After nearly 20 years as vice president of operations for a well-known distributor of powerboats, Brian Crescenzo had seen more than his fair share of good and bad boating accessories. Some looked great but fell apart; others were solid but not stylish.
One product in particular stood out: boarding stairs. A longtime boat owner, Robert Moss, had pointed out to Crescenzo that boarding stairs are the first thing people see when approaching a boat, and the first thing people touch as they make their way aboard. Moss thought that traditional boarding steps could use a major upgrade.
Crescenzo agreed and joined Moss in founding Quickstep Marine, a New Jersey-based company that now offers a line of boarding stairs for boats of all sizes.
“It took us about a year to design the product,” he says. “We’re both perfectionists. We wanted stainless steel and big treads. We wanted it to match the yacht. We thought we could make this thing better.”
They started by becoming the only manufacturer that builds boarding stairs with stainless steel side rails. Aluminum is less expensive, but they thought of the stairs as being in the same category as a yacht’s hardware, such as grab rails, and knew that an upgraded set of steps would need to match.
Next, they looked to improve the tread supports and tread covers. Tread supports are the frame of the stairs, and the tread cover is the surface area of the stair that people step on.
“We build our tread supports from powder-coated aluminum, which means they can match the hull’s finish, the gelcoat,” Crescenzo says. “Traditionally, they’ve always been aluminum. You can get them now in carbon fiber to match, but that costs twice as much as what we did.”
The tread covers on Quickstep Marine’s boarding stairs are also customizable. The Yacht-Master Series, Quickstep’s most popular option, comes standard in a gray super-grip material, but it can also be made in custom colors or in synthetic teak.
Creating a high-end boarding stair was not the only goal. They also wanted to make boarding stairs safer and looked to residential stairs for inspiration. To that end, the treads are bigger than those on standard boarding steps. Quickstep Marine’s treads are 11¾ inches deep—compared with most other steps, which are 7½ inches. They’re mounted with oversize hardware for extra stability too, so there’s no wobbling when anybody steps on them. They’re the only boarding-stair that meets the tread-size standards set out in the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Quickstep’s boarding stairs eliminate the struggle of getting on and off the boat, especially for less agile owners, guests, and even furry friends. “Older people, kids, pregnant women, people with knee problems—they don’t want to have any roll in that step,” Crescenzo explains. “We designed it differently. We didn’t want the thing to budge. And you can fit your entire foot on the tread. We wanted it to feel just as secure as the steps in your house.”
“It’s an extremely safe step,” he says. “We just delivered one to a couple in their 80s who were having trouble. They bought this great yacht and couldn’t get on or off it. They’re thrilled now. Most of their guests are their age. Their kids are having kids. A pregnant daughter will have no problems now.”
Quickstep Marine’s line of boarding stairs now includes multiple sizes and styles. The most popular is the Yacht-Master Series, which can be ordered with three to seven steps. Those with yachts in the 70- to 80-foot range tend to choose six steps, with yachts 95 feet and larger opting for seven.
The Yacht-Master Series is customizable, as is the brand-new Phantom Line, which is the same quality as the Yacht-Master but is built with colored anodized aluminum for yacht owners who prefer that style. The anodized components allow for even more custom options.
“If somebody wanted red side rails, we could anodize the side rails red,” Crescenzo says. “We can do any color the customer wants.”
One of the first customers to choose the Phantom Line, he adds, takes great pride in making a memorable first impression whenever his yacht docks at a marina. “We just did one for an 85-foot yacht that was all black,” Crescenzo says. “He did gray tread covers, and the side rails were anodized black. It’s the first thing you see when you’re walking down the dock.”
Quickstep Marine also makes a two-step Yacht-Master that is ideal for boat owners with limited onboard stowage.
“It’s the only two-step on the market that folds completely flat when it’s not in use,” he explains. “It stows in a storage bag, which means it can go in the lazarette or the engine room or underneath a seat.”
The two-step weighs about 25 pounds, making it far easier than many other boarding stairs to load and unload—but it still has Quickstep Marine’s oversize treads and other overbuilt components for safety and stability. Crescenzo estimates that owners use the two-step about 70 percent to 80 percent of the time, as tides allow, eliminating the need to set up a larger set of boarding stairs on most outings.
The two-step product is also popular among owners of smaller boats, he adds, especially those boats that tend to sit a little low in the water. Other owners can choose Quickstep Marine’s one-step Yacht-Master.
No matter which product customers order, Quickstep Marine is usually able to deliver within about three weeks—sometimes faster. The company has secured materials and components in ways that reduce supply-chain bottlenecks so that when boaters call with the need for just the right boarding steps, the company can build and ship them fast. Quickstep can also adapt a customer’s existing mounting brackets for use with all their products.
“I just sold a two-step to a guy with a 68-footer who uses it on fixed docks in the Bahamas,” Crescenzo says. “It was exactly what he needed. That’s our goal: to give every owner the perfect boarding stairs for their boat.”
To learn more about Quickstep Marine, visit quickstepmarine.com.
