Hull gate on my Willard 36 originally opens out, though it's quite far forward on the hull due to double ended hull and huge cockpit. As part of overall refit, I am converting it to in-swing for three reasons. First, safety of having it accidentally leaned against. Second, at dock, if I forget to latch it, the door sometimes swings out and catches on dock when boat rocks (the current hinges are separable, so the door just lifts off - it's almost floated away a couple times). Finally, out-swing interferes with a planned heavy duty rub rail - would cause the rubrail to be very short on stbd side. This would be less of a problem for a boat where the hull gate is near the transom, as most are.