www.iFourWinns.com

Since the 2005+ 348's have a curved swim platform what are people using for dinghy mounting? We're probably going to get a small one, say 8.5' or so. There appears to be enough room in the engine compartment to stash a 3hp engine. But I'm curious about how to mount the dinghy on the swim platform such that it doesn't waste space. Having the dinghy tilted tight against the transom isn't ideal as our transom door is on the opposite side of our finger pier.

Bill,

I've looked into this a little and so far not come up with any great answers. Four Winns doesn't offer a dinghy package of any sort, nor do they seem to offer a davit system. The only thing I can come up with is to mount the dinghy flush against the transom, but as you've alluded to it certainly impedes access to the other side of the boat across the transom.

Let me know if you come across something, but so far I sure haven't seen anything too viable.

Thanks
Ben

Yeah, there's all sorts of aftermarket options. But since the swim platform has such a sweeping curve to it I figured it'd be worth asking for suggestions first. The various davit systems generally seem to expect the back edge to be reasonably straight. So I don't want to bother with something only to find it ain't gonna work right. And given our storm experience on July 4th I'm even more concerned about what system is best. Realizing, of course, that in the event of another storm like that I'd surely cut the dinghy loose rather than risk it causing damage to the boat.

I'm going to ask my neighbor with a similarly sized dinghy to let me give it a try setting it on the platform and then inverted on the foredeck. Depending on how it actually fits I may consider different options.

Bill
What was your storm experience ?

Bill,

What about something like the Rotating Davits from West Marine.

Though they appear to expect a fairly flat rear edge it looks like if you just mounted something like this on the swim platform that you might have to mount it forward of the absolute back edge a few inches but that it should still work. In fact in the picture they show it appears as though the rear of that swim platform is a little curved. Certainly not like the 348's but there is some curve to it.



Let me know what you find.
Thanks
Ben

They will send you an order form to take measurements for a custom davit hook that takes into consideration how your dinghy davit pads (which are
part of the kit) are located when the dinghy is in the water. Since the FW swim platforms sit fairly high, mine had to drop down and out a few inches to compensate for the slight curvature of the rear edge.

Since the swim platforms are the attachable type (as opposed to part of the hull) on my 298, I can get underneath to attach the mounts myself.

First step is to get the davit pads on the dinghy mounted professionally, you can DIY, but I've seen what amateurs screwed up. Then put your dinghy alongside to take the davit mount measurements for the hooks.

You can order the mounts with the hooks permanently on your platform or get the ones that you can remove the hooks. I got the removable ones because someone jumping off the swim platform could really injure themselves should they hit it.

We love the Weaver davits. Only negative we see is the dinghy blocks the rear view for docking and the stern lines have to go under the dinghy if you don't remove the dinghy when you are done for the week. And who wants to do that frequently?

On the 298, the stern cleats are mounted on the transom preventing using them with the dinghy. I installed two pop-up cleats in the swim platform and it allows me to keep the dinghy mounted all the time.

Joe