On VELA my 275 I am having increasing difficulty in opening the horizontal perspex hatch. The hatch is very stiff and it takes all my strength to push it back. My wife cannot move it at all, which has obvious safety implications.
I have tried WD40, grease, vaseline all to no avail. It appers to be worse when wet.
Has anybody had the same problem and found a resolution. Does it need replaced or scarified to clean it in some way. Maybe I could remove the hach and wire brush out the muck from the slide.
What is the slide seal made of. Is it rubber or looks like a velvet texture type seal material.
Any view would be welcome.

I had the same problem on my 335.
I found that the sleeving inside the slider channel had broken down and the debris was jamming the hatch. If you call Bruce Parker he can let you have the name of the sleeving supplier then it is a case of scraping the old sleeving out and fixing the replacement with silicone.
Hope this helps.

P335/40

David Parsons

---

Hi
I am experiencing the same problem
please put supplier on the forum so we can all share

cheers

Peter Lowry.
Sophia 275 # 53

My sliding hatch was also very stiff, especially when wet if I recall correctly. It had also been damaged on the aft edge prior to my ownership, and had been glued back together. This winter the repair broke, and I decided to get a replacement from Houdini [who made the hatches for Parkers]. The new hatch slides very easily - Charlie Stewart from Houdini said they had to carefully polish the sliding surfaces when they make these hatches, so it may be that as the hatch accumulates scratches it gets more difficult to slide.

Might be worth asking Houdini if polishing the hatch would help.

I'm sure Houdini will also be able to identify, if not supply, the seal material for the sliding hatch.

Houdini's contact information is:-
Houdini Marine Windows Limited.
Hallmark Industrial Estate, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7EH
Tel: +44 (0) 1621 773590
Fax: +44 (0) 1621 773852
Email: enquiries@houdini-marine.co.uk

Dick
Dark Star P275 No 36

---

Thanks for the details Dick. I have spoken to Houdini and ordered 4m of the slide liner. I hope to get it next week and maybe fit it the following weekend.
The houdini web brochure actually shows a Parker yacht in their advert for hatches. He has all the drawings.
I shall let you know how i get on. Price was £30 inc postage.

Just back from a very cold (3c at night!)and windy weekend on VELA at Portavadie Marina on Loch Fyne west coast of Scotland.
Good news, I fitted the new hatch seals and the hatch is now finger light. I spoke to Houdini Marine Windows and they supplied me with 4m of the seal. This was enough to do the horizontal and vertical hatch seals. Simple half hour job. Pull out the old worn out seals, remove the hatch fit seals with a bit of mastic as glue, replace hatch and trim seals. Houdini recon it can be done without removing the hatch but I thought it easier to remove the hatch and give it a good clean.
Well worth the £30 and Houdini were very helpful with the seals arriving in Scotland the next day.[:)]

We had the same problem at the end of last year with the sliding hatch on Delphine. The forum was extremely helpful in providing the information to source replacement seals - many thanks. In fact, we found that although it was a little better, the hatch was still stiff to move even with the new seals. In fact, on one occasion during the winter, when ice made matters still worse, our combined effort was needed to open the hatch! We tried lubricating the sliders to no avail. We then used Dry Lube, a silicon spray, on the brush seal running from side to side across the hatch - ie, the seal that wipes water off the hatch as it's opened - and this was immediately effective. We don't know whether we could have avoided replacing the seals if we'd tried this first, but it would certainly be worth trying if the hatch is at all stiff. Delphine's hatch is still finger light and very satisfying to operate...

Gilliane

---