: RE: Valley & KajakSport hatches:
: I've been told by a couple of very experienced paddlers that the
: round hatches are dryer than the oval style, though there are
: certainly a lot of boats 'out there' with the ovals.
: Perhaps something to consider, though the larger oval opening makes
: packing easier.

I have an oval hatch for the rear on my boat. The thing is that you have to make sure that the hatch and coaming are poperly mated. A round hatch is round all the way around (awkward sentence I know), so there's no issue with the hatch/coaming lining up - it's actually impossible to not have them line up. On the other hand, you can misalign an oval hatch/coaming. The result can be a poor seal and possible leaking.

Does this make sense?

Sean