Does anyone have a Bimini on the 33RH? I looked on Bills Blog and see he has one, going to send a pm.... if you have photos of your Bimini handy- any model- I’m looking for design ideas.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Chris- Yes, a Bimini is tough on a E33.
The boom is low and long , extending almost back to the wheel.
I'm just over 6', so for a Bimini we just have a 2-bow Bimini, above my head, that is aft of the boom-end. It means that it is just 3' fore-and-aft, so very often it does not proviyall the shade we would want. We did consider re-cutting the mainsail ( we're just cruisers now), shortening the leach and raising the boom to allow for a longer Bimini, but decided against that, not wanting to permanently lose performance.
Of course the other issue in cockpit shade is the traveller on the bridge deck. To be able to tack and jibe freely there's no obvious way to connect the Bimini and dodger for full shade.
What we have done, as shown in the photo, is make a "connector piece" of sunbrella which we can zip between the Bimini and dodger when we're not sailing. We can install this connector in just one minute by disconnecting the mainsail tackle from the traveller, tying it to a stanchion base, which moves the boom outboard, and then we zip in the connector.
With a few minutes more effort we deploy the folding fiberglass tent pole shown in the photo, and the connector peaks well above my head. This connector piece had ties on its underside to hold the tent pole.
The Connector is of no use while sailing, but it has made a tremendous difference in comfort living on the boat. After the anchor is set the Connector Piece is almost always the next step!
And Christian!- We may be defiling racing boats, but cockpit speakers on an ocean-going boat ?!?! Just saying...