That doesnt look all that bad. It's actually got some clearance too. This is a pic of my old bimini, which I lost (blew off the boat while towing.) I tried to contact the manufacturer of the bimini (Dallas Boat Tops) and their owner had died. No one was aware of what pattern to use to remake my bimini.
I don't have any pics of the bimini up but from the pics, you can see the front and rear mounts. I an interested in trying to find a way to make a similar bimini and try to reutilize the same mounts. You can see from the pics that I had poles in the front instead of the mounts, similar to what you are talking about doing.
(Message edited by jroyal on April 04, 2008)