Viking 23 — Bespoke Canopy, Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Skipton
Heavy-duty PVC canopy for a Viking 23 on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Skipton, specified for northern exposure with reinforced side panels and heat-welded seams.
Skipton is as far north as many canal cruisers venture on the Leeds-Liverpool — the town where the limestone Dales meet the canal network, where winters are proper and summers are often spectacular but brief. Boats moored here year-round face the full force of northern English weather: persistent rain from the west, ground frosts from October to April, and the occasional snowfall that settles for days rather than hours.
The owner of this Viking 23 had been mooring at the Skipton Marina for three years and had gone through two covers in that time — both standard grey PVC covers bought from chandleries, neither lasting more than eighteen months before the material began to crack at the seam lines where it repeatedly flexed in the wind. He contacted us after a recommendation from another boat owner in the marina.
The Viking 23 is a solid, no-nonsense river cruiser — high-freeboard, wide-beamed, and well-suited to the variable conditions of northern waterways. Its cockpit is large and fully open, which means a cover needs to manage significant wind loading across a wide panel. Flat panels in high winds act like sails, and the stress concentrates at the seam lines — exactly where the previous covers had failed.
We designed this cover with built-in drain channels along the side panels: a 25mm drop folded into the panel edge at each seam line, so rainwater runs outward and off the cover rather than pooling at the centre. The material was our Permacote 800D commercial-grade PVC — a heavier specification than our standard inland cover fabric, with a three-ply construction that resists cold-cracking down to -20 degrees. All seam lines were heat-welded rather than stitched, eliminating the needle-hole penetrations that cause stitch-line failures over time.
Side panels were reinforced with a double layer at the cleat attachment points, and we fitted stainless steel ring fittings rather than press-studs for attachment, as press-studs can freeze solid in a hard frost.
Cover type: Full cockpit canopy with reinforced side panels
Material: Permacote 800D PVC, dark navy
Fittings: Stainless steel ring clips, heat-welded seams
Turnaround: 6 days
Location: Skipton, Leeds-Liverpool Canal, North Yorkshire
Boat covers for the Leeds Liverpool Canal
Request a free quote — bespoke covers made to your exact pattern. 6-day turnaround. No VAT.