Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I purchased the more expensive Exact Fit Sunbrella cover for my 2001 diablo from RNR Marine basically due to the recommendations here and the price they offered. It came in about a week ago and now I am very frustrated with RNR who seems not to want to even respond to my emails. I also contacted Westland directly and at least they have been responsive but they say it fits like it should.

Boat is a 2001 Diablo 180. It fits perfectly at the bow and all the padding lines up on the front cleats and windshield. By the time you get to the stern the cleat padding is off 2-3" and I think the cover needs to be 3" longer to reach over the end of the swim platform at transom. Then the drawstring could hold it tight but otherwise there is nothing the cover can hold on to. As I sketch it I think the seam I scribbled in blue needs 2-3 more inches and the cover should follow the same strake (red line) it starts with at the bow.

Tell me if this is a proper fit and what you think?

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69...psjiafu4t2.jpg

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I bought a cover from the same company from a dealer on ebay for my 96 talari 240z. It seems to fit good. I had the original factory mariah cover and the new one seems to fit about the same, but westland's cover hangs down on the sides a little more, which is fine with me. For both covers, i had to tie the transom end down first to keep it pulled down in the back, then tie down the front and then the sides. Your diablo doesnt really have a lip on the transom for the cover to go over to keep the back pulled down, so i would fasten the back first, the pull the bow snug. Since i do have the original factory cover, i did compare the two and they seemed to be very close to the same fit


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Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Here is a photo of the westland cover on my talariAttachment 5977


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Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Maybe that's the main problem. The bow has a sewn in nose so there is no possible adjustment there. I imagined it should fit down and over the transom so the drawstring could hold it tight. I will just use straps to deal with it since it has rained a few times already and the Sunbrella seems to be great at keeping it dry.

Just did my water pump and other maintenance so it's ready for the lake now.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I had a 2001 diablo with the factory cover. It came down just below the stainless rub rail on the back deck, but only by a few inches depending on the adjustment of my rear support pole. I tried to find a picture of it with the cover on, but apparently i spent more time taking pictures of it uncovered lol. Hope this helps. I sure miss our diablo.

Nick

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Actually... if it'll attach I do have a picture of the rear of the boat with the factory cover. Hopefully this will help you.

Nick

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I was wrong... I actually found quite a few more pictures. I paid a shop to replace some straps, add vent caps, and patch and reinforce a few places, along with re-waterproof my cover. They did a terrible job, and in hindsight, I should have purchases a new cover (They saw me coming, and charged me nearly 200.00 to "clean" replace 4 straps (I asked for all of them to be replaced), patch a hole where the rear support poked through, and re waterproof it) It took 2-3 more bottles of 303 to finally get it to stop leaking.. so I over paid for their crappy work, but thought it was worth saving the factory cover at the time.

Here are some more images.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

nglauer Thank you for the pictures. I never had a factory cover and mine originally came with a heavy canvas cover the dealer probably added that was a bit oversized. Looks like you had two types of covers actually? A mooring and others that just covered upholstered sections.

Your pictures seem to indicate I should not really expect a factory fit cover to go over the transom much more than it does. I talked to Westland and they were kind enough to send me some addition fabric if I want to have a shop lengthen it. Not sure I will since it is very well made and I would not want to mess it up at this point. I have tinkered a bit with modifying my straps I normally use and may add a couple loops to hold it better with less stress. All in all it is much easier to use and seems to keep things drier than anything else I've done. I think I've been through 3 covers but this was the first one I spent the bigger bucks to get Sunbrella and "Exact Fit".

I checked a couple more things out this weekend and it is still clean and dry inside. We don't use our boat as much as I would like so it is nice to open it up and find no surprises. One or two years with bad covers it seemed like I spent more time cleaning than using the boat when it would get wet and a bit dirty and mildewed inside since the rain had gone right through.

