Reinforcement of Typhoon hatch

[Brad Fuller]

The fiberglass hatch on my Tyhoon has too much flexibility when I step on it. Any ideas for reinforcing it or building a new, stronger one?

Thanks,
Brad Fuller

[Troy Scott]

Brad,

How thick is the hatch? Is it balsa-cored? There are several approaches to stiffening it, but I need answers to these questions first.

[pmontgomery]

i found a great solution that dresses up the boat and is extremely easy to do. Inside the book the practical sailor there is a project on transforming it into a teak hatch by epoxying teak slabs 1/4 inch thick and using black life caulk for the seams. If you dont mind adding the extra wood work it really adds a whole new look to the boat. I did it one winter on kmy typhoon 6 years ago and she still looks fantastic. And of course it adds the desired strength.
My cockpit hatches were always too weak as well so to the underside i epoxied strips of oak to take out the flexing

[Oswego John]

Hi Brad,

Ah yes, getting back to basics. A lot of people don't realize that the early Tys had hatches made of teak slats. The slats were about 2" wide and about 1/2" or 5/8" thick. The slats ran fore and aft. They were counterbored and screwed to 3/4" teak arched frames, or nailers. Then the screw heads were concealed with teak 3/8" plugs.

I suppose that with the passing of time, the evolution of the boat design passed on to fiberglass hatch covers. Although the newer version may not be as strong as the older wooden covers, the builder found them to be quicker to install and as a result, cheaper.

I suppose that there are many who prefer the plain vanilla look of fiberglass. As for myself, I like the elegance and beauty of the well maintained brightwork of the past. The teak does require a slight bit more maintenance than that of a fiberglass cover, but to maintain the classic appearance of the boat in it's original design, I consider it a labor of love.

Best wishes
O J

[Brad Fuller]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Looks like I have a great winter project.

Brad

[Bob Mial]

I've noticed the same problem on my 1971 Ty. I'm always having to remind myself and visitors not to stand on the cover. A simple solution may be just to add a layer of fibreglass cloth on the bottom side of the hatch cover. I haven't looked to see if that would interfere with it's operation though. It's not as eleagant as the teak idea but a whole lot easier to do and maintain.

[Jim Davis]

On my wifes Ty, I ended up cutting the glass from the underside of the hatch and removing all the balsa core. I then sanded the underside smooth and epoxied a piece of 1/2 inch ply to it. I sealed the ply with epoxy and painted the exposed surface. The hatch is heavy as sin now, but solid. I could have covered the underside with foam core and glassed it in, but the ply was faster and less likely to develop the soft, springy feeling.