Scott,

It seems that as long-term seamen, David and I have done the risk assessment and come to the same conclusion. I think that for me, it goes something like this:

What would cause a fire in the cockpit? An outboard and its fuel tank. What's to be done? Come out of the main hatch fast, toting a large extinguisher of appropriate type. Coming out of a forehatch would be too late, an explosion may have happened by then.

What would cause a cabin fire that would trap me? A propane cooker? No answer, there's an explosion, not a fire, and the boat and I are a write-off. Vented lead/acid battery (gives off hydrogen)? Better to fit a sealed type. An alcohol cooker? A small fire can be extinguished quickly and easily with water, no need to evacuate via a forehatch. A solid fuel or diesel heater? Not applicable to this size and type of boat. 

What else would trap me in the cabin? A major leak? Having a forehatch doesn't help. A main hatch that is self-securing from the outside? Not a good plan, avoid this in fitting out. Violent intruder? Possible but unlikely, and a forehatch wouldn't help.

Anything I missed? Forehatches might be needed for sail handling on those boats unfortunate enough to be rigged with other than JR, but we can save ourselves the downsides of major leak possibility, plus the work and cost to install one.

Hi David,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think I want more than one way to get out of the boat just in case the main hatch is blocked by a fire in the cockpit or some other very unexpected event. Maybe this is nonsense. Either way I will definitely add some type of dorade ventilators when time and my budget allows.

Scott.

I am back inside working in the 50 Deg F storage area for the winter.

I started with removing some stuff that I will not need for the Junk rig. The original rig for this boat had a mainsheet traveler right in the middle of the cockpit. I was sure I would eventually slip and get my leg broken walking around it while out on the water. Even when I did manage to jump over the traveler there were jam cleats and cam cleats on the backrest right where I would sit down. Ouch.

All that is removed and the cockpit feels much more comfortable even with cans of epoxy and other things in the way.

Now I am working on the deck layout. I am trying to decide if it would weaken the boat to put the hatch where the original mast was before. There is a big keel trunk for the lifting keel so I assume that some of the loads from the keel are transferred to the deck.

Does any one care to guess if putting a hatch in the location in the photos will compromise the strength of the boat?

Scott,
Maybe it's an idea to have a look at the dimensions of my Frøken Sørensen.  The dimensions of those boats are very similar.
Check this: 

https://bit.ly/3jBkOdY

Arne

Annie wrote:

Yes, that is exactly what happened with my fibreglass battens.  Equally irritatingy, I said to the suppliers that I wanted an equivalent stiffness to 2 x 1 douglas fir, but they were nothing like as stiff, when the arrived.

I don't recall the sail area of your new rig.  However, I was relieved to see you had gone for larger battens: I managed to bend a 38mm, T6 batten quite badly and another one slightly.  It rather put me off alloy battens, but most people have no problems with them.

My sail is 22 sqm. If I did the math right then PJR recommends spruce battens with a 1.125" section. I have given up on using metric for everything. I am using mixed units in my head and for paper calculations.

I just finished a weekend long sprint of ripping seams, cutting fabric and re-learning how to use my sewing machine. The new battens seem much better. There is some deflection but I think they have more stiffness than 1.125 inches of spruce.

I like this video. Watching the materials bend under load and how they fail was very educational for me. It seems that correct type of fiberglass or standard modulus carbon fiber tubes would be the best option. They are stiff but also flex and return to their original shape after extreme loads. Watching the aluminum tube buckle and fail was not very reassuring.

But in the end the only reasonable option for me was to go with what is available locally. I guess there are more people building commercial and industrial stuff out of 6061-T6 than unidirectional fiberglass where I live.