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Bimini Incident

JTaylor

JTaylor

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Woodbridge, VA
Well, I screwed the pooch this past weekend.  I had our double bimini up and accelerated to about 35 mph, but it was into a 15 mph wind.  The front mounts gave way and the entire front bimini and framework flew up and back, pulling out all the front bimini mounts and one of the rear bimini mounts.  The couplings didn’t crack or break, but just released, despite the cotter pins holding the forwardmost mounts in from behind.


It was just me and my wife on board, and I’m glad no one got hurt.  The bimini and framework looked like a jumbled mess, but when we took stock of things and gave it some general shape back in place we noticed the main damage was only one of the front support arms for the rear bimini was sheared. 


The couplings look intact but they are compromised since they are a bit looser now.  We added lines to help secure the framework in place and limped to the dealer, who said we will likely need to replace the entire framework and not just the one obviously broken frame.  He’s contacting Bennington.  Cha-ching.   The next day we used some mending plates to put the arm back together, and although the framework looks close to normal it’s a bit asymmetrical and the canvas doesn’t fit as tight as before.  


Probably the biggest damage is to my wife’s confidence in running at high speeds with any canvas up at all.  Since she loves the shade and a double bimini is one of the few things on her “must have” list, there likely goes any dream of ever upgrading the boat with an even bigger motor.   


I’ve run the double bimini at 40 mph plenty of times in the past, but I guess I discovered the limit is somewhere around 50 mph relative wind. 


L

Sheared frame.jpg
 
Sorry to hear about the damage. Did you say it had cotter pins? 


We use our Bimini top every time we go out. Never had a problem at speed. Did they give you any idea on the cost to replace?!?
 
Wow. I'm sure I've had comparable or worse combined speed+headwind forces on my bimini, and I've looked up and thought 'oh that looks bad', but nothing bad ever happened. I might think of it differently now. 


On a related note, I recently picked up a cheap $200 bimini to put on a new whitewater raft that I am building. I just put it together this evening. The instructions for it stated that it should go down if the winds approach 45 mph. The build quality of the bimini on my Benny looks like it should handle way more than that! 
 
I've always been impressed with the quality of the bimini frame and how solid it is.  The dealer hasn't gotten back to me on the price, and then we'll explore the insurance option.


We were surprised the front couplings pulled out, without breaking, even with the cotter pins still in place.  I thought they must have broken.  Perhaps the front bimini needed some adjustment because it took a lot of pulling down on the front frame to get the front arms in the coupler when putting up the front bimini.  I'm sure that increased tension contributed to the upward forces that caused the front arms to come out.  We'll be paying closer attention to the frame adjustments on the replacement frame.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I wonder if the double bimini contributed to this at all vs. us single bimini guys. I'm going to learn from your unfortunate accident and keep speeds slow when top is open.


I'm glad no one was injured. Wow.
 
Ouch! Done that once, luckily I have a high top canopy with a tower end so it just pushed the vinyl out of the way and there was no aluminum to aluminum contact.
 
Sorry to hear it, but it's good to share this experience.


We have the electric powered single bimini (electric actuators, not the older hydraulic). The boat will top 50 and when you add any winds to it, that's some serious push on the top. Mine looks stable enough at modest speed, but I'm VERY cautious about pushing it. We typically crank it down first if I expect we're doing anything above casual cruising speeds.
 
Dude. That's brutal. Don't give up on the double- it would be a deal breaker for my pasty skinned wife too. 


Mine is in for double installation as we speak so let's hope that these failing at speed is not a trend. I hope to have my boat back later this week or early next week and you guys can come try mine out while yours is repaired.
 
Thanks Benji (dude -- you need to put the details of your cool boat in your signature line).   :)


It was an unfortunate confluence of events.  I should have known with how hard it was to get the front bimini mounts seated that the front arms needed some adjustment to reduce the upward pressure.  The water conditions were a bit rough just leaving Belmont Bay into the high traffic channel, which probably didn't help as I accelerated head on into that breeze (dumb).  I don't want to be speed limited in the future!   
 
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