Hunter 170...Anything to beware of?

Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
That core belongs in a museum. If you still have it suggest a closeup be added to the hunter 170 download page or you add this project to the 170 customization page.
I'm fairly new to this site & I still don't know my way around all that well. If you would like to give me a link to those pages, I would be happy to document what I did & what I found.

As for the drain, it will eventually get piped to a 3/8" bulkhead fitting that dumps into the aft portion of the cockpit, so that the water can run off the transom. Temporarily, I left the drains open to the space under the seats. When I punched the holes in the seats, I was greeted with a rather pungent aroma of mold. I poured some bleach water in though the rod holders. I plan to take the boat out for a sail tomorrow & let the bleach slosh around in there to clean things up before I drain the bleach water & seal her up tight again.

I also thought about adding a dry tube or storage cabinet in the boat. I have all the necessary hardware & tools in the shop, but I am holding off for now. I hate to punch extra holes in a hull if it is not necessary. I have a couple of small dry boxes in the mesh pockets up by the mast. I'm going to see if that is enough to meet my needs before I go making more modifications.
 
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Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
Today was the first day that I took the little 170 out past the mouth of the inlet. The boat did well in a 10-15 breeze with 2' seas. I picked up a Mahi as a bonus.

I ended up sticking with the extra quick link in my forestay today, as a length extender. My little leverage tool needs a small modification before I'll be able to use it to pull the rig tight enough to set it the way it should be, by myself. I'll post about that little tool when I get things sorted out.

I may also make up a spare forestay for days when I want to go out solo in stiff conditions with just a main sail & no jib.

It was nice out today. The NOAA forecast was a bit off.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
170 handles waves like a boss. First time in salt water wife was freaking out when some 40 ft power boat blasted by. Wake must have been 2-3 feet. Just rode up it then down. Realizef the boat could handle rough stuff. Its the ones from behind that will flood the cuddy then drain out.

We went out Saturday morning expecting 10 mph winds. Had to of been closer to above 15. Didn't use jib at all, never reefed though. Crew was exited to be in wind and not melting in heat. Tried out some new gear, mainly a ronstan 30 series block with becket so centerboard has 3:1 purchase now. Much easier to use now. Also tried the idea soft shackling outhaul to end of boom, running through grommet, back to block, then to cam cleat. Used that right away to flatten sails today.

Lots of power boaters today and crew enjoyed riding the wakes and getting hit with spray.

Sadly, no other sailers.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
I went out expecting 10-15 knots & maybe a bit more, so I reefed the main when launching. I had one other person with me so did have the jib up for most of the day. Unfortunately, the other person was not a skilled sailor.

This was the first time that I reefed that main. The boom is set up for roller reefing, but the attachment point of the main sheet makes that impossible to use. I reefed using the one set of kringles that I had on the mainsail, but I found nothing to pull the foot of the sail tight. I got by with lashing some 1/8" nylon cord where I had to. I guess that the previous owner must not have set the rig up for reefing. I'll have to add a few little bits of hardware to make reefing a more user friendly option in the future.

At one point, my (not so nimble) crew went overboard. I was not able to get that boat to heave to in those conditions, so I furled the jib & then was able to round up & slow the boat long enough to pick her up. No matter what the trim, that boat does not like to sit still. She wants to go. If rounding up & luffing had lasted even 5 seconds less, I would have had to go to plan C, which was to rig a make-shift sea sock out of a life jacket, a bucket & an anchor, then drop the main sail.

That center board is a bit of a bear to get up. My crew was not able to get it up on her own. I had to let her steer while I pulled it up. Adding another block or two might be a good idea. I'd love to see a picture of what you did.

I agree that boat handles a chop surprisingly well for it's size. With good crew & properly reefed canvas, I would be comfortable in 4-5.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
That center board is a bit of a bear to get up. My crew was not able to get it up on her own. I had to let her steer while I pulled it up. Adding another block or two might be a good idea. I'd love to see a picture of what you did.
There is a similar suggestion in the 170 section. I would rather use a splice & soft shackle on the becket, but the thickness binds the bullet and the shackle moves the knot/splice into the bullet.

Funny story, hunter suggest 3/8 line there. I thought i was ordering 20 feet of that, but actually ordered 30 feet of 3/16. Ended up using the 1/4 inch old halyard instead. It should still work but it is a little tougher to grip. Can pull the centerboard up with one hand now. Befire i would ofyen step on it while pulling. I am syspect that the 1/4 will work for long road trips though. I replaced the 3/8 a year ago before getting the additional block. It elongated and thinned out between the block and cam cleat.
 

