J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Why Three cushions????

So here I am looking at three original seat cushions on my starboard settee. These are the ONLY cushions I use on Vee Jay because it's hot and damp ... and I got stuff everywhere else ... and I am asking myself why not just one cushion like the quarter berth?

and one big plastic zipper?

I've had a bunch of fabric off EBay for the last 5 years waiting for inspiration and a cheap way out.

Over the years I've seen some creative ways to deal with the settee cushion and storage bin covers. One boat I saw had cut the boards to match the gaps of the three seat cushions--lift a single cushion and matching board. Others have converted to single bottom and back cushions. I don't know that a measurer's ruling has been made but this seems acceptable. I've been thinking about replacing our 25+ year old cushions, probably using a sunbrella fabric.

A single cushion is more comfy to sleep on, but 3 cushions are easier to transport on and off the boat for off season storage. I'd love a more "plush" v-berth cushion for cruising - it just isn't in the budget plans for a long time...

I've seen cushions covered with Sunbrella. Are they as comfortable as the stock fabrics?

White Dolphin has a 10" memory foam mattress in the v-berth that the PO installed. Its basically a Sams Club mattress that he cut to fit.

It is kind of ridiculous: outrageously heavy but also outrageously comfortable.

We remove it for racing which is a giant pain in the butt (you should hear the crew complain), but it makes our non-racing weekends in Charleston very enjoyable.

Nice on the memory foam mattress. Is it covered with anything? How is it holding up?

It has a cover that came with it that obviously doesn't completely fit, but the extra fabric just gets tucked underneath. We wash the cover from time to time and just put bed sheet right over the cover.

The mattress itself is holding up quite well. Not sure how long it was there before we bought it, but we have had it for a few years.

It looks like the previous owner probably jsut cut it to shape with a turkey carving or similar knife.

The removal for racing is a serious pain though. If I do it by myself it takes a very long time to squeeze it out. But once the crew show up, we fold it in half, tie folded with a line, then push it out. With a few people it can be removed and stowed back up at the car (van) in 15 min or so.

I've thought about cutting it in half to make removal easier, but don't want to affect its comfort If I were to race with all that weight stuffed into the bow, I could not live with myself, so out it comes each time!

We replaced our cushiions on Rauzer II a couple years ago. In the V-birth we used 3" of firm foam and 3" of memory foam on top, cut into the original 3 cushion shapes. Very comfortable and still just thin enough to access the forward-most compartment door. It is nice to be able to stack the cushions to one side to access the storage bins below. In the main salon again we kept the 3/6 cushion configuration using a firm foam. The original foam was too soft for our liking. It is nice to be able to easily stack the cushions on one side or the other or in the v-birth when doing the all-too-often maintenance jobs. We kept the original foam in the quarter births. All cushions covered in a micro-fiber material and treated with 'scotch guard'. Foam is surprisingly expensive as is material and labor. We did the upgrade over a couple years, main salon, v-birth then q-births and spent about 3.5 boat bucks. (1 boat buck = $1K)

After 30 yrs. its time to replace the interior cushions. Does anyone have a suggestion as to whom to use? Slingshot is in Ct.

These guys are really good. They redid all my cushions on Mallorca and did a great job and a very fair price. And their main suggestion was to go with one long cushion on the main cabin settee bottoms rather than 3. This saves cost and is much more comfortable to sleep on.

Alimar Canvas & Upholstery
116 Tupelo St
Bristol, RI 02809
401-254-0439

they used to be next to Thurston Quantum Sails, I do not think they're still in business?