26x cushions

[chadwiseman]

Just sold my 26s and have a 26x lined up.. however he ditched a bunch of the cushions. Any idea where I can buy some?

[NiceAft]

I don’t know what your budget is, There will be some here telling what they did to keep the price down. If your budget allows, here is what I did in 2004. Those cushions are still excellent:

Using brown construction paper, I made templets of each of the seats of my . I then went to an upholsterer to find out how much fabric do I need for the construction of two BOX seats. I then went and purchased black Sunbrella fabric. The upholsterer then made the cushions. I also had the cushions filled with high density foam. As stated, those cushions are still on use in my Mac. The are in great shape. Expensive, but worth it. Top notch fabric, and professionally done. If your budget allows. If not, there will be other good suggestions.

By the way, I used a contrasting Sunbrella fabric for welting. Very attractive, weatherproof cushions going on twenty years.

[socalmacer]

When I added up the cost of having someone else redo my original 1996 Mac 26X cockpit cushions and interior cushions I decided to go downs the do-it-yourself path. In addition, I had other projects around the house to do to further justify this approach and cost. Anyway, I purchased a sewing machine from Sailrite, watched many of their videos and the rest is history. I have completed a number of other projects (sailboat related and others) since making this purchase decision. Good luck!!!

[Russ]

I don’t know what your budget is, There will be some here telling what they did to keep the price down. If your budget allows, here is what I did in 2004. Those cushions are still excellent:

Using brown construction paper, I made templets of each of the seats of my . I then went to an upholsterer to find out how much fabric do I need for the construction of two BOX seats. I then went and purchased black Sunbrella fabric. The upholsterer then made the cushions. I also had the cushions filled with high density foam. As stated, those cushions are still on use in my Mac. The are in great shape. Expensive, but worth it. Top notch fabric, and professionally done. If your budget allows. If not, there will be other good suggestions.

By the way, I used a contrasting Sunbrella fabric for welting. Very attractive, weatherproof cushions going on twenty years.

^^^^ This

[chadwiseman]

What material did you use?

[NiceAft]

Sunbrella.
https://www.sunbrella.com/browse-fabric ... upholstery

I also used closed cell foam; it’s stiffer. With Sunbrella, you don’t need open cell for drainage. Sunbrella sheds water.

I used black Sunbrella. It goes best with the black and white of the X or M. Black Sunbrella does not get hot like black vinyl, and it breaths, so no puddles of sweat. It’s a superior fabric, but it is not cheap. I believed it was worth it in 2004 when I had the pillows made. All these years later, I know it was a good decision.

The cushions I had made were a simple box seat with black welting. The seats are two inches(5.08 cm) thick.

[chadwiseman]

Thanks.. if anyone hears of someone scrapping a boat or upgrading their cushions i might strike a deal.

[Starscream]

Making your own cushions is very possible.

viewtopic.php?t=27707&hilit=cushion

Just needs some time and patience plus a few basic sewing tools.

[March]

I got a set of cockpit cushions from Softopper, about 5 years ago.Paid around $ 400.00, if memory serves. Same color as the original (brown), vinyl (not sunbrella). Better than the original Did not come with foam core, but has snaps that sort of fit the previous pattern (with one or two exceptions). The snaps are mounted on fabric strips which is much better than mounting them directly on the material itself.

You might want to contact them and see if they still have the 26X pattern : when I bought mine, they wanted a certain number of people to be interested, else it wouldn't have been worth their while to produce new templates

Started to replace the foam with closed-cell, as I gradually collect closed-cell pads from Goodwill. Buying the closed-cell core all new gets pretty expensive. Eventually, I will do the sunbrella thing. For the time being, the open-cell stuffing is sealed inside garbage plastic bags,but they still get soggy. Besides, one zipper is already broken--I should have worked them, one by one, every time I put the boat up for the winter

Oh well, live and learn

[socalmacer]

My situation might be different than others as my cockpit cushions are only outside when using the boat and I live in Southern CA so not much wet sailing weather here to worry about. As the pictures would indicate I went with a marine quality vinyl - much better than the original but not sunbrella canvas/quality. I replaced all the foam as well with medium stiffness foam. The foam I purchased from a local upholstery store and the vinyl from Joann. I'll say the foam and material aren't cheap but the quality is definitely an improved over the original. The zippers and thread I purchased from Sailrite. I used the original cushions as patterns for the new cushions - don't throw them out just yet. Good luck!!!