[trecksail]

Very nice

Guidera, thanks for posting that pic! What a great dive platform. That's something I seriously hope to model.

The original question doesn't seem to ever have been seriously discussed with the "raising" option like this. I'd really love to hear what everyone thinks about the safety/following seas issue with a setup like this on my Soverel. The best transom pic I could find is the one in the water, here:

 

[mmazour]

Swim Platforms

I think the swim platform is great and doable idea when I get my pre-sugar scoop Catalina 27 I'll be installing one.
Check out the google search results for "swim platforms on an IP40, and 2 IP38s." Or look at "Island Packet Estero, a 36-Footer That’s Different" on boats.com scroll down to the bottom photo, "The old-fashioned transom includes a good swim/dinghy-loading platform."
Here is another nice photo of it
hellieryachts.com models estero estero_01.jpg

Looks like the key is to place it a little high.