Over or under tower bimini?

[03Air210]

Here is another picture of my over bimini. The back is reinforced with vinal where the rope rides from side to side. I still bump my head on the tower speakers so I would really have to get used to a lower bimini.

[redelf75]

how do you dudes and dudettes get the ropes attached with an undertower bimini on v'drives? I had to stand on the motor box of Quinner's DD to attach ropes.

I stand on the gunwell, so I imagine they could to.

[gogop]

If you're 6 ft. can you stand up without bending over with a under the tower Bimini?
Also who makes a good extension, or larger Bimini to cover more of the aft portion of the boat (melanoma phobia)?

[bkhallpass]

The tower bimini is quite large. I have an under tower and a vdrive, and the bimini reaches reaches back to within a foot or 18 inches from the back seat. I'm 6'2" and the
under tower bim is about shoulder level. I'm guessing 5 feet off my floor. BKH

[Puckhead]

Tim, I've had both and can tell you that I prefer the top mounted bimini on the '06. It actually shades much more than the previous version. the tower is still exposed in the rear so you can mount other items if needed.

[YoungLifeSkiMission]

Here's ours.
I like it, plenty of shade and headroom. I can stand under it and im over 6ft.

[Miljack]

Small hijack...Color choice dark or light??

I reading with interest on this thread as I'm getting/doing a bimini for our boat with tower, and I had a question regarding colors. Does a darker color actually provide more shade than a lighter color? I seem to remember a thread on here, but I couldn't find it with a search. Any takers?
Jack

[redelf75]

RE: Small hijack...Color choice dark or light??

No numbers to back me up, but I think the Sunbrella material is opaque enough not to have to worry about shade "strength". Maybe a white or yellow color may be more glaring than darker ones but I think even that may be insignificant to all the ambient glare. I judge a good bimini by coverage, sturdiness and style.

[Zwengit]

RE: Small hijack...Color choice dark or light??

Go with the lighter color, it won't fade as much . . .

[BigBald]

Here's another option. I had my bimini installed under the tower.... but, it is mounted as high as possible. This works very well for me. I am 6'5", so head room is very nice. Also, the back edge of the bimini is just barely behind the back of the tower, so we have no issues attaching the rope. However, I should mention that adding speakers to my tower will never be a huge priority for my family. Also, getting the bimini opened up is a bit tougher, but not horrible.

I have a friend that has a 2006 -216....his bimini is mounted underneath the tower and is low enought to add speakers at some point. I feel that getting to rope attachment on his set-up is quite a bit tougher than mine. In fact, my boys (12 and 13) have trouble attaching the rope. They want to lean on the bimini while attaching a rope....and that can't be good for the bimini in the long run.

Anyway....my two cents worth. And please refrain from commenting on the mutants that are on my boat....These are students that I don't feel comfortable posting their faces on the internet.

[SuperAir]

My 02 Super Air had a bimini installed very low, and while it provided a lot of shade it was a pain in the *** to crawl under it all the time. I have been in friends newer model X-stars and VLXs with the over the tower biminis and there is plenty of room for a 6'2 person to stand up and plenty of shade. In my new 236 I decided to go with an over the tower bimini for that reason.



Here are some pics that tower bimini sent me of the 236 with the over the tower setup. The 236 has a tow point below the bimini which is very cool.

[DRAGON88]

I've personally found them both to be equally functional. I think some boats like Malibu's with the Illusion-X look way better with the over the tower bimini, where as something with a normal tower such as the FCT I think looks better with an under the tower bimini. I find it to be complementary to the lines of the illusion x, but not really on anything else.

On our SAN the back legs of the bimini telescoped up to make it sit right under the speakers. We only lost an inch of headroom at the most.

[Grant_West]

Here are some picks of my OTT bimini. I love it.

[azwakeboarder]

I am currently making a Z5 style cargo rack/bimini for my '06 210. It will extend about 18 inches more forward than the standard bimini, mount under the tower, flare out at the sides in the front, and have a hole similar to those on the BU to access the rope attachment but with a velcro flap. I am making it out of polished aluminium and sunbrella material. The parts are actually at the tig welder this week. I will post pictures when finished.

[azwakeboarder]

Correct Craft is going to offer something like that as an option next year. They had a prototype on the 236 at the Masters. Looks good!

Any photos of it, I would love to compare mine before it gets welded up. I mocked mine up with electrical conduit before i started bending the expensive aluminium.