Just my opinion but actually I find having a bungee fitted on our Beach makes the roof closing process a little easier.
Firstly, the Beach is great because the roof mechanism is blissfully simple and very effective. Personally, I cannot see how the design could really be improved.
Also the fact that you are closing the roof manually on the Beach means that you have much greater control. If the bellows on the SE/Ocean becomes trapped without you being aware, the electro/hydraulic system will continue to power the roof down until it damages the canvas and possible the roof as well. There have been numerous posts about torn canvas and a few referring to buckled roofs and struts as a result of the canvas becoming trapped. I stand to be corrected but I don't recall reading about any issues of this type with the Beach. I am assuming that's primarily because if you were to feel any resistance you would normally stop the action immediately and investigate.
Returning to the bungee, I'm sure that in blustery weather without the bungee fitted it would not be impossible to get the canvas bellows trapped however I agree that it is much less likely than on the Ocean. In our case we have a Brandrup Isotop internal roof liner fitted so you cannot see the canvas when lowering the roof therefore the bungee does give us that extra security. I must add that the way the integral fold in canvas straps operate does ensure that entrapment is much less likely. You might imagine that the internal liner would make the roof more difficult to close but that's not my experience. Apart from the first couple of attempts at closing the roof when I was learning the process, closing it has been straight forward and problem free. The bungee assists when the roof is being closed by pulling the canvas and internal liner in all around but especially at the front where you can easily grab it and pull thus ensuring that there's no chance of anything becoming trapped. With the roof pulled down to the almost closed position, you can then push all of the material behind the webbing strap to the rear of the buckle. Then whilst fealing to check that there is no material fouling the buckle hooks, pull down on the roof bar and snap the overlock buckle shut and connect the safety strap. Repeat on the other side and then tuck all material away before closing the roof hatch. Simple.
IMO the manual roof is one of the biggest advantages of owning a Beach and frankly I would like to see it as an option on the Ocean as well.
