Leaking Forward Hatch

I just received my new 2015 Hobie TI. I have taken it out two times in mild-to-moderate seas and it fills with water over 5 gallons of water in my kayak each time. More like ten gallons of water last week. The dealer came over to my house and we pewrformed a pressure test to diagnose the leak and the front hatch is the problem. Looks like a design problem to me. There is no seal as it leaves the factory. This is unacceptable and want to know who else is experienceing problems with the crtappt forward hatch design!!!!

No problems with my front hatch. I've had the boat out in 15-20 mph with white caps with no water incursion. Heck, the waves were breaking over the bow! Today we were in a torrential downpour on the lake (I'm thinking 2-3" of rain) still nothing inside the boat.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

My 2015 TI isn't leaking at the forward hatch either. Sounds like something specific to your boat.

Chris

Had my first wild ride last week in 15-20 knots and 1 metre waves on lake Huron. Lots of water over the bow, and buried the bow in many waves while surfing. Had maybe a litre of water in the hull at the end of the day.

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John Robb
2015 TI Azul
Sarnia ON. CAN.

greshamri, Kal-P-Dal had serious leakage thru the front hatch. It seemed to be a bad front hatch seal. You can see his solution here http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=50166&p=255572#p255572

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Why should we have to repair the forward hatch. Hobie made the leaking thing. Looks like some do not leak. Come Hobie! What are you going to do!

I don't think they are going to do anything until you put in a warranty claim via your dealer.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

http://youtu.be/2MP9wGZsAjY

Watch the video of the test. Shows lots of air escaping the front hatch.

http://youtu.be/cleH8eGMwa4

Here is a video of the water in the Hull

Sorry, but the air test cannot indicate leaks in the front hatch. All excess air will always escape from the front hatch no mater how good the front hatch seal is.

With the inside of the hull dry, place in a few dry paper towels. Make sure the seal area is clean and close and bungee the hatch. It will work best if the hull is level on a rack or the ground. Wet the area with a hose (not too strong) or slowly with buckets of water. Try to keep the water to only the area you are testing. After drying off the outside, open up the hull and see if the paper is wet. If it is wet, you may be able to locate the area by where the paper is wet.

Good luck

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

TI Tom and Buckeroo, Glad you are not leaking. I've been out 2x in easy seas and 5 gallons 1st trip, out for 5 hours and 10 gallons 2nd trip 8 hrs. Look at videos I posted.

KayakingBob, If there was a seal on the front hatch like the other hatches, I could see the hatch rise until it leaked, but there is no rise just air blowing out. If it blows out so easily, water can get in easier. We tried your test too last week and there was no leak but Sorry I Don't buy it. We have really ruled out everything else. If there was a crack or hole in the hull we would have seen it when we added water to the hull. This amount of water is a serious leak. RG

Yep, you do seem to have a leak.

Unless you were spending a lot of time with waves covering your bow, it probably isn't your front hatch. With that much water, my guess is something below the water line. With the hull on a strong rack or trailer, try adding 3-4 gallons of water and watch for it leaking out.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Not sure what you mean by this. I have seen your video and there is definitely a sealing (black rubber) on the hatch cover and probably also a sealing on the hull. But if these 2 sealing should work and do their job at the same time, there must be a perfect match between hull and hatch cover. IMHO this is not possible to achive with a rotomoulded hull.

So for everyone that says that their front hatch don't leak, that means (for me!) that 1 of the sealings is doing a good job.

First you must determine where the leak is. Probably the front hatch, but probably is not enough.
Step two is to make a warranty claim via your dealer.
Because to correct this fault, if it is same I had, you have to make actions to both the hatch cover and the hull.
That will most certain void the warranty if you don't have some agrement with your dealer and/or Hobie.

/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=50166&p=255572#p255572

and there is also a link to an other thread...

Don't accept ANY water inside the hull.

Good luck!

Best regards
thomas

Thanks Kal-P-Dal

That's the way I see it. My seal sucks and i can get a finger between the seal. RG

You said easy seas? That is a LOT of water and certainly a problem.

Forward hatches are not going to allow water in... even with no seal... unless the bow is submerged. The cover naturally sheds water off and the inner lip is tucked up under the lid. The seal could be installed unevenly. The lip could have been trimmed unevenly. All easy fixes.

I would be looking at scuppers as a possible source.

But most of all... your dealer should be handling this for you. The forums are a great place to find information and support from other boat owners, but service and claims go through dealers.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)