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Curved Bimini Issues

Actually left the bimini up for the afternoon nap cruise. Took all the kids under three, mothers and grand mothers.Just about everyone napped at some point. The next step. I guess I'll need to get the small ones  with their certificates to operate the boat to take the old folks out for nap time next year.


I love getting the little ones used to the boat! 


HAPPY FORTH OF JULY ALL FROM OCEAN CITY MD.  !
 
We have been out of touch the past few days on the lake but I finally have a little update. I turned the plastic latches around so that  they latch by pulling them to the rear instead of the front. I ran with the bimini open all weekend on some extremely rough water at speeds up to mid 30's without any issues. After running it for a while this way I decided to push it a little harder to see what happened since it's already damaged. I ran it at upper 40's for short periods and still no issues other than the wife stroking out thinking it was going to rip it off the boat at any moment. After a few runs like that I got brave and did some wide open runs hitting 52 mph and it stayed latched. Finally on our last night out after the fireworks I ran it wide open for a 5 mile stretch to get away form the insane amount of other boats leaving the show, we ran 48-49 mph the entire stretch with 7 adults on board and lots of gear plus full of fuel and that bimini stayed right where it was supposed to. The only downfall to this is not being able to fasten the front legs up when the bimini is not being used. As for all the talk of why anyone needs it up running fast, I don't need it up for that but if I'm cruising across the water and have a need to run faster that 20 mph I want to be able to without having to stop and put the bimini down. There's no reason at all that these bimini's shouldn't be able to stand at 30mph, I watch other brand toons running over that with biminis up all day long and never have an issue. My buddies new S series with the standard bimini gets ran 36-38mph all of the time with the bimini open and it's never had an issue. That is what makes me believe it's something to do with the way the curved bimini is catching the wind differently.
 
gnc1017 said:
We also flipped the lower catches and that seems to have helped as it hasn't happened since. Since seeing the post where they put locking pins on the trailering arms of the front Bimini option, we are seriously considering flipping them back and installing some of those pins.
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Is there a link to see these pins you mention?
 
Todd & Amanda said:
We have been out of touch the past few days on the lake but I finally have a little update. I turned the plastic latches around so that  they latch by pulling them to the rear instead of the front. I ran with the bimini open all weekend on some extremely rough water at speeds up to mid 30's without any issues. After running it for a while this way I decided to push it a little harder to see what happened since it's already damaged. I ran it at upper 40's for short periods and still no issues other than the wife stroking out thinking it was going to rip it off the boat at any moment. After a few runs like that I got brave and did some wide open runs hitting 52 mph and it stayed latched. Finally on our last night out after the fireworks I ran it wide open for a 5 mile stretch to get away form the insane amount of other boats leaving the show, we ran 48-49 mph the entire stretch with 7 adults on board and lots of gear plus full of fuel and that bimini stayed right where it was supposed to. The only downfall to this is not being able to fasten the front legs up when the bimini is not being used. As for all the talk of why anyone needs it up running fast, I don't need it up for that but if I'm cruising across the water and have a need to run faster that 20 mph I want to be able to without having to stop and put the bimini down. There's no reason at all that these bimini's shouldn't be able to stand at 30mph, I watch other brand toons running over that with biminis up all day long and never have an issue. My buddies new S series with the standard bimini gets ran 36-38mph all of the time with the bimini open and it's never had an issue. That is what makes me believe it's something to do with the way the curved bimini is catching the wind differently.
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Glad it worked for you this week. With all the talk about this top stuff, I actually ran with ours open at 40mph without any troubles. But ours is not a curved bimini. And I was yelled at for going so damn fast ! I told her to hold on and it was only a test. LOL
 
I've ran with mine up a couple times but once I saw how much flex there was I decided never again. Now when I close the bimini, put the boot cover on, turn my hat around and grab my son my wife knows what is about to happen!!!


I agree they should be able to withstand more speed. I think just some quick supplemental braces would solve the problem


Can the power bimini tops be run full throttle?
 
I have done it a couple times but the amount of flex made me stop and lower it. I think 48 mph is too much have run low 30's with it up wasn't too bad but any faster and it moves around a lot.
 
Bigjack said:
I have done it a couple times but the amount of flex made me stop and lower it. I think 48 mph is too much have run low 30's with it up wasn't too bad but any faster and it moves around a lot.
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Are you talking about a powered Bimini Jack?
 
As much as I was going to be a smart ass and say that my bimini has been open doing 70mph (sport tower) haha, I guess I can say I never had problems with the previous one doing 44 mph .
 
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