For our use the little 18' Diablo is just right. Smaller but still room for 4-6(we've had up to 4 adults and 5 kids, limit on the label), easy to tow and good on gas and even with the full load has pulled tubes fine. Mine originally came with a Prestige trailer like yours but I made a deal with the dealer who kept the trailer for another boat and got the aluminum salt water trailer in my picture. The trailer with long tongue and good brakes makes it really easy to tow. So for me it's worth the effort to get things sorted out as I plan to keep this little Diablo for a long time.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I pulled a two person tube easily with a 17p 3blade prop. It was the perfect boat for my family (2 small kids 5 & 7 when we sold it. I wouldn't have sold it, but I had back surgery and was worried I would be off work for an extended period of time. I really regret parting ways with it, but have been planing to buy another one in the near future (assuming I can find one). I got a fair amount of money out of ours when I sold it. I purchased it from the original owner for 6500.00, kept it for quite a few years and flipped it for quite a bit more than I paid. I did install a few minor things while we owned it. I put the Nauticus Smart Tabs on it (highly highly suggest them.. amazing difference), a Lowrance depth finder, clarion marine radio, 2 kicker speakers, replaced the factory cup holders with new replacements (same as originals that were cracked), and purchased a prop. Other than that, I hadn't done anything other than regular oil changes and winterizations.

Here are a few more pictures of it... sure miss it... but hoping to get another one sooner than later :)

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Here are a few more pictures. I changed all of the trailer lights over to LED, added a plastic winch cover from shelby, replaced the inner fenders, wiring, and installed some bearing buddies.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

My boat has two swivel bucket seats with a large bench and sundeck in the back. It's white and beige with beige carpet and the graphic similar to yours but multicolor down the side. I don't have any good pics with me right now. When I told my wife I really wanted to get a boat she was against it until we looked at and rode in this Mariah.

We got ours when our kids were about 4 and 6. We spent many afternoons at the lake pulling tubes or knee boards and even learning to ski with the kids but the thing they like the most was to bring friends along and take turns riding 2 or even three tubes. Throwing animal crackers at the tube riders to see if they could catch them comes to mind too.

Our boat came with a 19" 3 blade, 2:1 Alpha drive and 3.0 motor. Not super powerful but has always been enough for what we do and WOT is too much for riders. I used to sling and bounce tube riders back and forth with precision, making it fun but keeping it safe.

We (I) ruined the original prop on a rock ledge late one summer and over that winter I found some incredible deals and picked up both a 19 and a 21 from a couple places for under $50 each. If it is just my wife and I going out cruising I run the 21 and I love it. Cruises much better at a little lower RPM. If we might have a load (friends and tubes) I switch to the 19.

I've been reading about smart tabs and thinking I might give these a try as it sounds like it would make the boat even better. Did you ever try them? My bow rise is a bit high getting on plane and it bounces at times when I trim up to cruise but never knew I needed them until I started reading. Might be one more thing to sort out this summer.

Thanks,

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I HIGHLY suggest the smart tabs... unbelievable difference. Before I purchased them I swapped over to a 17p prop to jump it out of the water. After the smart tabs, I didn't need the 17p. You won't believe the difference it makes, it was by far the best investment. My boat at low speeds through wake areas wouldn't go straight to save it's life.. i'd have to crank the wheel back and forth because of the slow speed prop wash. Once I put the tabs on.. it operated like it was on rails. It was straight as an arrow at idle speeds, and I could turn the boat faster than any sane person should at top speeds. The holeshot was night and day as well, it puts the boat on plane faster than any product i've seen - I know it works better than "whale tails" because a friend of mine had a sister boat to mine, but with an expensive hydrofoil. You can adjust them in the water as well, and all the parts are easily replaced if something were to break. However, they seem really durable unless someone tries to use them as a step lol. I've seen people claim that they lost a few mph with them, but I used a GPS speedometer on my phone and saw about a 1-2 increase. Besides the tab, adding the lowrance depth unit was the next best thing. I secured the through hull transducer in the engine compartment with a wax toilet ring - so it didn't require any cutting or glue. I did run a small probe out the rear of the boat for the water temp though, as the unit told temp and depth, and had a depth alarm which was nice for the area's we boated.

You'll have to post some pictures sometime. I'd love another Diablo. I think one with the 4.3L would be really nice, although my 3.0L was great on gas, and had plenty of pep.

Buy those tabs! I promise, I don't work for them.. and make 0 commission lol. They were just that amazing.

Nick

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I've made up my mind I'm ordering the Smart Tabs. Mine also wanders aimlessly at low speed. Did you mount yours outboard as possible keeping flush to the flat and ignoring the chine or letting the chine basically go deeper than the tab? From what I measured there is hardly a flat spot on the bottom as wide as the tab. 7" might be the widest flat I find. I should take a picture but I'm sure we have (had) the same hull.

