: In all my boats and in my instrucion booklet, I always recommend and add a
: second layer of cloth on the underside of decks in stress areas such as
: hatches and around cockpit where one would push to get in and out or sit
: on decks. The pieces would be larger than the actual hatch and could
: extend right to sheer line in your case. The extra layer also prohibits
: any warpage of the hatch over time which will create a sealing problem.

: Hopefully it is not too late for you to accomplish this.
Thanks for your advice Rod, I will at add least one extra layer around the hatch. Plus the hatch lip will be several layers of glass so should add some stiffening here.