J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Small Hatch Under Boom

of course if I should accidentally stumble across a lewmar at one of the local marine consignment stores at the "right" price ... it will get changed on 526 ... 505 went lewmar 12 years ago ... all three were drop ins.

use the bomar plastic hatch best bang for the buck it drops right in

I used silicone and only lightly tighted the screws when it went in you can sugg them up the next day

Hamliton Marine

HATCH LOW PROFILE BLACK MOLDED 9.5"X9.5" CUT 104652
Item #: BOM-G910-10B
List Price: $195.00 / EACH
Your Price: $147.99 / EACH

I actually found the remains of the hatch I pulled out. It would drop into a cutout 9 5/8ths square. My recollection is that the bomar was the only hatch that came close enough to the size of our cutout to drop in.

You do need to be careful with the bedding compound. Silicone works. Someone re-sealed the plexiglass in ours with the wrong stuff and it degraded both the plexiglass and the plastic of the hatch. However, it did take at least 10 years after that mistake, before my foredeck was able to put his foot through it.

Tom

Thanks for all the advice. I measured 9.5" square and like the idea of the drop in Bomar Low Profile Black Molded 9.5"X9.5" Cutout at Hamliton Marine $147.99.

But I could be tempted by Lewmar 10 Series Low-Profile Hatch, 10 1/4" x 10 1/4" Cutout for $195.95 at Star Marine Depot. We have the larger version of this hatch on the bow. I'm just afraid it requires cutting. Even with the durability it's hard to justify the Lewmar Ocean for $100+ more than the low profile for that location though if I had it to do over I put one on the bow.