New Hatches

Nina Lucia

Nina Lucia

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We are need to replace couple of hatches very soon, and we had a look at Lewmar Ocean 60, Storm Hatch Size 60 Flat Base or Vetus.
Lewmar looks the best, but comes with the high price. Storm is copy of Lewmar, not sure about quality, Vetus looks good as well,
Which one?
 
I was never very impressed with the Lewmar Ocean hatches and have done a fair bit of maintenance on them. The seals are a pig to replace, the plastic handles go brittle in UV and snap off eventually, the red locking gubbins get hard to work and eventually some gorilla breaks them off too. The internal friction devices are silly and superfluous, like someone couldn't work out how to design a hinge with adjustable friction. Spare parts prices are a joke.

Gebo Offshore hatches are better designed (and cost a bit less). No silly internal friction devices, it's simply integrated in the hinges, adjustable under a cover. No plastic catch to snap off, the latches engage directly with the grooves in the inner hatch frame. There are two grooves, which means they can also be latched & locked in a "vent" position (which permits a small airflow but no rain or entry). The plastic handles are from more UV resistant black plastic and last longer. The locking sliders are simpler too and won't snap off in your hands one day. Spare parts prices more reasonable too.

SVB stocks them (scroll down for size 60): https://www.svb24.com/en/gebo-r30-offshore-hatches.html

They also have NEMO and BOMAR hatches in stock, but I know nothing about either of those. No experience with Vetus ones either.
 
Thank you!
I had a look at the Bainbridge Storm Classic Hatches 60 more than half price of the Lewmar !
Is the Lewmar that much better?


Yngmar said:
I was never very impressed with the Lewmar Ocean hatches and have done a fair bit of maintenance on them. The seals are a pig to replace, the plastic handles go brittle in UV and snap off eventually, the red locking gubbins get hard to work and eventually some gorilla breaks them off too. The internal friction devices are silly and superfluous, like someone couldn't work out how to design a hinge with adjustable friction. Spare parts prices are a joke.

Gebo Offshore hatches are better designed (and cost a bit less). No silly internal friction devices, it's simply integrated in the hinges, adjustable under a cover. No plastic catch to snap off, the latches engage directly with the grooves in the inner hatch frame. There are two grooves, which means they can also be latched & locked in a "vent" position (which permits a small airflow but no rain or entry). The plastic handles are from more UV resistant black plastic and last longer. The locking sliders are simpler too and won't snap off in your hands one day. Spare parts prices more reasonable too.

SVB stocks them (scroll down for size 60): https://www.svb24.com/en/gebo-r30-offshore-hatches.html

They also have NEMO and BOMAR hatches in stock, but I know nothing about either of those. No experience with Vetus ones either.
Click to expand...
 
I've had two Lewmar Ocean forehatches and haven't had any of the problems mentioned; I replaced the first one as it had become crazed, a sun cover is a good idea.

For ALL makes of hatch the place to try is Ocean Marine at Thornham Marina near Southbourne, by Chichester Harbour.

They used to be Seateach - they do all makes of hatch and spares at very good prices.

One thing to watch - I found the bolt spacing on my later hatch completely different to the earlier ' Rollstop ' one.
 
Thanks, we now seriously thinking about Bainbridge Storm Hatch £200.00 instead of Lewmar Ocean Hatch £550.00 each.
Bainbridge Storm Hatch is apparently "Direct replacement for the UK's most popular hatch" - they say,
What about the quality, similar? Any one has any experience with this one?
 
Shamaya,

try to check the exact dimensions and ideally the bolt spacing of old hatch and Bainbridge ( or any other ).

I knew someone who bought a ' Houdini direct replacement ' - the aperture in the deck was different - the new hatch dropped straight through the hole - as were the bolt holes, apart from that it was a dead ringer ! He was not a happy bunny :)
 
Thanks Seajet, definitely
I will check dimensions and size. I was just wandering about quality difference between those two.
 
I fitted a Bainbridge hatch about 4 years ago to replace a Lewmar one. I could have just had the plexiglass replaced for the same money as the new one. It was not an exact match and needed the deck opening to be eased by a few mm and had different bolt positions. It has not leaked and works fine. The only thing I find poor is the slide buttons on the handles to lock it. They are small and with only a small amount of movement to make them lock. I would have preferred a more positive clip. Overall I would still recommend it.
 
Thank you Concerto, sounds like we are going to do the same.


Concerto said:
I fitted a Bainbridge hatch about 4 years ago to replace a Lewmar one. I could have just had the plexiglass replaced for the same money as the new one. It was not an exact match and needed the deck opening to be eased by a few mm and had different bolt positions. It has not leaked and works fine. The only thing I find poor is the slide buttons on the handles to lock it. They are small and with only a small amount of movement to make them lock. I would have preferred a more positive clip. Overall I would still recommend it.
Click to expand...
 
I recently bought a Vetus Libero hatch and so far very happy with it, They also make the Planus range of hatches and on their website they say -
"The build-in dimensions (the cut-out sizes) of the Magnus hatches are in conformity which those that are current in the market."
The cutout size for this one - https://www.vetus-shop.com/vetus-magnus-escape-hatch-type-5151sl-p-305.html is 507mmx507mm which is identical to the Lewmar Ocean 60 hatch. I think the corner radius is the same as well. About £90 cheaper.
 
Thank you, I had a talk to the Vetus people at the boat show, very nice service and hatches, price is still little bit higher than we were thinking


CrikeyChris said:
I recently bought a Vetus Libero hatch and so far very happy with it, They also make the Planus range of hatches and on their website they say -
"The build-in dimensions (the cut-out sizes) of the Magnus hatches are in conformity which those that are current in the market."
The cutout size for this one - https://www.vetus-shop.com/vetus-magnus-escape-hatch-type-5151sl-p-305.html is 507mmx507mm which is identical to the Lewmar Ocean 60 hatch. I think the corner radius is the same as well. About £90 cheaper.
Click to expand...
 
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