Factory surf bimini or something else?

[dshack]

Long time lurker, first time poster! I am the proud new owner of a pristine 2019 22 LSV. I liked storing surf boards in the bimini pockets of my old 2001 OG 210, but the bimini that came on my 22 LSV does not have them. It looks like I can buy the canvas for $900. In reading on here, it sounds like some folks don't love the stock bimini and/or have had issues with boards falling out of the pockets. If you were in my shoes would you:

a) Buy the $900 replacement canvas with surf pockets and sell my current one

b) Find a local seamstress to sew on some surf pockets to my existing canvas

c) Buy a completely different bimini setup (brand?)

d) Don't change the bimini, spend the money on a 2nd set of board racks

 

Thanks in advance!

[shawndoggy]

I'd buy the ronix bimini board storage bag.

https://www.wakemakers.com/products/ronix-bimini-rack-wakesurf-board-carrier

[Nitrousbird]

16 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

I'd buy the ronix bimini board storage bag.

https://www.wakemakers.com/products/ronix-bimini-rack-wakesurf-board-carrier

I have one.  I'd rather have surf pockets or an under-tower mount.  Why?

- TOO BIG!  Even with big boards, the thing is bigger than it needs to be.  Pain to carry, man handle, and leftover material.  It should be smaller.  It could still accommodate 4 boards being smaller.

- Setup is a pain.  I have enough to do at the ramp - I'm not dying to spend several minutes getting this right on top of the bimini

- If you only run two boards, whenever you surf, the front of the side that doesn't have a board flies up in the air because there is nothing holding it down.  Doesn't come off or anything, just annoying to watch

- Not a great fit for all biminis.  Fit like crap on my Skylon tower but great fit on my Roswell.  It's all to do with that size being too freaking big.  

Did I mention it was too big?  I haven't used it in a couple of years (other than garage board storage).  With the new tower, I used it again this year when I had a big group on the boat, which worked well since I had help to get it on/off in a reasonable amount of time and it worked well for that, especially since I kept by 2nd foam core board in there as well.  Once it was my normal crew of the wife and kid, way too much of a pain and I just kept my board in its single board bag in the bow.

[dshack]

Thanks for the comments! I actually have the Liquid Force equivalent of that Ronix bag and share NB's concerns. My main annoyance with my old boat was having another thing to setup / tear down at the end of the day (with 2 small kids, my wife and I divide and conquer and I do everything boat related). But to be fair, whatever system you use will require some setup / tear down. Just for context, we typically bring 2 wakeboards, 2-3 surfboards, and 1-2 foil boards.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards option D (add another set of board racks - maybe even the Skylon for our foil boards). That would allow me to skip deploying the bimini when we go out in the morning / evening and don't need it. And then if we have a full boat and want to bring every board we own, I can always toss the LF bag up top. Freeing up the bimini would also give me the option of figuring out how to strap my kid's ZUP coast board to the top as they start using that more.

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by dshack

[shawndoggy]

I have the skylons on top and they are awesome for the foil boards.  Best current choice out there.