Best "on top of tower" bimini for 2012 SANTE 230? HELP

[Jhepler]

Newbie and stoked to be here. Just picked up the boat and it didn't come with a bimini. I'm 6'3" and don't need anything else under the FCT to bang my head on. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. OEM vs aftermarket, etc...Thanks!

[NautiqueJeff]

The 2012 230 had the FCT5. The factory over-the-tower bimini was small and not a great design. They changed it the following year with the new Diamondback towers to a much better design, but I don't think that one will work on your tower.

Almost all of the 2012 230's that I have seen have a Z5. As you know, The Z5 sits under the tower. If you have tower speakers, it doesn't add that much more to the lowness of the tower. They can tuck right up under the speakers. If you don't have tower speakers, you could get Z5 to make custom shorter bars for the bimini, tucking it right up under the top of the tower.

You could also go aftermarket. TowerBiminis.com might have something that would work well.

Keep in mind that anything above the tower needs to be bigger than the corresponding under the tower bimini due to the extra height of the bimini. It should also sit forward of the tower. Take a look at the design of the 2013 and newer factory biminis. They look funny, but sure are functional!

[ddipert]

I'm 6'2" and have a z5 on my 230. **** that thing hurts banging my head on it. After a few weeks or ownership I've not had an issue. If you are looking for a lot of shade then I don't think you can go wrong with the z5. The newer biminis are smaller giving less shade. For us with small kids we try to keep them in the shade as much as possible.

Down side of the z5 is if you have to lower your tower much i gets in the way or if you fold the tower for garage storage then you will want to check the clearance, tower won't fold all the way down.

[Jhepler]

Thanks for the suggestions. I really like the diamondback but I guess I'm SOL on that one. May just do a Z5 and wear a helmet for a couple of weeks during the initial training period . I'm not opposed to modifying the FCT to make something else work either. I've got some pretty talented friends in the machine shop business that could fabricate whatever is needed if that's a possibility.