Bimini for a CP 16/2

[Citroen/Dave]

I started to make a Bimini for my '87 CP 16/2 and ran into a problem.  With the main hoisted all the way to the top pulley, I found that there was no head room to work with under the boom.  Any Bimini configuration I could think of left me having to tilt my head or scrunch my back to fit me under a Bimini.  I am 5' 8" tall.  I am beginning to suspect that the mast height and the boom height of a CP 16/2 are lower than the Mark 1: in all the pictures of Biminis I have found, the boats lacked a bowsprit.  I have an original Johnson Sail  with a ComPac 16/2 insignia that is not badly stretched . . .

Has anyone installed a Bimini on a Mark II? and do you have the height problem I am seeing?

If I put a reef in the main, no problem, but I don't want that restriction just to have a Bimini.

Thanks,
Citroen/Dave

[high tide is up]

Here's the one I made for my boat.  Just took an old frame from a bimini that was given to me and cut it down.  Works awesome with the sail up.

[carry-on]

Dave,
Have you measured the luff of your main sail? The boom is close to rubbing the Bimini on my 16. If the luff were over 15ft 3in. ...problems.

[Salty19]

Nope, the rigs are the same height on both boats. Original sails and not stretched?  Highly doubt it! The originals are kinda cheaply made,IMO

Now something may of been modified by a prior owner...or perhaps it's not getting raised all the way due to a poor taper on the halyard splice or for some other reason.

[Citroen/Dave]

Hi Tide,

Does the boom make contact with the Bimini when you tack?  I could squeeze another inch or two of height if I let the boom slide up and over the Bimini.

Dave

[high tide is up]

Hey Dave,

No everything is perfect!!!  Doesn't get in the way at all. 

Dawn

[Citroen/Dave]

Carryon,

I measure the luff at 15 feet on the ground, unstressed.  I have less than 2 inches of knot at the top of the halyard.

Are you guys and gals sitting on the seats of are you somehow sitting on the cockpit floor?

Thanks,
Dave

[carry-on]

Dave,
I am 6'2". I sit on the cockpit seat. I happen to be long in the legs and sitting maybe about the same height at a someone shorter. At 5'8" you should be comfortable under the Bimini.
With a luff of 15', the goose neck on my rig would barely reach below the slug entry slot in the mast.
Could you have a short mast?
When your main is up and 2blocked, boom midship;no wind, is the boom horizontal? If the boom sags with this setup, the sail has lost some shape.

[Salty19]

For those without clearance issues, is the topping lift attached while sailing?

[carry-on]

Once the main is up, I slack the topping lift so the sail takes a natural shape.
I have a new main on order, with a leech line. Never had a leech line. Maybe that would raise the boom.
Anyway, as said before, sailing with the Bimini up on the CP16 is not my favorite; reaching the topping lift, adjusting the outhaul or just shifting sides with old man knees is not great with the shade up.

For Dave: you might like a bunt line hitch at the head of your main. Good knot and unless you hahe a large diameter halyard you may get an inch closer to the masthead. Small amount but might make a difference.

[Citroen/Dave]

Carry-on,

The blunt line hitch helped, but you were right; I need a new main sail.  (Or at least that sounds like a good excuse to order a new one . . .)

Thanks all,

Dave