2017 R35 Swim Platform Falls off, 3 times

[Moses]

In 2017 I bought a fully loaded brand new 2017 R35, received delivery at the end of June. I ordered it custom built with 2 430 Volvo motors and all the upgrades. Dealer and Cobalt knew I planned to use it in Lake Tahoe & keep it on our buoy. Besides a list of issues with the batteries, the Auto Sure Shade, and other items, the Automatic Swim Platform was found at the bottom of Lake Tahoe in September 2017.

The dealer replaced the swim platform and repaired the related damage, $14,0000 approx. I submitted the claim to my insurance company because we were told it looked like another boat drove into it in the buoy field. What else could explain a brand new swim platform falling off at our buoy?

For those who don't know Lake Tahoe, this is a mountain lake and the boating season is only summer time, from Memorial Day through Labor Day/October, depending on the weather. So we launched the boat in the Lake on the 2017 4th of July and by Labor Day, the swim platform fell off.

Dealer fixed it, boat went into storage and back in Lake Tahoe Memorial Day 2018 and by the end of the summer, the swim platform fell off again. We hired a Marine surveyor to inspect the damage. In his opinion, this boat was not hit by another boat the year before, as the damage was consistent, and there were no other boats hit in our buoy field or witnesses the year before.

In his opinion it was due to the weakness of the 4 bolts holding up the large swim platform. With wind and wave action the boat dips into the water and lifts too much weight and shears the bolts when it's moored. We sent this report to Cobalt and they said they'd have their team of engineers look at it and fix the issue with this swim platform. When we asked Cobalt what they would do if this happens again they told us not to worry, its under warranty. We told them we can't live with the swim platform falling off after every 3 months. They said they would take care of it.

They sent out a semi truck and drove our boat back to Kansas to their team of engineers. In 2019 they had our boat for 5 months in Kansas. We got the boat back into the water in June 2019 and we had no issues with the swim platform last summer. This summer 2020, the swim platform fell off again. Cobalt says we're not going to like this but this is not a warranty issue and it's up to us. We have a $12,000 estimate for the repair.

We have only 74 hours on the boat and I take immaculate care of it. This boat is in warehouse storage for 9 months out of the year. If this is not a warranty issue, then what is it? I feel this is a dangerous design flaw and Cobalt needs to step up. Take it back, build me a new boat.

[AsLan7]

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WOW. I have not heard of this issue on new owner Cobalts Moses. What a story. You're right, Cobalt should continue to step up to the plate and at least do a recall if there is a design flaw (as well as fix your boat permanently.)

Do you have any pics of your R35? Heck of a motor setup you got there too.

Please keep us posted.

Others will chime in shortly. So glad you found us and welcome aboard mate. I think you may find the attachment amusing...Compromise nothing (except the swim platform).

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[Norris_Boating]

That's interesting. I would certainly continue to reach out to cobalt. Perhaps if they can fix it one more time it is time to sell it and move on.
Are there other Cobalts on lake Tahoe that you could talk to and see if they have this issue?
So you leave the boat in the water for the full 3 months? Basically you are saying that the swim platform goes under the water and comes back up all day everyday (at least for the most part) That would be a lot of stress for sure on a piece designed to move.
Is there anyway to put it on a lift when it isn't in use? Or pull it out of the water when not in use?
Might be a little more money but could save you another 12k.
Has Cobalt said why they believe it is falling off?

[Moses]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I've been told from Cobalt that my boat is the only boat in the country that they've seen this platform failure. I would like to know if others have experienced this too.

Cobalt has not said why they believe it is falling off or why their team of engineers didn't fix the issue after having it in their possession for 5 months.

[Big Block Power]

Sorry to hear this. Sounds like this is a huge Cobalt liability. Who are you talking to there? I would also want to know what they changed.
I would call Malibu! It's their fault!
Seriously you need to keep going up the food chain at HQ! Get a hold of Shane. Don't stop till you get to the top! My advice. The words social media and lawyers they hate!

[Table Rockin]

Sorry to hear this Moses. There are some R35 owners on here but not many that I know of so you might have a hard time getting a comparable experience......in fact due to the odd nature of your issue I dont think anyone here would have experienced anything similar. I have heard/seen issues with the platform not raising and lowering equally but I thats about as close as I've seen to your issue. I'm with others here I would not let anyone at Cobalt tell me this isnt covered under warranty until you've talked to someone who has true authority.

Does Tahoe get really rough? Just seems odd that the motion from waves could cause this issue unless it was pretty rough.

