As a boat owner who has had a Goiot 49.42 escape hatch fail, I'm glad to see that Fountaine Pajot and Goiot are now taking this issue more serious following the loss of a boat last month from a hatch failure. I'm not too sure how widely this issue is being communicated, perhaps just to Helia owners, but should be to all boats that have this hatch. That includes Fountaine Pajot, Nautitech, Privilege and I'm sure others. I don't know what fix Goiot is proposing, but a number of fixes are floating around on the Forum. They involve mechanically attaching the acrylic lens to the inner frame of the hatch. This doesn't effect the operation of the hatch, just prevents the lens from exiting the boat. I have attached drawings for what I used on my boat. As a hatch failure survivor, I highly recommend you mechanically secure your hatch lens to the frame before taking your boat offshore.
The following is an email sent to a Helia owner last week by Fountaine Pajot.
AS the owner on the HeliaXXX ,we would like to bring to your attention that a verification campaign has been launched by Fountaine Pajot concerning the escape hatches 49.42 equipped on our vessels. (see photo attached)
The Fountaine Pajot customer service has been questioned several times regarding this subject. Our supplier Goiot who makes the escape hatches has informed us that there is an uncertainty concerning the sticking and sealing of the windows of the escape hatches.
The company Goiot stipulates to have executed the provisional measures even if the existence of an established defect is not confirmed. As a precaution, Goiot have proposed a temporary solution preventing any risk of detachment.
As a precaution, we ask you to specifically check the performance of the bounding of the plexiglass into their framework according to the procedure established by Goiot attached to this letter.
At the end of your investigation, please return as soon as possible to the Fountaine Pajot Customer Service (hc@fountaine-pajot.com) who can provide you with the appropriate recovery procedure recommended by Goiot.
This subject is a very important topic for FOUNTAINE PAJOT and we are relying on your attentiveness and partnership.
We deeply regret the inconvenience caused and thank you in advance for your help
Does anybody have any information regarding which FP models this hatch was fitted to and if this is a batch bonding problem, the dates of the suspect period?
I do not know what model Goit hatch was fitted to our Athena, but the hatch pictured looks very similar to ours, although it has survived about 15 years without problem so far. I think I will try the test though.
Those are very good questions and I don't have definitive answers to either.
My boat was recently out of the water in a large yard in Grenada. I wandered around and saw three different types of escape hatches on cats. The Goiot, the lagoon breakable glass and a multi-latch (4 I think) hatch used mainly on older lagoons. Never saw anything but the 42-49 on FP boats. My guess is your hatch is the same Goiot design. What I didn't understand till it failed was the acrylic is only held in with silicone into the frame. When the latches are engaged, that secures the bottom edge, but the top can still pop out and if it gets enough water pressure between the lens and the frame the whole lens can exit the boat.
In my communication with Goiot last year they said they had recently changed the adhesive but the hatches I bought late last year still used silicone. Silicone adheres to some surfaces okay but not to acrylic. There are YouTube videos of aquarium people testing various manufacturers of silicone for adhesion to acrylic and it is not very encouraging. The video show that adhesion is improved if the surface is sanded but my failed hatch didn't show any signs of sanding or roughening.
Try a different test on your hatch. Clean a small section of the lens, put down a small bead of silicone, wait a week, pull it off. Then ask yourself if you want that to be holding your hatch in place.
My feeling is this a basic design flaw perhaps magnified by a bad batch of adhesive. However the fix is cheap and easy and you will never have to think about it again.
while at it, install bilge alarm if not there yet. And test it! Also have plan how to close the hole in emergency. Log can break it for example, and lots of other scenarios can cause hatch failure.
while at it, install bilge alarm if not there yet. And test it! Also have plan how to close the hole in emergency.
The boat lost last month was alerted to the problem via a bilgealarm at 2AM. At that point the lens was gone and they had a 3 sq ft hole in the side of the boat at the waterline. Given the location of the hatch under the bridge deck, I'm not sure what effective methods exist for sealing a hole that large. In my case, the lens was still attached, but I had to go outside under the bridge deck in large seas to bang it back into place. Every large swell would have the dinghy smash into the bottom of bridge deck. Pretty hard to do much in those conditions.
Yes, there are other ways the hatch could fail, but the silicone sealant failing is far more likely than any other.
