Bass Boat Boarding Ladder

"Triton Boats will save lives
of anglers through the introduction
and use of this product"

-Virgil Chambers
                      National Safe Boating Council

ASHLAND CITY, Tennessee - The U. S. Coast Guard says some 600 to 1,000 lives will be lost in boating mishaps, mostly by drowning, during the 2003 boating season. Many lives may be saved, thanks to a new safety innovation being introduced by TRITON Boats.

The new Triton Boarding Ladder is being heralded as the biggest advance in bass boating safety since the introduction of the safety kill-switch cut-off device for outboard motors on bass rigs.

Virgil Chambers, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, applauds Triton's newly designed reboarding ladder. "The importance of this innovation is the availability to an angler who has fallen overboard, to reboard the boat with no outside assistance," explained Chambers, who presented a special award for "Life Saving Innovation" at the recent Triton's dealer meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.

"This always-ready ladder will save lives due to its accessibility and ease of use," commented the director of the National Safe Boating Council headquartered in Bristow, Virginia.

"Triton Boats will save lives of anglers through the introduction and use of this product," said Chambers.

Triton Boats president Earl Bentz says the built-in boarding ladder will be a feature on four bass boat models in the Triton fleet for 2004, including the TR-18, TR-19, TR-20 and the TR-21 footers in the X-Series.

Step-ladder on ski and recreational crafts has been available as an option for years, but it is a fixed-on feature and a cumbersome fixture on a bass rig. Seldom used. Or seldom seen.

The new Triton Boarding Ladder is concealed -out of sight, out of the angler's way until needed. The ladder is hidden from view until the angler releases a latch enabling the ladder to telescope from the stern. There's no obstruction or awkward-looking design to mar the sleek lines of the Triton hull, explains Bentz, who says the X-Series models will be in dealer's showrooms in early July.

Bentz credits Triton's national spokesman Ray Scott, the founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), with pushing the idea for a boarding ladder on a bass boat.

"Ray Scott has been responsible for a lot of safety features and designs in bass boats," pointed out Bentz. "Ray insisted we study the idea and a possible boarding ladder design," acknowledged Bentz, who says the project started 2 ˝ years ago.

Scott, as the founder of the world's largest fishing tournament organization (B.A.S.S.) in 1968, mandated that contestants wear a Coast Guard approved life vest in his tournaments. The tournament pros set an example of wearing a life vest that spread to other bass club fishermen and recreational bass anglers. Countless lives have been saved, as a result, believes Bentz.

In the mid-1970s, Scott, as a member of the Coast Guard's Boating Safety Advisory Council, worked with manufacturers to design upright, level flotation in bass boats. This came about as Scott witnessed some bass boats filled with water, sink to the bottom.

His decision to require cut-off, kill-switches in B.A.S.S. tournaments was, at first, rebuffed by outboard manufacturers due to a production cost increase. Scott presented his case to the industry. He explained the horror of a boater tossed overboard and run over by his own outboard prop. The safety cut-off device became standard on bass rigs.

In recent years, Scott, now head of Ray Scott Outdoors, Inc., a marketing and consulting firm for the marine and fishing industry, has worked to promote the wearing, at all times, the automatic inflatable life-vest (SOSPENDERS®). The lightweight, comfortable vest inflated with a C02 cartridge is now approved by the U. S. Coast Guard.

"We've set the example of Boat Smart From The Start, Wear Your Life Vest," says Scott, "but in Coast Guard studies, lives are reportedly lost, even wearing a life preserver. Boaters fall overboard and simply can't climb back in the boat."

Scott points out, "You've got about 20 minutes to survive in cold water before hypothermia, the subnormal loss of body temperature, takes over. Either, you summon the strength to crawl back in the boat or become one those Coast Guard boating death statistics."

"If you're fishing alone," says Scott, "most average anglers won't have the strength to crawl over the gunnel or climb over the transom. For sure, with a lot of heavy clothes on in cold weather."

But, as simple an idea as the ladder may seem, it's a brilliant, built-in safety feature and a marketing marvel for the bass boat industry in a soft economy.

As Earl Bentz remarked in accepting the NSBC's Special Life Saving Award for Innovation: "We manufacturer boats for the serious bass tournament professional, as well as, the weekend angler. Triton has always considered comfort, style, performance and safety. The Ray Scott Boarding Ladder is just a continuation of that commitment. And, this feature will give our bass boats greater flexibility to be used as a family craft for swimming, water-skiing or Scuba diving."

The past season, Triton's dealer network sold over $150 million in boat rigs. The popularity of the Triton brand is evident, according to Bentz, in that 43 dealerships topped the one-million dollar mark in sales.

"That's to Earl Bentz and Triton's credit," believes Ray Scott, the company spokesman. "During a sluggish economy, when many companies refused to invest in new innovations and product improvements, Triton engineers stepped to the plate, and hit another home run."

Besides the new built-in boarding ladder, Triton has developed 32 different improvements into its 2004 line of X-Series models. Among them, roomier casting decks, rod lockers capable of holding a dozen fully-rigged rods, and a larger 46-gallon live well and overflow system.

For the full story and features on the 2004 X-Series models, log on Triton's website as www.tritonboats.com .

Ray Scott in a three-step demo of Triton's Boarding Ladder