I finally finished last winter's covid project...the new platform I've been working on...thought I'd show off the details. The original on our 2005 24SSV had reached the point the black rubber was staining everyone's hands and swim suites. The girls in the family were getting miffed and not wanting to go out anymore. Since I also wanted to add wake plates...and a ladder for my wife who has back issues, here is the final "do all" platform I came up with:
The basic platform is a teak wood top over a machined aluminum frame.
The ladder is counterbalanced with gas struts so it locks in the down position with the struts over-center. The lock is just strong enough to hold the ladder down when in use, but if forgotten, the water flow from the prop will kick it back up and it locks in place with the little silver latch you can see in the picture. The latch can be reached easily when in or out of the water. When you release the latch the struts pop the ladder up out of the platform about an inch, so it is easy to grab and fold out into position.