’ve heard about snapdragon, I figure I’ll get the right fit the first time.
Snap Dragon Custom
My custom Snap Drag skirt is a Glacier Tek Breathable. It’s a very comfortable and well made piece of equipment.
The $10.00 is the incremental cost over the standard price. You can find stores that will discount the price, but the total cost is still generally over $100 for most of their skirts.