Hunter 170 with some cracks, Looking to buy and have no clue...

[Shorefun]

About 1.5 hours away from me is a Hunter 170. Supposed to be garage kept for a while and clean. I have almost no experience with boats but this boat appeals to me as something good to take my 13 and 8 yo boys out to learn (they have expressed an interest). I am up in NJ FWIW.
The boat has some cracks on it. I am looking for opinions as to what they really mean. Yes I have read some of the crack repair stuff already. As I am contemplating this boat I am looking for opinions from people who know. The price is in the $1000 range and does not have a motor.
The owner is also saying the tires have cracks and he would be afraid of trailering it the 1.5 hours.

Please let me know what you think.
Thanks!

 

[JimInPB]

For $1,000, If the boat is complete & the sails are good, I would buy it & sail it as it is. I would continue to garage keep it if possible, especially in the NJ winter.

The whole boat on the trailer is probably not even 1,000#, so you can tow it with just about anything. The mast is small enough that I can put it up & take it down by myself. It's a pretty easy boat to rig.

That boat is a bit "tender", which means that when it gets hit by a puff of wind, it tips a lot. If everyone on board behaves & nobody tries to lean on the boom to steady themselves, then the boat should not go over. If someone does grab the boom & lean on it while you are heavily healed, then guess what. Ker-plunk. I tested mine in a shallow canal under the flight path of an airport where 737s land. That is a very gusty environment. Even with the board only 3/4 down due to shallow water, the sudden gusts still did not put me over.

It's a pretty fast little sailboat. The sail to weight ratio is right up there with small racing boats like the 420. The roller furling jib makes it much more friendly to handle with only one person aboard, but is is most easily sailed with 2 or more. I am comfortable having up to 4 people on that boat, but you can squeeze more in friendly conditions.

Don't worry about the motor. I often get by with a 30# thrust trolling motor ($100) & a group 27 battery (Another $100), just to get in & out of the docks. It doesn't take much to push that boat. With just one battery, your range is limited. If you want to go miles on a motor, then you need a gas motor. 2hp is enough. Get a long or extra long shaft.

I like my little 170. It's a fun boat. It's a nice little day sailor. It's great for bringing a cooler & a lean-too out to the sand bar. I've even caught mahi & tuna while trolling off of it. If you decide not to buy it, please let me know where it is. At that price, I may want to get another one to leave up north for summertime vacation use.

 

[Shorefun]

Well after talking some with the guy he dropped the price as my intended purpose is to take my boys (8 & 13) and all of us learn to sail. The $1000 was a bit beyond what I had intended to spend at this point, but I really like the boat. He came back and lowered the price quite a bit without me asking to the point I can not say no.
I am fortunate that my neighbor is a very experienced sailboat person, he is retired and older. He is going to go out and teach us the finer points of sailing. I have also offered it to him to take his grandkids out to teach them.
So it looks like on Sunday a friend will go up and help me bring it down.

 

[Jackdaw]

Sounds like you paid less than a great dinner for 4 in a nice restaurant. The APC material is a world-class disaster, but it’s a fun little boat. Sail it until it breaks apart. You’ll have great fun until then and be way ahead of the game.

 

[JimInPB]

Wow, you got a fantastic deal. Congratulations.

I think that ACP has gotten a bad rap. I have found that it's not that hard to repair & the strength to weight ratio is excellent. My two ACP boats had some cracks when I got them, but my repairs have held up well. I'm not seeing new damage. I've been riding them hard. I mostly use them for cost-effective offshore trolling & I'm not shy about going out on a bumpy day. I have had good luck with them. I'm at the point now, where it's time to look for some new sails.

keep calm & sail on.

 

[H216sailor]

Hi Shorefun, If he's lowered the price quite a bit from $1,000, then I'd go grab that boat! I recently bought a Hunter 216 which is also made of Luran S ABS plastic and also had a 3' crack in the cabin top. I repaired it recently and have been enjoying the boat every weekend! The 170 will be a great boat to learn on. Don't listen to Jackdaw, he likes posting on this forum (evident by his 9,000+ postings) and has his opinion about the Hunter plastic boats, but I don't think he has any actual experience with them. The boat will not break apart and will be just fine for your use of the boat, but do keep in mind the cracks will need attention to keep from spreading. Fixing these boats is incredibly easy, just dremmel out the crack, fill with Plexus MA300, then paint if you so desire. The whole fix will cost you $50 and only take an hour or two to complete.

$25.00 - Plexus
$20.00 - cheap WalMart Dremmel (what I used and it worked perfectly)
$5.00 - Krylon white spray paint (optional)

Link to plexus. comes with everything you need. one 50ml will be enough to fix the whole boat. dremmel out all the cracks before using the Plexus, it has an extremely short pot life (it sets up extremely quickly). https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/i...erm=4580221844135631&utm_content=All Products

 

[Jackdaw]

Don't listen to Jackdaw, he likes posting on this forum (evident by his 9,000+ postings) and has his opinion about the Hunter plastic boats, but I don't think he has any actual experience with them. The boat will not break apart and will be just fine for your use of the boat, but do keep in mind the cracks will need attention to keep from spreading.

While I have not owned one, I actually did look into buying a 216 before the APC story came to light. I DO have two friends with 170s that are cracked up pieces of trash right now. I have heard from people I trust and believe that you can combat the cracking to a degree, and that's good news for current owners. But no one (even Hunter) would deny that material (and boats) were an unmitigated disaster for Hunter. I would never recommend to anyone paying good money for one. That being said, (and I did say it) if I saw that one advertised for say $500 and was looking for a small cheap boat, I would buy it and sail it until it broke up.

