We added an Atlantic Towers, Tower in a box almost a year ago. We love it. I researched for about 3 years for this upgrade and couldn't find anything other than custom work that I liked as much and would trust offshore.
Our boat is a Catalina 310 and we are in the Caribbean sailing the trades. We have been on passage with our dinghy with engine lifted on the davits in conditions up to 12-14 foot breakers with winds steady around 28 knots and gusts up to 35 knots. We have had zero issues with the arch or the dinghy.
I can answer any questions you have.
To address some of the comments so far. We cut the arch to be the same height as the Bimini. This was both asthetic and functional. The arch total weighs less than 200 lbs, probably close to 150 lbs and we went with the schedule 80 pipe. We have a 295 watt panel on top of the arch and it lifts the dinghy higher than our stern rail. We secure the dinghy with 3 rachet straps to avoid movement and chafe. We added Taylor fender pads to the arch where the dinghy contacts the arch.
I trust the socket system for the feet as much or more than any welded base. It is beefy, strong and allows for a perfect alignment with slopped decks. Once you have the placement done you secure the socket with thickened epoxy and 4 1/4" machine screws that you drill and tap. We actually used two different style feet because of access and space issues. When I have time I will move the diesel fill and use the larger base foot in that location after some fiberglass work.
The kit comes with metal backing plates. These are probably strong enough. But being the type of guy I am I put in hull reinforcements with 1/4" G10 board and still used the backing plates. I also potted every hole for the bolts to hold the plates in place, counter sank the holes and bedded with Bed-It Butyl Tape from Mainesail.
There is zero movement laterally. This is because we followed the instructions. I had concerns on this too when I started my research. I had seen arches that can away with a good push. When I asked the technical people at Atlantic Towers they emphatically respond that whomever installed that arch didn't follow the directions. And they were right. You have to "preload" the bend in the arch. You do this my using rachet straps to pull the feet together once you have set the width my drilling and bolting the middle piece into the two legs. They give you instructions on how many inches to pull the legs together, I think it was 8-9" at the factory length. Since we cut about 15 inches off the arch, my buddy, who is an engineer, worked out an adjustment. I think we brought them together 5", IIRC. Once you have the arch preloaded you finalize your foot placement and you secure the arch to the feet. Once everything is secure then you release the rachet straps. I'm a big guy and I can swing from the arch with no movement.
We are still working on adjustments to how we place equipment and use the arch. We added the solar panel as I mentioned. We also added a new stern light on the solar panel. The dinghy blocks the original stern light. I like having it higher anyways. We drilled holes in the arch and ran the wires inside, nice clean look.
The arch is aluminum, most of the stuff you will want to attach is stainless or uses stainless hardware. So you will need to think about isolation of the two metals as best you can. I use teff-gel for this when its machine screws and bolts. I used U-bolts to attach the solar panel and used Hypalon fabric for that.
Again, we love it. It has given us about a knot of speed back from towing the dinghy. Great security to lift the dinghy at night. The large solar panel has given us energy Independence.
We know several other cruisers with them and they are all happy. We know a few that have done a tower with an intergrated hardtop. I really like them but that would be out of our budget and pushing our weight limit.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Good luck and fair winds,
Jesse
