Bimini for a 41
Hello everyone!
We do not really like the idea of a bimini on a 41 but must admit, especially in the Med (and with age increasing), that it must be very useful.
Also storing the folded bimini could mean difficult acces to winches, or mooring cleats. So we would be interested to hear on your own experience, and see pictures of successful designs. Obviously, drawings would even be better?
Have recently met Alice/41 in Corsica and its bimini had a nice look.
Many thanks for your help, and fair winds.

Dear Philippev,

 Attached are some photos of my solution. The awnings are based on two frames, one right aft, and the other just under the boom . The frames attach to the toerail with special clamp on feet, and can be removed entirely. The feet consist of a piece of stainless plate about 6" long that is machined to fit tightly on the inside of the toerail. The feet are clamped with two M6 bolts that pass through the large holes in the toerail. I used large plywood washers on the outside.  The feet have sockets for 1" tube. The frames are 1" tube made in sections. The forward frame has guy ropes to the toerail. The aft frame ties to the backstay.

 When using the front frame, the mainsheet has to be transfered to a rope strop round the boom about 18" forward of the normal attachment.

 The aft awning/bimini is a simple flat canvas sheet stretched beween the frames. It has zip on side panels that tie to the guard rails.  The front frame also supports a larger awning that fits under the boom for use in port.

We have used the bimini for many thousands of miles without trouble. With the side panels, it serves as a rain and wind sheler, as well as a sun awning. The only problem is that shifting the main sheet forward on the boom means that the mainsheet interfers with the use of the genoa sheet winches.

regards

Cosmo Little

Dear Philippev

I can take a detailed picture of the mounting foot if this would be useful.

Cosmo

Thanks a lot Cosmolittle, your solution is fairly clear. I must say I was looking for a more classical solution i.e. a folding bimini, which is smaller obviously, and may be too small...
Fair winds to you.
Philippe 41/022

Dear Philippev

  I spent a year trying to devise a bimini for the 41! I was really reluctant to add fixed mountings in the deck or cockpit coamings, and eventually decided that the mountings must be on the toerail. I also wanted awnings for use in port. The forward frame satisfied both requirements. The forward frame is quite obtrusive and ugly, however the aft frame is not too noticeable. It also came in useful as a support for my towed generator.

  I would be very interested in your eventual solution

regards

Cosmo Little

Not knowing whether it helps (our 48/039 is wider in the stern): we bought the boat with a bimini solution her former owner had installed. The bimini support is mounted on a rail similar to the genoa rail and can be moved forward and aft. When spread, the bimini is in the last hole of the rail; when folded, the sled is moved forward on the rail. The folded bimini then exactly follows the shape of the cockpit. From the side, all you then see are those fantastic lines ...
There are two drawbacks we have seen so far. The bimini is not very wide as it is close to the cockpit rather than mounted on the toerail -- meaning that sun comes in from the side. And as the main sheet would be in the way, it does not reach far forward.
If it helps, I can try to post some pictures.

Best, Martin
(Age of Swan, 48/039)

Hello Philippe,
We installed an "off the shelf" bimini, but had to do some modifications to it to get the job done. This was only to keep costs down. To do it it nicely, you could custom order it to fit. For cruising, we had installed a stainless rail to hold the solar panel. It is mounted on the stern rail and to a riser coming from the closest stantion. The bimini is mounted on this rail. Nothing on the original boat structure has been drilled or cut. Since it was an off the shelf model, we trimed the tubes to fit what we needed, and then my wife trimmed and sewed the canvas to fit. It has nylon straps that keep it tight and stiff that we simply tie to an unused cleat. We have sailed from San Francisco across the Pacific to New Zealand and then on to Vanuatu where we are now, and have had absolutely no problems. We have seen some big blows. Our blog has many photos if you would like more views of it. www.sailblogs.com/member/proximity Good luck with your project. As I said, we drilled no holes or made any changes to the original boat, and we can take it away any time.