Todd & Amanda
Well-Known Member
OK, so we ordered the curved bimini on our Qsb thinking it looked better than the standard with the curves on our Q, we still think so but.......
I've been on many Benningtons with the standard bimini over the years and even more lately. Even though you're not supposed to run very fast with them up most people do, and I've been on some at speeds in the mid to upper 40's and never saw an issue and the standard bimini has always seemed rock solid at the higher speeds.
Now, what I initially discovered from our very first trip out on the new Qsb with the curved bimini is that when you get to around upper 20's to low 30's the top starts sucking down in the rear really bad. It has a strap to adjust the tension on the frame and it's about as tight as can be but the top still does this. Since it does this I'm constantly having to open and close the bimini just to run moderate speeds which is very annoying. A few weeks ago we were out just cruising nice and slow running mid 20's and I had the bimini open when all at once the front legs came loose and folded the top back slamming it together and scared us to death, I stopped and didn't see any damage done from it and I kinda wrote it off as maybe me not having it latched properly. Everything had been good since until last weekend, we were coming out of the no wake zone with the bimini open and just as we got up on plane good the same thing happened, the legs popped loose and slammed back only this time it ripped the canvas in 5 places and damaged one of the arches that goes through the bimini. I've spoke to my dealer and they've agreed to cover it under warranty but my concern is why this happened. If you look at the plastic latches for the bimini it appears they would hold better if they latched from the front instead of the rear. They can be turned around inside the leg and I was told that many customers have been doing this so I'm led to believe I'm not the first to have this problem. There also isn't any kind of warning on the tag of our bimini stating how fast it's rated for and if I'm not mistaken it tells the max speed on the standard bimin's tag. Has anyone else encountered this with the curved or standard biminis?
I've been on many Benningtons with the standard bimini over the years and even more lately. Even though you're not supposed to run very fast with them up most people do, and I've been on some at speeds in the mid to upper 40's and never saw an issue and the standard bimini has always seemed rock solid at the higher speeds.
Now, what I initially discovered from our very first trip out on the new Qsb with the curved bimini is that when you get to around upper 20's to low 30's the top starts sucking down in the rear really bad. It has a strap to adjust the tension on the frame and it's about as tight as can be but the top still does this. Since it does this I'm constantly having to open and close the bimini just to run moderate speeds which is very annoying. A few weeks ago we were out just cruising nice and slow running mid 20's and I had the bimini open when all at once the front legs came loose and folded the top back slamming it together and scared us to death, I stopped and didn't see any damage done from it and I kinda wrote it off as maybe me not having it latched properly. Everything had been good since until last weekend, we were coming out of the no wake zone with the bimini open and just as we got up on plane good the same thing happened, the legs popped loose and slammed back only this time it ripped the canvas in 5 places and damaged one of the arches that goes through the bimini. I've spoke to my dealer and they've agreed to cover it under warranty but my concern is why this happened. If you look at the plastic latches for the bimini it appears they would hold better if they latched from the front instead of the rear. They can be turned around inside the leg and I was told that many customers have been doing this so I'm led to believe I'm not the first to have this problem. There also isn't any kind of warning on the tag of our bimini stating how fast it's rated for and if I'm not mistaken it tells the max speed on the standard bimin's tag. Has anyone else encountered this with the curved or standard biminis?