Is daily sunlight very harmful to the upholstery?

[Sharkwood]

How bad is daily sun on the upholstery fabric?

We recently bought a Bennington Tri-Toon. When not in use, it stays up on a lift under a covered dock. The only problem is the back of the boat. It faces due west and is barely under the edge of the roof. Even being under a cover, the back couple of feet of the upholstery gets a few hours of direct afternoon sun every day.

I know “Sunbrella” fabric holds up well to the sun but I have no idea about the fabric used by Bennington. Should I be concerned?

 

[Jack M]

Here is a link to the warranty statement . Not using using your cover "could" void parts of your warranty.

Lifetime Structural & 10-Year Bow-To-Stern Warranty | Bennington

Bennington customers are offered an industry-leading 10-year bow-to-stern warranty in addition to our lifetime structural warranty, giving you and your family the protection and assurance you deserve.

www.benningtonmarine.com

 

[Jack M]

There is a link within the statement to download that explains.

 

[LaurencetheAdventurer]

I have yet to meet anything other than maybe stainless steel, good concrete and glass that the sun can't wreak havoc on.

 

[ILLINOIS AVE]

Welcome! Why not just cover your boat ? Or maybe just the section you are concerned about?

 

[ILLINOIS AVE]

To answer you question YES daily Sun is bad. Saw a Bennington same year as mine (2017) that sat out and was never covered. It was a rental boat looked terrible. Cover your boat!

 

[Pbakk]

I would add cover the motor. My last boat motor had a cover to top of motor (lid) - looked new. However, bottom half of motor was uncovered and looked “bleached” compared to top. No shine, chalk look.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Unless in use, we keep ours covered all the time. Sun and environmental exposure will do a number on upholstery in fairly short order, particularly in certain regions, climates, weather. Even when we had our covered lift I found I need to at least loosely put the mooring cover on due to spider droppings, and occasional bird droppings from overnight “visitors”. Highly recommend keeping all that upholster covered whenever the boat is not in use.

 

[Sharkwood]

Thanks to all for your replies. I was hoping not to have to bother with the cover but it looks like that's what we're going to have to do.

 

[ILLINOIS AVE]

Thanks to all for your replies. I was hoping not to have to bother with the cover but it looks like that's what we're going to have to do.

For the 10 mins it takes to cover you will get years of enjoyment.