In my case, the lens was still attached, but I had to go outside under the bridge deck in large seas to bang it back into place. Every large swell would have the dinghy smash into the bottom of bridge deck. Pretty hard to do much in those conditions.
Allen - It's Jeff from Pratique. That was not a fun night! We felt like Mission Control in Apollo 13. The ingenuity of the crew and your willingness to get outside under the boat saved the day (night).
The boat lost last month was alerted to the problem via a bilgealarm at 2AM. At that point the lens was gone and they had a 3 sq ft hole in the side of the boat at the waterline. Given the location of the hatch under the bridge deck, I'm not sure what effective methods exist for sealing a hole that large. In my case, the lens was still attached, but I had to go outside under the bridge deck in large seas to bang it back into place. Every large swell would have the dinghy smash into the bottom of bridge deck. Pretty hard to do much in those conditions.
Yes, there are other ways the hatch could fail, but the silicone sealant failing is far more likely than any other.
i have plan and materials for closing hole in my boat. Have not tested though.
There was too many lost cats, lagoons included, due to hatch failures, to be ignored, so crossing fingers for this scenario is not adequate solution in my opinion. Leave cross fingers for flip scenario
Allen - It's Jeff from Pratique. That was not a fun night! We felt like Mission Control in Apollo 13. The ingenuity of the crew and your willingness to get outside under the boat saved the day (night).
Thank you for bring our guardian angels! We spent the summer on the hard next to Pratique in Grenada! Thanks again!
Just received a communication from FP that they are sending me a needed document that I have been waiting on, and some sort of measuring device to check the escape hatches. Will post again when it arrives.
Turns out they sent along a reinforcement kit for the escape hatches. I will spread them out and take a pic for the group when I get to the boat later this week. Basically acknowledges the problem.
Turns out they sent along a reinforcement kit for the escape hatches. I will spread them out and take a pic for the group when I get to the boat later this week. Basically acknowledges the problem.
Allen, thank you for posting this. Very informative and useful. Is the drawing fix involving securing the upper corners of the acrylic with acrylic pads, a bolt and aluminium corner span member the fix that you have used on your boat from Goiot or FP it seems to be attached to the adviceemail from FP’s Alexander Derche? We are wondering because we are the original owners of Helia #60 and have never received anything or any notice regarding this issue from our agent. Your advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Further, I was also wondering if your Helia #16 is the former Australian Helia “ Larrakin” from Sydney?
This fix is what I devised and installed on my boat. Others have installed it too. The Goiot fix doesn't apply pressure from the lens to the frame so it could leak. It likely will retain the lens if the silicone fails provided the 3m adhesive adheres well to acrylic.
Our hull is #16. It is Gemeaux. I tried to purchase Larrakin two years ago but it got snapped up the same day it was listed. Not sure what hull number they are but it is very similar.
Those are very good questions and I don't have definitive answers to either.
My boat was recently out of the water in a large yard in Grenada. I wandered around and saw three different types of escape hatches on cats. The Goiot, the lagoon breakable glass and a multi-latch (4 I think) hatch used mainly on older lagoons. Never saw anything but the 42-49 on FP boats. My guess is your hatch is the same Goiot design. What I didn't understand till it failed was the acrylic is only held in with silicone into the frame. When the latches are engaged, that secures the bottom edge, but the top can still pop out and if it gets enough water pressure between the lens and the frame the whole lens can exit the boat.
In my communication with Goiot last year they said they had recently changed the adhesive but the hatches I bought late last year still used silicone. Silicone adheres to some surfaces okay but not to acrylic. There are YouTube videos of aquarium people testing various manufacturers of silicone for adhesion to acrylic and it is not very encouraging. The video show that adhesion is improved if the surface is sanded but my failed hatch didn't show any signs of sanding or roughening.
Try a different test on your hatch. Clean a small section of the lens, put down a small bead of silicone, wait a week, pull it off. Then ask yourself if you want that to be holding your hatch in place.
My feeling is this a basic design flaw perhaps magnified by a bad batch of adhesive. However the fix is cheap and easy and you will never have to think about it again.
Hi. The glue was changed. It used to be a mastic silicone. Not sure what they are using now. There is a slight colour difference seen from old and new stock.
Dont know why they changed.