Bimini Angle

[NHGuy]

Recieved my bimini today from Iboats. It's awesome.
Question. Do most folks make it kinda parrallel to the boat deck? Or should I tilt it a little down in front to compensate for natural running angle? I'm probably overthinking this but I wonder if I should try to get it parallel to the angle that the water's surface would be. To avoid scooping air.
Can you tell I'm a reformed sailor?

 

[Outsider]

Look up Carver biminis, surf their site for mounting instructions ...

 

[smokeonthewater]

Unless you have a REALLY fast boat it won't matter...

 

[cptrick3]

Parallel should work fine. It will also look right.

 

[Frank Acampora]

I have mine mounted parallel to the gunwales. With the bimini down the boat tops out at 40 MPH. With the bimini up it does scoop air and lifts the hull slightly so it tops out at 43 MPH. Certainly the bimini does not seem to be straining. A pleasant little surprise. So do as you wish and what looks best to you

 

[rallyart]

Mine is parallel to the water when I'm on plane. There is way less wind in my boat while running that way and much less load on the bimini mounts.
The force on the bimini is four times higher at 44 mph than it is at 22 mph. If you add a head wind, I think it is significant.
What you lose is a bit of headroom walking into the bow.
You'll figure it out with not much experimentation.

 

[UncleWillie]

By the time you tipped the Bimini down enough to be level while on plane with the bow up, would place it so far forward it would look strange, and be so low in the front you would have to duck under it.
Mount it level so it looks nice and balances your 'Feng Shui', and lower it if it it upsets your Nautical 'Chi' while underway. :joyous:
My Sunbrella Bimini has a caution label to stay under 45mph with it up.

 

[NHGuy]

My top is Sunbrella too, says something similar about top speeds. The lake has a 45 MPH limit so I am in agreement there.
Thanks for you input everyone. Sounds like I am safe to set it where I was planning.