Pictured below is the process of making a plug from which I would make a mold, and the mold would be used to make the swim platform.

The plug was made of styrene foam boards, (i.e. rigid insulation boards) and covered with fiberglass, fairing compound, and epoxy.

I also modeled the design on 3D software and went through a few iterations upon arriving at a final design that would be fairly simple to mount, not needing any support struts, contrary to many aftermarket platforms.

Along the way, I contacted Formula Boat’s Technical Assistance Group (TAG) for some guidance and they shared some information on how their optional platforms are designed and attached to the boats.  This led me to the final design for the attachment shown above . . . fairly simple.

The final ‘plug’ (shown left) is an exact replica of what the swim platform will look like, plus the flange area around the perimeter.  It was ready for tooling gelcoat and fiberglassing to make the mold, as the mold itself would also be made of fiberglass.

See the next page for the steps in making the mold from the plug.

The boat’s standard swim deck (shown right) and its boarding ladder does not provide any clearance from the outdrives with the boarding ladder being right in between the two outdrives and their propellers.  Bumps and bruises were commonplace when going to/from the water via the boarding ladder; children usually fared the worst.

I wanted to add an extended swim platform of a custom design that would extend beyond the outdrives, be lower to the water, and have 2 boarding ladders.  I took some measurements of the swim deck area and worked up a design that would go over the existing swim deck and extend out another 2 feet.

I decided to build the platform out of fiberglass and foam (no wood) using a mold so as to give it a ‘factory’ look.