[BobRae99]

I think the marine surveyor’s report might be a good place to start in talking with Cobalt about this. If possible, I’d get a second well known marine surveyor to look at it as well. It would be of help to put out a video camera to record the wave and submarining action with the boat on the tow ball in rough weather.

The problem I see is even if the bolts breaking is correctly diagnosed as being caused by wave action causing the platform to bear the weight of the water as the boat rides up and down, adding stronger bolts might just transfer that unanticipated stress to the hull structure and cause stress cracks which are more costly to repair.

When you think about it, most of these boats are likely designed for calm water mooring and in normal circumstances with the boat under way, even in rough seas the stern wouldn’t be subjected to constant submarining.

As ridiculous as this might sound, if you can’t get this boat intro calmer water for mooring, perhaps it might be best to move onto a different boat? I know that is an expensive solution though.

It seems you aren’t the first with this type of problem on a boat:

http://teamtalk.mastercraft.com/archive ... 62832.html

https://forum.moomba.com/archive/index.php/t-18776.html

[Luv2HuntAR]

Ugh. I am sorry for this. It really sucks. There’s obviously a lot of energy in the wave action. I suspect BobRae is spot on. I doubt any is going to like an engineered solution to this problem. This platform will need to be a lot shorter or porous.

[Lockey14s]

Swim platforms do take a beating, you have a giant surface area slapping the water all the time when its rough. I know cobalt builds their platforms very robustly, but the fatigue of the constant pounding can shear even the largest of bolts. If you are spending the money to fix the platform again and plan on keeping the boat then I would suggest switching to a fixed platform. A good weld shop would be able to make new brackets or tubing to permanently fix it to the back of the boat. in my opinion 3 strikes your out, at this point its on you to figure out a way to make it work. you obviously have some abnormal extreme conditions affecting the boat since Cobalt says they have never seen any other R35 experience this.

[mdadgar]

In my opinion 3 strikes your out, at this point its on you to figure out a way to make it work. you obviously have some abnormal extreme conditions affecting the boat since Cobalt says they have never seen any other R35 experience this.

I COMPLETELY disagree - this is Cobalt's problem to solve. The OP spent a metric buttload of money on a top-line boat and he's had the same catastrophic failure three times now. This is very clearly a design problem.

Lake Tahoe is not Antarctica - there are plenty of Cobalts there.

Cobalt needs to stand behind their product.

- Mark

[Lockey14s]

In my opinion 3 strikes your out, at this point its on you to figure out a way to make it work. you obviously have some abnormal extreme conditions affecting the boat since Cobalt says they have never seen any other R35 experience this.

I COMPLETELY disagree - this is Cobalt's problem to solve. The OP spent a metric buttload of money on a top-line boat and he's had the same catastrophic failure three times now. This is very clearly a design problem.

Lake Tahoe is not Antarctica - there are plenty of Cobalts there.

Cobalt needs to stand behind their product.

- Mark

Antarctica is probably calmer than lake Tahoe on the weekends

If he is the ONLY one with a R35 thats having this problem then I dont consider that a design issue. I wouldnt ask Ford to fix my sunroof because I park it under a waterfall everyday...

[jhnmdahl]

Factory re-engineering the boat (e.g, designing a new swim platform) is asking a lot, but I feel like someone’s going to have to cook up a bolt-on fix. I'm pretty happy to hear that Cobalt hauled it back to Kansas the first time you had problems to see what they could find - you won't find that kind of service from many other boat manufacturers.

I wonder if the swim platform could be separated by a gap from the boat (just an inch or so) to help it drain, or add some other drainage (holes? mesh somewhere?) to reduce the stress from high waves? Using it in a stressful environment may require some unusual solution.

Do you have pictures by chance? Thanks,

John

[Norris_Boating]

I assume there are some sort of hydraulics on the platform , do you think the constant pressure slowly lowers the platform, allowing for more submersion forcing it lower and so on until it is in the lowered position and under water constantly?
When you came to the boat missing the platform was the system in the up or down position?
Either way I would get a new boat as this one obviously doesn't hold up to mooring.

[dustinm]

Some of these comments are ridiculous. A boat this size is normally wet slipped or moored, both instances having wave action applied. Cobalt needs to address the issue or buy it back.

[mdadgar]

Some of these comments are ridiculous. A boat this size is normally wet slipped or moored, both instances having wave action applied. Cobalt needs to address the issue or buy it back.

This.

- Mark