www.iFourWinns.com

I bought a 2001 248 Vista this past year and it has been great. I was thinking of buying a sunpad. A guy at Westmarine recommended a local furniture upholstery store that does a lot of custom pads for boats. I talked to the guy today and he was going to give me prices for a 2" pad or 3". Just to compare apples to apples with the Four Winns pad (which will take awhile to get if I go that route) -- does anyone know how thick the pad is? Is it comfortable? Thanks.

We have the sunpad, but rarely use it. It is somewhat comfortable, but you can not have the front hatch open while it is on the deck. you have to fold the forward portion back to open the hatch. Then the pad is too uncomfortable to use. We usually just leave ours in the basement

We always use our pad, I think of it as a insulation blanket to keep the cabin cooler (shade the bow). Where we boat, at 100 + opening a hatch is not going to cool the cabin, A/C is just about all we use.

I want to say that the pad we have is 2" thick. A must have on the bow.

_________________
2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

2" pads on our 268. They are used everytime we go out. Very comfortable too.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

My kids use the pads on our 268 and find them to be comfortable. For those of you with the pads, do you leave them on deck (snapped in place) when under way?

_________________


2008 V338
Twin Volvo Penta 320hp DP

2002 268 Vista
1987 225 Sundowner
1986 170 Horizon
1975 Steury V415SS

We do. They will lift slightly at the blisteringly fast WOT speed of 38 mph, but they are held in place by the snaps, and have never come loose while underway. We store them in the aft cabin when not in use.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

About 2 inches and we always use it. The fasteners don't seem all that good quality, so we do take it off while underway. The ride here in Florida is mostly a bit bumpy...

_________________
Richard - FL - 2005 Vista 248

Thanks. As I said, apparently this guy makes a lot of pads for boats and was referred by WestMarine. He can get us a pad in half of the time the dealer can. It sounds like 2" may be enough, but we might go with three (which he prices as what I can get from FW for 2).

THanks for the comments re the hatch, I think we will have the pad cut to go around the hatch and not over it. I am surprised that the FW pad covers the hatch. Thoughts?

We have the 258 with the sunpad and we don't use it much. It's a pain to store and ours comes loose at 20 mph or above. We just use a couple of towels if we're going to sit out up there. If you do have one made, I would have it stop short of the hatch, so that you can leave it open while the pad is on. That's another reason why we don't use ours much - because we prefer the hatch to be open during the day.

_________________
2006 Vista 258
2007 Yukon Denali

I might have had the front snap loose last year and the SOB flew right over the helm in a storm. Luckily my buddy saw it and I stumbled out of bed for an early morning swim. So make sure you can remove your pads to dry it out, chances are it'll get wet!

I didn't realize it until now, but the 248/258 covers the hatch. On the 268/278 there are two seperate pads, on each side of the hatch. We haven't used ours yet, but the admiral will use it each time we're out for sure.

_________________
2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

I like it to cover the hatch, to keep light and heat out when in the very hot sun.




ditto, I have once got the boat to maybe hit 40 mph (gps) did not bother pad. It is rare that we don't have the pad on the deck. never had it come loose, and has been through some strong storms.

Get a pad, and find out what works for you.

_________________
2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

Never had mine come loose speedo said 42MPH probably 38 GPS... I like the pad a lot, but it is hard to store and I wish they would have cut it out around the hatch, because if you get some bonzo on the boat that doesn't know the hatch is under there and they walk across it.....

_________________
Brett DiMichele

Thanks, everyone. I think on balance I will ask this guy to cut the pad so it does not cover the hatch and try to get 3" for comfort. In light of the fact that I seem to top out at around 28 mph (non-GPS, I am still getting the hang of working trim and tabs), I think I should be fine. I will post the pics when I get the pad. THanks.