Seriously, why do we have to use TAPE?

[marko500]

I had thought about a seal in my locks but the hatch on the cat is very flimsy so since I had to tape it anyways I just gave up on the locks.

[keithbradley]

Hatch tape alone = inviting disaster.

I think hatch tape can be a good aid if used with locks/bolts/etc., but I am completely over using tape alone...too many lost hatches and ruined electronics.
I will take a good bolt/seal system over tape alone any day. Regardless of what anyone says, you will have more lost hatches/sumbmerged boats using hatch tape alone. Do a bolt/seal system right and you will feel a lot more confident. There are ultra high speed crashes that can ubst hulls and hatches regardless of the method used to hold the hatch on, but the majority of crashes people will experience are nothing like that.

Another issue I see happen with hatch tape is this: It's such a pain in the butt to tape up a hatch and feel confident about it, that people won't bring a boat in to check it out when they should (On a maiden, after a flip when landing upright, when there are issue that may or may not need to be addressed like potential leaks that have not been fixed, etc.). I wonder how many components have been lost because someone didn't want to undo the tape job they just spent 5 minutes on?

[Punisher 67]

Been there and done that - I have tried a subhatch on two boats and it works great until you have a blow over , It makes it past no matter what and you could be looking at a submarine in less than 5 minutes depending on how fast the air escapes through your stuffing tube . I have to side with the tape as the surest way to keep the boat virtually water tight combined with hatch locks to keep the hatch planted on the boat and as Jay mentioned your pride and joy might be floating out there for up to 10 minutes if not longer .

[kevinpratt823]

Been there and done that - I have tried on two boats and it works great until you have a blow over , It makes it past no matter what and you could be looking at a submarine in less than 5 minutes depending on how fast the air escapes through your stuffing tube . I have to side with the tape as the surest way to keep the boat virtually water tight combined with hatch locks to keep the hatch planted on the boat and as Jay mentioned your pride and joy might be floating out there for up to 10 minutes if not longer .

Your boat looks SICK!
I have had a half a dozen "blow overs", and the boat sat upside down for over 10 mins, so far so good............

[TheShaughnessy]

Hatch tape alone = inviting disaster.

I think hatch tape can be a good aid if used with locks/bolts/etc., but I am completely over using tape alone...too many lost hatches and ruined electronics.
I will take a good bolt/seal system over tape alone any day. Regardless of what anyone says, you will have more lost hatches/sumbmerged boats using hatch tape alone. Do a bolt/seal system right and you will feel a lot more confident. There are ultra high speed crashes that can ubst hulls and hatches regardless of the method used to hold the hatch on, but the majority of crashes people will experience are nothing like that.

Another issue I see happen with hatch tape is this: It's such a pain in the butt to tape up a hatch and feel confident about it, that people won't bring a boat in to check it out when they should (On a maiden, after a flip when landing upright, when there are issue that may or may not need to be addressed like potential leaks that have not been fixed, etc.). I wonder how many components have been lost because someone didn't want to undo the tape job they just spent 5 minutes on?

5 min for a tape job? We are talking about sealing it up not masking it off for paint right? Had some hard crashes with just tape today, tape held up. I use renfew hockey tape from big 5.

[keithbradley]

5 min for a tape job? We are talking about sealing it up not masking it off for paint right? Had some hard crashes with just tape today, tape held up. I use renfew hockey tape from big 5.

You don't paint before each run? I thought everyone did...

I think your definition of "hard crash" is probably why tape alone works in your world and not mine. It's either that, or physics are different there than they are here.
I used to put a lot of time/effort into taping boats. Blow a hatch or two off and the amount of tape you use will start going higher and higher. If you can hook the tape around the bottom side of the tunnel on a cat or hydro that helps, but it's still not that strong. High speed spray will peel paint from the bottom, and a hard crash can pop the hatch off of ANYTHING.

[Gary]

Seven lock downs and electrical tape is the only way to keep hatch on on my PT SS 45 at 100mph blow overs !!!

[TheShaughnessy]

Kieth I'm positive your boats make mine look like the're standing still. But I would wager a guess that the majority of boaters out there are not on your level. Anytime I ( boat) fly 30 ft through the air I consider it a pretty hard crash. As far as I know the physics are the same , the weather just happens to be much more pleasant.

[Flying Scotsman]

I use high quality hockey tape...only made in Canada!!!!

Douggie

Seriously, every few months some newbie comes along, whines about hatch tape and tries to find a replacement. This has been happening for at least twenty years. Result - 99% of boaters still use tape. There must be a reason for that.....



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