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Bimini Speed
Suzook
Member Posts: 42 ✭
How fast can you safely motor around with the bimini open without breaking something?
2005 GS 202 '06 Yamaha 150
2005 Tennessee Tandem Trailer
Comments
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I believe they're rated to 50MPH......but perhaps @cjjjdeck can find out the actual specs. I know I've run mine at 50MPH open with no issues.------------------------------------------------------------------------------2010 Hurricane SS 188 OB
2010 Mercury Optimax 200HP / Mercury SS High Five 19P
2010 Trailmaster SC trailer -
nquirk is on the money. Fully deployed bimini tops are designed to handle the top speed on your boat without a problem. If you are trailering the boat and may hit highway speeds (say in excess of 55-60 MPH) then you would want to collapse the cover and install the boot.2012 SD237 I/O Mercruiser 5.0L MPI ECT/ Bravo 32012 Load Rite Elite Tandem axle trailer
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Interesting. I tend to keep it under 30mph with the Bimini up, but had no idea what it supposed to be good for.
David2003 Sundeck 217 OB, Yamaha 150 2 Stroke
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." - Number 6 -
"good for", speed-wise
David2003 Sundeck 217 OB, Yamaha 150 2 Stroke
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." - Number 6 -
OK, now that I made that statement above, I decided to check into this subject a bit further
My experience has been as I stated above, but my bimini frame is stainless steel; so I asked about aluminum frames as well as I know many of the members have them out there.
Hurricane "recommends" using full deployment up to cruising speeds and stow it in trailering position when frequently going top speed/wide open throttle.
Although they recommend this for both types of frames, it is especially recommended with aluminum based frames (this makes sense to me after reading some posts on cracking aluminum frames).
This being said, this is my 4th season for my boat (I got one of the first 2012 models in 2011) and although I don't constantly run at WOT all the time, the stainless steel frame and hardware seem to be plenty robust enough to handle occasional bursts of fun.
For anyone purchasing the SD187/SS188 model boats that come standard with aluminum based bimini tops, you may want to seriously consider the stainless steel upgrade....... seriously. As an FYI, my dealer does this on ALL his stock boats and recommends it very heavily on ordered boats.2012 SD237 I/O Mercruiser 5.0L MPI ECT/ Bravo 32012 Load Rite Elite Tandem axle trailer -
I have a 2010, SS frame with the PVC hardware. Run it at WOT all the time with no issues. However, being plastic, it will deteriorate over time from sun, etc. I plan to start to replacing the hardware with SS as well when the time comes.------------------------------------------------------------------------------2010 Hurricane SS 188 OB
2010 Mercury Optimax 200HP / Mercury SS High Five 19P
2010 Trailmaster SC trailer -
Good info for all, though I'm grounded (don't know nautical term) right now for a bilge pump. Hope everyone has a great weekend with occasional bursts of WOT.
2005 GS 202 '06 Yamaha 150
2005 Tennessee Tandem Trailer
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Mine seems happy at 50 mph, glad I got the stainless upgrade.