 

[JimInPB]

... I DO have two friends with 170s that are cracked up pieces of trash right now. ...

If they are looking to dispose of that "trash", I may be able to help.

 

[chuckwayne]

ditto on JiminPB! fun boats and the cracks are an easy repair. As soon as you get the boat, drill a small (1/8") hole at each end of the crack thru the Luran only- that will stop it from spreading - and then you can do the plexus repair at your convenience.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The very first thing like Chuckwayne said is to drill 1/8 hole thru the plastic skin which is about 3/16 inch thick stopping when foam comes out to stop the mitigation of cracks. We will guide you thru the process of repair
Crazy Dave

 

[Shorefun]

Well there is a Hunter 170 now in my yard. Need to get the trailer and boat in my name. It has cracks in various places and pictures will be forthcoming once it stops raining here in NJ. Well I plan on getting inside but I have to move some stuff around given the line of 4 hurricanes sitting out there.
Came with a cover that straps down over a rigged boat and the mail sail cover (not likely to ever need the sail cover). Box with extra hardware pins. A spinnaker sail of some sort, but no extra hardware to fly it. I am likely to sell it as something I will never use. An anchor, some extra straps, ropes, bulky life preservers flares and an air horn.
Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Hold off from selling the spinnaker

 

[BobbyFunn]

Hold off from selling the spinnaker

Dont listen to Dave .

Lets see some pictures of the spinaker.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@Shorefun
Involved with the design of 170, sold nearly 20% of production line, advised Hunter at times on repairs and so on to include instruction for my customers

The reason why I said to hold off selling the spinnaker is to see what you really have because in light air it is good to have a spinnaker as it may be the a symmetrical or cruising type not requiringr all the other gear for a racing style spinnaker.

When anyone says not to listen to others, I would tell you listen to those who know the boat boat to get all aspects on it and then you decide

 

[Shorefun]

Thanks Dave.

FWIW it is a 2002 production boat.
I am curious about some things.
The main sail is made by Northsails and has the H170 logo printed on it. Seems like it is in decent shape with what looks like repair tape in 2 spots. I assume it is original. What should be the correct way to fold the main for this sized sail? It comes with a Northsails long sail bag too.

I have not tried to unroll the jib. The jib appears to have a dark blue fabric on one side of the sail on the foot and leach edges. Was this a factory sail? I found a picture of a Hunter 18 with that look.

The spinnaker is made by Northsails with a Northsails bag. Head to tack is about 20' 5" the tack to clew is 11' and the clew to head is about 18'. There is a re-enforced hole kind of in the center of the sail. The boat does not have any of the parts shown in the Hunter kit.

Was the gate cotter pin really just a cotter pin?

Is there a color scheme for the various lines that I should be aware of for the 170?

If it ever stops raining I will get the cover off and take pictures of the cracks. Might be a day or so. One of the short shroud lines was not in the pile of parts I brought home. He found it behind the shelves and will be shipping it to me. I hope to get the state agency to transfer ownership. Hopefully that is painless.

Thanks!

 

[JRT]

Hey a boat ready to sail sounds cool to me! My daughter and I are entering our first race at the end of the month!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

If you could flake the sail small and tightly it should go on fine. Should fit into bag.
The dark blue fabric on jib is a sunbrella cover-so if you left the mast up UVB would not be able to destroy the jib when fueled up. The furling jib was dtandard but nut that cover. Nice add on though
North Sails was a company with dealers and was standard at the time and sounds sails are original.
Since many customers were new to sailing I suggested color coordination of lines on the small boats to Hunter as it was easier in teaching while learning terminology. Solid red/jib halyard, solid blue for main halyard,
blue white flecks/Mainsheet, red w/white flecks/jib sheets and other colors. Any additional lines advise color.
Regarding spinnaker, go to boat information for hunter then 170. Go to downloads and pull up. There is information on spinnaker which I woul like for you to see first and then ask questions. Also look on mast where forestay attaches and look underneath to see if a turning block is there and with any line for a spinnaker halyard.
Not sure of Gate cotter pin. Can you post a photo?

 

[Jackdaw]

The spinnaker is obviously an Asym, correctly sized for the boat. The hole in the center is for a string drop. Handy short handed. Like this, but obviously smaller

 

[flynhi4u]

The spinnaker is obviously an Asym, correctly sized for the boat. The hole in the center is for a string drop. Handy short handed. Like this, but obviously smaller

They had obviously doused that kite a time or two as that was fast and not a part of the kite in the water to boot!
I helped a friend repair a 212 and got them sailing with it. It was a really nice little boat to sail with a huge cockpit for it's size. But the ACP was cracked all over. It was fine fixed but would have been a hard sell especially in this area. He wound up clipping a tree with the mast moving it out if the way so someone else could launch while he took down the mast. INS totaled the boat and wrote him a check. It was his lucky day as he was going to try and sell it.
All that said. If I stumbled across a nice one at a good price I would have to bring it home because it was really fun to sail.

Sam

 

[BobbyFunn]

When anyone says not to listen to others, I would tell you listen to those who know the boat boat to get all aspects on it and then you decide

Dave you are a goofball. That was entirly sarcastic. Almost no one thinks $1300 is a good price for the sail and hardware. Most people just try to get a decent asym and build out their own rigging. People like me that would love to get my hands on a used one. Then to hear it also has the down haul! Ive only seen that on the RS Sailboats.

That spinnaker is gold if it is in usable condition. LEARN TO USE IT. The 170 is a dog downwind. Really, any fractional rig is a dog downwnd. On anything past a beam reach that asym is like butta.