tartarooga
hardtop dodgers
and biminis
who we are
A little history: tartarooga goes back to 1977, Jacques built the first hardtop dodger for his sailboat. It was a Dragon Class sloop, a sleek racer. The purpose was to keep the boat’s dog, Mister Eddy, out of rain and spray.
The first incarnation of our hardtop dodger became quite popular among Dragon racers. It essentially consisted of a hard top salvaged off an 1959 MG-A roadster. The rear window was now facing forward, pretending to be a windshield. Mister Eddy stayed dry. Everybody and their cousins decided that they needed a dodger “just like that one”.
By mid-1978, Jacques had bought all the junkyards out of hard tops. There were only two choices, quit making hardtop dodgers, or manufacture them from scratch. – more below –
In 1983, Jacques went into business, starting his own custom boat building company. What became known as the Samish River Boat Shop built a number of one-offs. Up to 42′ in length, to the most exacting standards of engineering, aesthetics and finish.
Bea became our resident Sail- and Canvas maker from day one. She produced sail inventories and canvas items of all descriptions. Her workmanship and dedication to detail are unsurpassed by anyone in the industry. Everything coming from her shop is extremely well thought out and finished. She has participated in the completion of over 600 tartarooga Hard Dodgers.
The first commercially sold hard dodger, under the tartarooga label, was installed in 1983. With every dodger made, we have improved on the concept and refined details. Today tartarooga can be viewed as a truly mature product, often copied, but unmatched by anyone.
Our Main Goals are Seaworthiness and Seakindliness
When you put to sea in a boat, you will be exposed alternatively to hot or cold. There will be calm or stormy conditions, with rain and spray.
It is our declared purpose to provide optimal protection from these extreme conditions. Our structures are so strong you can depend on them in any kind of sea conditions. With our products your entire crew will arrive in port feeling fresh and rested. (See below)
Our Products
tartarooga hardtops are hand laid-up in our proprietary molds, using high-tech materials.
tartarooga Hard Dodgers and Biminis have integral structural members and downturned edges fore- and aft.
tartarooga means engineered for ultimate strength and impact resistance, while keeping weight low.
tartarooga Hard Dodgers come with stainless steel frame and a pair of lateral handrails.
tartarooga tops have a finish of high-grade marine gelcoat, inside- and out.
tartarooga Hard Dodger windshields will release, under pressure, to yield to possible wave impact. (see report below)
tartarooga products are fabricated with canvas of the well-known SUNBRELLA or TEMPOTEST brands.
tartarooga windows are made of STRATAGLASS ™ or TUFFEK ™.
All tartarooga canvas work is sewn with UV-proof TENARA ™ thread.
Experience TARTAROOGA at Sea!
Hi there! It’s Lee Youngblood. – I thought we try to track you down to say thank you, thank you! Thank you very much for a wonderful job! – Hum, we hit a stack in the middle of the night. It dropped – uh – several tons of water on us. I think the whole boat shuddered to a stop. Most of it went between the mast and the cockpit. And, – uh – blew the windows out of the dodger. And filled the cockpit to about 4 inches below the top of the coaming. And, – uh – John stuck his head up and asked “are you still here?” I said “yeah! everything OK!” – hum – I asked “can we do anything about the windows?” “Just snap them back up! Jacques said they’re supposed to blow out when hit by green water”. So, I just wanted to say thank you for a great dodger! (Transcript from our voice mail)
Explanation: our hard dodgers incorporate an added feature that allows the windshield to release under pressure when impacted by a massive amount of water. This prevents the dodger from getting torn away by a surge of green water on deck. When the water has drained away, the windscreen can be “snapped back up”.