On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:42:36 -0700, Mark Borgerson
wrote:

In article ,
says...
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:06:51 GMT, "Glenn \(s/v Seawing\)"
wrote:

Hi! Looking to pick your brains a little. I am making some major changes
to my boat this year. Some of you think I'm nuts & that alot of these
changes are not necessary. I remind you that my wife is eager to go back
cruising for a year or two at a time and lots of your wives are not. :-).

One of the additions we are looking for is the addition of a swim platform.
Our boat is a Gulfstar 41' Auxillary (the sailboat hull & not the trawler
hull). This vessel is a centre cockpit. We are looking to build a swim
platform on the stern as well as a fairly substantial boarding ladder from
the platform to deck level. I'd like the platform to be fairly sturdy.

Please post your advise, observations & experience. I need to have some
ideas on design, construction methods & pitfalls I've not yet imagined.

Thanks all!

Glenn.
s/v Seawing.


I see a substantial number of sailing boats with swim platforms and
substantial boarding ladders - usually on boats that have cruised a
lot.

I suppose that if you are using a wind vane steerer the platform would
have to accommodate the vane but other then that I don't see a
problem.

One possible point - many marinas use overall length to calculate the
fees and a folding platform might save a bit of money in that case,


A swim platform seems like a handy addition in inland waters. However,
if you plan on any long offshore cruises, you should consider the
interaction with breaking waves from astern. You might either lose
the platform, or have the stern pulled down enough to increase the
chances of flooding the cockpit. (Probably not so big an issue
with a center-cockpit boat, though.)


Mark Borgerson


I think that would depend on the area of the platform and whether it
was solid. The ones I have seen were made of a stainless frame and
teak "slats". I'd doubt that they provided much resistance to a wave.
But as I mentioned they also contribute to the overall length and
might make the marina charges higher so building a folding one should
solve both problems.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
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