I still use my now antique, temperamental, handheld Garmin GPS for the boat. When it works it shows my speedometer is close. Top speed on my boat is only just over 40 IIRC. I keep trying to find a hill to see if it will go a bit faster.

I have a depth finder but it's a basic one that shoots through the hull mounted in that thin spot under the motor. Nothing fancy but has a depth alarm. Problem with our lakes in TN is there are basically underwater cliffs. Might be 50+ feet deep then 2 feet away it's 2' deep, and that's all rock.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Here are some additional pictures of mine. I had the SX tabs (although I can't remember which struts mine had). However, they are really nice and if you call they will suggest which size struts. They are also adjustable, so you can dial them up or down some manually. Mounting was very easy, mark/measure three times - drill once lol. I believe I used 3M 5200 caulking/adhesive to deal mine too. I think installation took 15 minutes after digging all of the tools out. I did have to cut the center bunks on my trailer, because the tabs were catching on them. I think I cut about an inch off each side and rolled the carpet back down. As for the exact measurements - I just based mine off of some of the pictures here on the site. However where I finally put them made a HUGE difference. Plus... I found mine in the Cabela's bargain cave for around $45.00 bucks with cut packaging, but never used/installed... which made it an even better deal at the time :)

Keep me posted when you get them! Trust me - it'll be like a different boat. It even felt like it handled choppy water better as well. The Ohio river wasn't as drastic change wise.. but there were a couple of places that we went to that were sketchy like that. I found that the lowrance was helpful when just floating down river off the shore line. Sometimes I'd just sit about 1/3 of the way off the shore line, and just let the current drag us down river - however the closer to the shore the crazier the depth changes are, so the lowrance kept us off random sandbars lol.

Good luck!

Nick

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Your tabs are mounted where I imagine I need to mount them. My trailer bunks are almost flush to the end of the hull, maybe the hull hangs over <1". It might be wise to trim them as you did.

Now if I can find a great deal like you did. Like others it kinda bothers me to drill into my hull but in reality fiberglass and gel coat repair is really pretty easy even if you made a mistake but I also subscribe to the consider all your options, measure many times, then drill or cut once.

I looked at the website and was thinking white would be better on the bright white hull but black matches the motor and looks fine.

Thanks again for all the time and pictures to let me get perspective on things.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

People will tell you to mount them as wide as possible, but don't worry.
Apart from the fact that you just can't mount them any wider on a Mariah, they work very well just where Nick has them. Me also on my 180 Diablo :wink_thumbup:

If you have them any wider then they will be out of the water and what's the point of that???

Here's a short video I made a couple of years ago of my Smart tab's "earning their keep" :yes_grin:

It was made with my old GoPro, Must get around to making one with the New One..... :rolleyes:

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

Somehow i missed this video. Thats pretty awesome Andy! Love to see another one with the camera pointed toward the transom from behind.. perhaps on a pole. I thought the tabs were the best investment i had made while owning the boat.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting- UPDATE
 

As a follow up to the new cover I did something I am very happy with. Since the new cover came with a lot of long straps I used some of the webbing and clips to make straps that attach to the windshield snaps and cleats to locate my support poles. My poles are simply aluminum tube from home center I made with white rubber chair tips for < $20. The heavy duty snaps and tool came from sewing center for < $15 and I still have extras. Their are snaps on top of each pole and some heavy needle felt I had to cushion the top of each pole. The rear I even added a piece of plastic about 4x6 to distribut the load a little.

It takes all of about 1 minutes to strap these in. I can unclick just the rear strap near the tow cleat so that I can open the sundeck to access the motor without disturbing anything else.

Attachment 6045

I plan to update my bungee cords that hold the cover tight but it's fitting quite nicely now.

Attachment 6046

I rained yesterday and except a couple tiny spots near the darts in the cover water did not pool at all.

I know we should have been on the lake with the holiday but we never head to the lake on these busy weekends. I much prefer an afternoon off midweek when we usually have nearly the entire lake to ourselves and can cruise or just relax until about sunset.

Next up Smartabs which have been ordered and expect to see any day if not today.

Re: Westland Cover from RNR not fitting ?
 

I was hard to bring myself to drill holes below the water line but I did. I dry fit everything first then filled the holes with 3M 5200 sealant. The hardest part was probably squeezing that small tube of expensive polyurethane to fill the holes. I looked for 4200 in a caulk tube which would have made it easier and should have ordered that but the 5200 was available locally.

Attachment 6056