Adding hydraulic swim platform to my 390

[JustUs2]

Thought I'd post some pictures of my new Sealift hydraulic swim platform.
Clark's Landing in Chester did the installation and it looks GREAT!
Splashing it tomorrow and I'll see how it handles with a PWC (had it sized appropriately but not sure how it will affect handling).
(Just in case, I do have a RIB with a 6hp).

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[Russ Calasant]

Very nice, mind telling me how much it cost? I'm interested in doing the same.

 

[JustUs2]

No problem Russ. Here is the breakdown:
Platform: ~ 17K
Shipping: ~ 1.6K
Labor: ~ 3.6K

TOTAL: ~22.2 K

 

[newfreedom]

Enjoy your SeaLift. We installed ours 3 years ago, it was one of the best decisions we ever made!!!!

 

[JustUs2]

Thanks! So far so good. Really makes hanging out on the hook convenient !

 

[Alex F]

The lifts are great, but I'm curious about your performance. That's a lot of extra weight for 390. I wonder if they suggested to go with larger tabs.

 

[JustUs2]

We spent the last couple days 'sea-trialing' the swim platform. Even though we had it specifically designed to carry our Jetski, and assurances from both the Searay dealer and Sealift that it would carry it, we were still worried.
Here is a picture of the boat without the Jetski loaded:

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And here is a picture with the Jetski loaded:

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As you would expect, the added weight pulls it down in the stern (a little more than I had hoped).
Took the boat out for a test with an emply platform (still adds a fair amount of weight). The boat performed great! There was some noticeable change in handling (when powering up), but very little. Once on plane, a little more down trim and it basically handled the same as it did without the platform. Slight change in handling (feels a liittle heavier), but negligible. When coming off plane, we were careful to do it a little slower than normal. Some backwash but not much. No worries at all.

Next we added the Jetski. The boat felt and handled 'heavier'. We were very cautious and took it very slow in testing. Running at about 1,500 rpm, the platform did not dip into the water (but it got close enough to make me nervous). We powered up and I will say that the boat performed admirably. The platform never hit the water and we got up on plane fairly easy (full down tabs). I found that we had to cruise with full down tabs in order to make the boat plane correctly. With full tabs, the boat did well. Handled 'heavy' but did well. Seas were calm but we did encounter some boat waves from passing yaghts (forward and following seas). The worse was following seas. We did have one occassion where a wave splashed up over the platform. The jetski was lashed down (I thought tight enough) but did move. That make me real nervous!

At the end of the 2 day trial, we both came to the same conclusion. I 'think' the boat will handle carrying the Jetski but it just makes me too nervous. We are going to load our 8'6" RIB with a 6hp outboard and use that as our solution. It is nice to know that if we want to, we can load the jetski and carry it with us (on a calm day when we will be 'putzing' around), but it just makes me too nervous for everyday use. The Sealift is a great addition and I highly recommend it. Besides carrying your dinghy, it has other advantages as well:

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(Anchored off of St. Michaels, lowered down to water level).

 

[JustUs2]

For anyone interested, I asked Sea Ray about the weight capacity of a hydraulic swim platform on a 390 (2010). This was their response:

"On our factory installed hyd. platforms, the weight capacity is not to exceed 800 pounds. The factory installed platforms can handle more than that but the attitude of the boat, running and static could be dramatically effected. Our R&D team has determined that 800 pounds is the maximum load for our factory installed platforms. As far as the Sealift platform, I'm not sure what one was installed or the lift capacity of that platform (it is 800 lbs also), but the boat's carrying capacity is 800 pounds."

 

[tgalloway]

Thanks for the backup...I have been wanting to investigate this but was worried it would change the handling characteristics too much. You have given me a unique perspective as we basically have twin boats.