Take a look at these reinforcement solutions by Kato, makers of dinghy davits. You could make up stuff like this using ready made rail fittings and tubing.
Other folks with more experience than I have can tell you how to bend your own tubing so it doesn't buckle by filling with sand or whatever.... Hope this helps, Judy B ________________________________ From: Richard and Judy Bell <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 2:58:40 PM Subject: RE: [IC27A] Re: swim ladder upgrade My main problem with splitting the rail is that the rail is only a single rail. I do not have the second middle rail. Any thoughts on beefing up the two half rails? ________________________________ From:ic...@yahoogroups. com [mailto:IC27A@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of sleepbod Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 1:38 PM To: ic...@yahoogroups. com Subject: [IC27A] Re: swim ladder upgrade --- In ic...@yahoogroups. com, "Richard and Judy Bell" <randj...@.. .> wrote: > We have a split backstay, but it was still a pain trying to crawl over the bar. So I was concerned like you, but finally took a pipe cutter and removed the section leaving a couple of stubs which I covered with a white cane tip. One of the things I was concerned about was someone coming up the ladder and grabbing the stantions and trying to lever themselves into the cockpit. The way the transom slopes made this a real possibility. Modern boats have a reverse transom which makes it easier coming aboard. With the transom on the C27 you had to basically pull your self up with your arms. I put a board on the standoffs to kick the ladder away from the boat, so you ended walking up the ladder rather than pulling yourself up. It made a big difference in getting aboard and I never had any issues with pulling the stantions over. Last year though, we acquired an inflatable and I needed to put the outboard on the stern rail. I was concerned that with the vibration of the engine the stern rail might not survive. So I put a turnbuckle where the removed bar was and 2 small stantions on either side of the opening to help reinforce everything. I have a couple of pictures that show the cutout and reinforcement. I will try to send them along. Joe Keogh Branwyn #5465 > I have purchased the "stern mount" ladder from Catalina Direct with the > intentions of mounting on the transom of my 1974. I was thinking of cutting > the stern rail and capping the tubing some way. My concern is that the rail > may not be sturdy enough once it is split into two pieces. Has anyone done > a similar upgrade? Did you do anything special to strengthen the rail? > > > > Richard Bell > > 1974 Trad TR Atomic 4 >
