Swimming/Boarding Ladder for TY Weekender

[John D. Wadhams]

My 1979 hull Typhoon Weekender makes a delightful swimming platform on some of these muggy fog-infested days this summer with no wind until 2:30 in the afternoon. I need some recommendations from other Typhoon owners as to swimming/boarding ladders that work well for them. Does anyone have any experience with the four-step teak boarding ladder that allegedly clamps onto fittings secured to the genoa track. Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome

John Wadhams
"OLD STANDBY"



jdwadhams@aol.com

[Serge Zimberoff]

I was glad you opened this topic again as I was looking forward to various responses. However in their absence...we use one of those rope boarding ladders with smooth molded plastic steps. The drawback is that they tend to wrap against and under the hull if used casually. We hang ours from the main or jibsheet cleat. The trick is to step on the bottom rung and be vertical comfortably before climbing higher. Then to keep vertical forces rather than reaching inward on the boat to grab onto some handhold we swing the mast over (it has a topping lift) so all upward pull is still vertical. It works, sort-of. Helps to pad the boarding area with a big towel so knees etc aren't tested on hard surfaces. It was 106 Sunday and on the way back to the marina we were nicely sheltered so everyone went over the side. We hang the throw cushions on lines and swimmers can rest and pull the boat to correct for any drift toward shore.
I know I would still like to hear from others who may have solved this in a more elegant manner.



serge@srtrop.com