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Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
Thank you Bobby. Those pictures help quite a bit. I am missing some of the reefing gear. I'll correct that when I get a chance.

The picture with your new centerboard block brings up a new question. I see that you mounted your new block on the same stainless loop that the old block was mounted to the centerboard with. There is a second stainless loop above that one, that is mounted to the board with the same bolt. Do you know what the second stainless loop is for? Maybe it's a lift point for removing the board from the boat? I saw the same thing on my boat & wondered what it was for.

The way that you tie your reefing lines is different from the way that I do it. You tie yours from up on the kringle to down around the foot of the sail. I normally tie them from the kringle to around the boom. Is there a reason why you prefer not to go around the boom?

My vang attaches like yours. My main sheet attachment is probably also the same. I can't zoom in on your gooseneck close enough to see if it is the same as mine or not. On mine, I have a square fitting that pins to a C shaped fitting on the mast. The square fitting on the boom is spring loaded. If I pull out on it, I can spin the boom. Normally I see that system used for roller reefing the main, but that only works if the main sheet attaches to the boom somewhere aft of the clew. That is not the case here. With this set up, the only use I see for the boom roller is rolling the sail up around the boom for storage, after you detach the sheet, vang & topping lift.

Thanks again,
Jim
 
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Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
The way that you tie your reefing lines is different from the way that I do it. You tie yours from up on the the kringle to down around the foot of the sail. I normally tie them from the kringle to around the boom. Is there a reason why you prefer not to go around the boom?

My setup looks like this only it is two lines. One for clew one for tack.

I think there is a best practice to tie line from grommet to boom so pull is to boom and reefing line also pulls aft. I dont do that.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
There is a second stainless loop above that one, that is mounted to the board with the same bolt.
That strap attaches to a shock cord. There is a pad eye next to mainsheet swivel that the other end of shock cord clips to. In theory, when you turtle the cord should keep the centerboard extended. It also keeps the centerboatd from bouncing around. They degrade and lash out in anger if you forget to unsnap them before lifting the centerboard.

The strap most dutifully scrapes paint and gelcoat off the centerboard.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
That's a cute system. It looks convenient. I agree about your two line system pulling the sail into a more desirable shape. I'll probably stick with your two line system.

My earlier comment about you & I lashing our lines differently, only pertained to the lines in the center of the boom, the ones that go through the small grommets (kringles), not the lines that are shown in red in this last sketch that you just posted.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
These two pictures show the boom end of my gooseneck. One picture shows the square piece locked into the square recess in the boom end. The other picture shows the square piece pulled out (against spring pressure) & partially spun around. The connection to the mast is with a pin to a rigidly mounted C bracket.
 

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Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
That is not the case here. With this set up, the only use I see for the boom roller is rolling the sail up around the boom for storage, after you detach the sheet, vang & topping lift.
That make trailering less secure since the padeyes woyld then be covered by the main.

After the mast is back on the rudder support i place the boom on the next slot below the mast. I made a soft shackle out of cheap rope and use that to suspend the boom beliw tbe mast from the other side. I need one padeye exposed so that i can attach the vang from the boom to the shockcord padeye. Once tightened, the boom pulls on the mast keeping everything from bouncing around.

Im gonna go in garage and see if mine swivals at gooseneck.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
This is a closeup of the core that was removed when installing the rod holders. Please let me know if this is not what you were asking for earlier.

The white outer plastic skin is about 3mm or 1/8" thick. The layer of glass on the bottom is about 1mm or 0.040" thick.
 

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Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
I carry my boom & main sail in the bed of my truck, not on the trailer. That eliminates a few issues for me.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
That make trailering less secure since the padeyes woyld then be covered by the main.

After the mast is back on the rudder support i place the boom on the next slot below the mast. I made a soft shackle out of cheap rope and use that to suspend the boom beliw tbe mast from the other side. I need one padeye exposed so that i can attach the vang from the boom to the shockcord padeye. Once tightened, the boom pulls on the mast keeping everything from bouncing around.

Im gonna go in garage and see if mine swivals at gooseneck.
Holy crap. It swivals. Thats an undocumented feature!
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
Ahhhh,

I saw in several places that the main will tear up if the reef comes out and those reefing grommets are attached to boom.