Bimini

[Ian Joyce]

I have a 320 #967 and the boom is rubbing the bimini. The bimini is probably a standard Catalina product. Has anyone tried to lower the whole bimini straight down 2 to 3 inches? There is about 6' 3 and I only need 6. Any comments appreciated

Thanks Ian J
SV Celtic Cross

 

[jrowan]

Yes, you can lower the bimini by either cutting the desired length from the ends of the stainless steel tubing on the arms of the frame, or U can try to relocate the swivel brackets at a steeper angle to reduce the heigth. I would try to move the bimini frame forward a few inches before I took a hacksaw to the frame heigth. Taller people would appreciate it. Moving it forward should eliminate the chafe. My bimini has heavy leather sewn around where the split backstay rubs the bimini where they intersect, which can protect the valuablle sunbrella fabric from damage.

 

[shipwreck66]

What about raising the boom? I had same problem on my C27 and found the boom had crept down a couple inches over the years.

 

[Big Windy]

Something is out of alignment...either the boom's too low or the bimini's too high. An adjustment to one or both should fix it without any major surgery.

 

[NC-C320]

I have a Catalina 320 also that has a factory bimini and have the same problem. I think it's a compromise due to geometry in that area. If you need the bimini head room, then you (I at least) cannot sheet the boom as low as I want it. I need the head room, so I live with it. (If you are racing, fold back the bimini to eliminate the problem on a short term basis). But if you don't need the head room, then modify the bimini frame as was suggested to reduce head room so that you can sheet in boom lower. An alternative that was mentioned on the Catalina320org website was to have foot of sail recut slightly at the outhaul end (or install a reefing cringle at that end) so that when the sail is sheeted in tightly, the boom will stay clear of the bimini.

 

[jrowan]

You could also adjust the topping lift slightly to raise the boom, or as described above modify the heigth of the boom or the mainsail, which would be drastic. Personally, I would not modify the boom or sail as this will negatively affect sailing performance.
Raising the boom will put excesive slack in the leech of the mainsail, & cause it to billow outwards, loosing efficiency. The best option is to reduce the heigth of the bimini frame, slightly until the boom clears it. Or as I mentioned before have some leather chafe strips sewn into the front of the bimini to reduce wear from abrasion. Or you can just live with it, but its the lil' things that don't work right that tend to drive me crazy after a while!