Buildiing a Ramp for my 16

How would be the best way to build a ramp for my Hobie 16? I live on the water, and have a sea wall, and was debating weather to build a 'lift' type thing, or just a ramp...

Ramp is definitely the way to go.

Exterior ply with indoor/outdoor carpet. Stop the carpet before it gets to the water and use halved PVC pipe laid transversely every foot or so.

If it's steep, put a winch at the top.

It would help if you put little rails on the sides of the ramp so you can just operate the winch and not worry about your hobie slipping off the side.

You really need the wintch it helps so much. I wish I had pictures of mine to show you, but I just used the halved PVC all the way up with little carpet. Electric wintches are nice to if you have a power sorce. Also mine has two wintches, one foe the boat and one to pull the wood up out of the water. I have my ramp hinged, then I lock my wintch so no one other than me can get the boat off. Good luck, I'll try to get some pictures on here.

_________________
Hayden 1988 national H16

Try this thread for ideas. The ramps my husband built for our Hobie are pictured there.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10603&p=55939#p55939

rjack22

I came across this post in the process of planning a ramp for my 16-- currently it is launched from a lakehouse with a small beach approximately 15 feet wide and 6 or 7 feet long. The problem is that there is a stone wall approximately 18--20 inches high that I need to clear to get it from the yard and onto the beach (and vice versa). My original thought was to use 2x4s (as side rails), plywood and outdoor carpet to build the ramp, but I noticed that multiple folks have suggested half pvc traversed across the plywood. What is the purpose of the pvc if it doesn't roll (it would seem to me that you either use plywood or 1 inch pvc but not both)? What am I missing? Also, the ramp has to be moveable so that the beach can be used when the Hobie isn't being launched. Thanks.

My ramps lay flat on the rocky beach. It's nothing more than a ladder with wooden sides and ABS pipe wrungs. I chose ABS over PVC because the pipe wall is thicker.

_________________
Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

I'm more than impressed! Very ingenious! Great job there.

_________________
UK Wildcats have 8 now!

1976 H16 27640
1985 H16 89112

Scraps of heavy carpet work well for this. Just lay them down when you need them (and exactly where you need them) and remove them when you're done.

The PVC is hard (but not as hard as gel coat) and slick. It doesn't have to roll - the boat will slide easily on it.

Thanks, Matt. I will give carpet a try. If that doesn't work and I go the ramp route, what size pvc pipe do you recommend and how would you fasten it to the plywood (or would you recommend using pvc pipe in lieu of plywood similar to what rjack 22 posted above)?