Hunter Owner Survey

[Ed]

B & R Rig

A main discussion point with the bashers centers around the B & R rig, the lack of a backstay and the swept back spreaders. This, they claim, is too weak a design for offshore work and very slow before the wind. Have you ever read those nice ads that Alerion runs in the sailing mags? What a gorgeous but very expensive boat. Guess what? Right, no backstay. And see what they say about it(Related Link).Of course most Hunter owners negate a lot of that advantange with the mast-furling main. But that is their choice. And there is the option of vertical battens at least.

 

[Ed]

B & R Rig

A main discussion point with the bashers centers around the B & R rig, the lack of a backstay and the swept back spreaders. This, they claim, is too weak a design for offshore work and very slow before the wind. Have you ever read those nice ads that Alerion runs in the sailing mags? What a gorgeous but very expensive boat. Guess what? Right, no backstay. And see what they say about it(Related Link).Of course most Hunter owners negate a lot of that advantange with the mast-furling main. But that is their choice. And there is the option of vertical battens at least.

 

[Ed]

B & R Rig

A main discussion point with the bashers centers around the B & R rig, the lack of a backstay and the swept back spreaders. This, they claim, is too weak a design for offshore work and very slow before the wind. Have you ever read those nice ads that Alerion runs in the sailing mags? What a gorgeous but very expensive boat. Guess what? Right, no backstay. And see what they say about it(Related Link).Of course most Hunter owners negate a lot of that advantange with the mast-furling main. But that is their choice. And there is the option of vertical battens at least.

 

[Ed]

B & R Rig

A main discussion point with the bashers centers around the B & R rig, the lack of a backstay and the swept back spreaders. This, they claim, is too weak a design for offshore work and very slow before the wind. Have you ever read those nice ads that Alerion runs in the sailing mags? What a gorgeous but very expensive boat. Guess what? Right, no backstay. And see what they say about it(Related Link).Of course most Hunter owners negate a lot of that advantange with the mast-furling main. But that is their choice. And there is the option of vertical battens at least.

 

[Dean Strong]

Strait of Juan de Fuca

This web sight voted the Straight of Juan de Fuca the most treacherous body of water a few years ago. . . heavy current running west, heavy winds running east, a wall of water coming at you....2001, headed up Admiralty Inlet toward the Straight, full gale, on my 1990 Hunter 30, double reefed main, 110 jib, dropped the main, running on jib alone, waves breaking over the stern on to my back, etc.Nothing broke, or even leaked, road it out for almost two hours, ducked into Port Townsend, where we helped two other boats that had been at dock during the storm with jibs on furlers that had come partially unwound---top half unwound, bottom half staid wrapped, tearing the sails horizontally in half---because wind was blowing so hard, it caught a little exposed lip of the sails, and unwound them off their furlers, with the line still secured.I'd pretty much go anywhere coastal in this boat. Because of the canoe design, it rides a little rough in high seas, so if I was going blue water sailing, I'd find something with a full keel, or at least cut away, like a Valiant.For coastal cruising, nothing beats a Hunter; and I'd go around the world in one of the larger, new Hunter designs.

 

[Benny]

Its the sailor not so much the boat!

I would feel any Hunter 30' or more would be up to the task of cruising to the Caribbean. So would a Catalina, a Benetau, O'Day and any other production boats. I'm not biased against smaller boats but I just feel they are not comfortable enough for long distance cruising. The chances of encountering dangerous foul weather are small specially if you watch your weather windows. The weakest link in any boat may be the crew. Protect against disease, injury or fatigue.