Production boats are built with the fiction that they will never capsize and few boats do, but that’s because they restrict themselves to conventional cruising as advocated by Jimmy Cornell and others; hence their stowage hatches do not have hardware that enables them to be locked.
Me, I like to be able to keep things in place even during capsizes. In previous boats I have been experimenting with different ways of locking the hatches. Here are a few considerations. Ideally the locking system shall not interfere with the inside space nor intrude on the outside it should be strong and simple and easy to open and close even in the dark on a rolling boat. It should be reparable at sea.
Here is the first mock up for YRVIND TEN. It consists of three cleats and a piece of Dynema string. It is incredible strong and nothing can go wrong with it. On my first small mock up it works well. Full-scale tests with the proper hardware will tell if it pass muster.
Below are two pictures, locked and two open hatches click once or twice to enlarge the pictures
Below the two hatches are opend
to be continued…
Regards Yrvind