Force 4 Deck Hatch - Also - Which way round?

I replaced a Houdini with a Gebo from Seateach winter before last and deliberately put it forward opening, has made a huge difference to ventilation in the hot weather a few weeks back. I don't recall any reports of yachts sinking because the fore hatch ripped open in the last several years....
 
yachtailsa said:
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That looks VERY like the Lewmar hatches fitted as original equipment in my boat. Wouldn't be surprised to find that F4 and Lewmar shared a supplier, or that F4 is own-branding the Lewmar product.
 
Twister_Ken said:
That looks VERY like the Lewmar hatches fitted as original equipment in my boat. Wouldn't be surprised to find that F4 and Lewmar shared a supplier, or that F4 is own-branding the Lewmar product.
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Very similar to the Lewmars on my boat except that the Lewmars (8 years old) have only one friction hinge in the centre. Actually, the friction hinges are the weakest aspect of the design. If they are not nipped up tight with an Allen key the hatch will not stay open. When they are nipped up enough to hold the hatch open they squeal like fingernails down a blackboard when you open the hatch.

I could dismantle the friction hinge and silicone grease it but I'm thinking that although it would be silent it wouldn't actually have any friction!

Anyone know the solution?

Richard
 
Somehow I missed this thread when it was first posted. I fitted one of these hatches as a direct replacement for the original Lewmar one, which it was claimed to be. It is fractionally larger meaning the opening in the deck had to be enlarged by 3mm. Also there are less fixing holes than the Lewmar and none lined up with the existing holes, so they all had to be filled with epoxy. Overall it weighs slightly more than the Lewmar hatch, so should be more substantial. However I have found one critical flaw. You cannot just close the hatch and swing the handles, I have to slacken off the handle securing bolts to get it to lock down and then tighten the bolts up again. There is no adjustment to correct that there is too tight a fit along the hinge edge. Also I find the locking buttons on the handles do not have a positive click and do not always stop the hatch from being opened from outside. My solution is a tube to fit over the handles that prevents them from being moved.
 
There was the very nasty case of Ted Heath's ' Morning Cloud ' lost - along with crew fatalities - in severe conditions ( see Adlard Coles' Heavy Weather Sailing ' ).

The conclusion seems to be that she was pooped, and as she was a serious 1970's racer with a big forehatch for headsail handling, the air pressure of the big sea entering the companionway blew the forehatch off, then she was vulnerable.

For coastal sailing and decent weather I think an aft hinged hatch preferable for ventilation and shelter from rain, but as mentioned earlier if I was planning on ocean passages I'd fit strongly reinforced U bolts top and bottom of the hatch and webbing straps.
 
How do "preferable for ventilation and shelter from rain" go together? If a hatch is aft hinged so that it scoops in air when wind rode, it's also going to scoop in rain.
 
If the hatch is on a sloped coachroof front, it allows ventilation when the boat is static ( Lewmar Ocean hatches also have a slightly open vent position, but I wouldn't go to sea like that ) and if the aft-hinged hatch is in the horizontal position, it keeps off the traditional summer holiday rain !
 
Oh dear. I was just asking why an aft hinged hatch was more likely to provide shelter from rain in case I was overlooking something. It seems that I wasn't as having to have it mounted on an angle and only open it fractionally such that the lid doesn't pass the horizontal makes it 'possible' that one will keep rain out, rather than 'preferable' in doing so.

I certainly didn't expect a childish 'I've tried it and you haven't, so I'm pretty happy with my version of reality!' outburst and now rather wish I hadn't bothered to try and find out if there was a sensible explanation for such an assertion.
 
This type of hatch will open "on the latch" so that the opening part surround overlaps with the screwed down boat so that you have a baffle, with air coming in but rain not making it...
 
We sailed dozens of different boats ranging from 25 feet to 52 feet and 5 different makes and never saw an aft facing hatch. We had chartered a Beneteau 40 in St Martin and on the day we had to return it there was a gale. We were sailing upwind with big seas and swells and we reached top of the wave and there was nothing there. The boat pitched about 65 degrees bows down and we had water up to the mast. The fore hatch was forward facing and did not tear off.
 
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