should I take a Hunter 170?

[shemandr]

Isn't that a liner that's cracked. Since there is a hatch board there, I would think that the hull is beneath and not shown cracked. So it's free and hopefully complete what's the down side? Someday you may have to take a 17' boat to the dump? Not so bad.
I sail a lot of Wed PM races in a boat with a lot of cracks in the liner, which happened in races in rough weather when the liner and the hull couldn't bend in unison. I don't worry about those. And sometimes I sail on this boat when the water is very cold.
Not so Crazy Dave is the final authority on these Hunters but you could have a lot of fun with a boat like this. Sometimes I miss blasting around in my Bandit 15. I'm probably not athletic enough to do that now but it was a lot of fun to get it up on a plane and see how fast it could go. I could surf down waves in the North Race of Robins Island and sport a wide grin. It was just plain fun.

 

[Will Gilmore]

As Crazy Dave suggested, you will want to repair that to keep it from getting bigger. It looks, to me, very repairable; hours not days. Others here will have more experience and better advice about that, but I'd jump on the chance for a boat like that.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[BobbyFunn]

Here are the photos:
Photo #1: to the left of the mast, only on the floor, the other line is just a refectionView attachment 149195 View attachment 149196
View attachment 149195 View attachment 149196

First order of business is to take a drill and stop the cracks from spreading. Drill circles at all the endpoint. should only need to drill about 1/8 down. No rush on repairs after that.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Isn't that a liner that's cracked. Since there is a hatch board there, I would think that the hull is beneath and not shown cracked. So it's free and hopefully complete what's the down side? Someday you may have to take a 17' boat to the dump? Not so bad.
I sail a lot of Wed PM races in a boat with a lot of cracks in the liner, which happened in races in rough weather when the liner and the hull couldn't bend in unison. I don't worry about those. And sometimes I sail on this boat when the water is very cold.
Not so Crazy Dave is the final authority on these Hunters but you could have a lot of fun with a boat like this. Sometimes I miss blasting around in my Bandit 15. I'm probably not athletic enough to do that now but it was a lot of fun to get it up on a plane and see how fast it could go. I could surf down waves in the North Race of Robins Island and sport a wide grin. It was just plain fun.

Thats not a hatch. Its grip tape.

That crack is above where the hull rest on the front trailer bunk. Winch might be too tght pulling bow down onto bunk pad. Bow eye is in wron gplace so this happens.

 

[JimInPB]

That is a great video. There is just one thing that will be different when fixing the cracks in the little hunter. The H-170 has a skin that is made out of Luran, not fiberglass, so you will want to use epoxy, not polyester resin. Since you will be working with epoxy, you need to be careful to get a mat that is compatible with epoxy. Some of the older versions of mat only worked correctly with polyester.

Also, like Bobby said, stop crack drilling gets you by for a while & buys you some time. It is a common industrial technique that is frequently used in aircraft repair.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Guys I will handle as to correct way of repair. Good call on drilling at each end of crack but do not sail yet till we see the cracks

 

[Scott C]

Dave,
I posted photos of the cracks on reply #20 in this string.
Thanks

 

[BobbyFunn]

This the official repair guide. It might be helpful.

https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_170_42801551.pdf


In non destructive testing(NDT) of pipe welds we would find surface cracks with ultrasound. We were allowed to grind the crack out as long as the weld depth met specs. If you see hairline cracks it is probably a good idea to grind it out with a dremel until you cant see it anymore. Ideally, look for some uv dye penatrant to verify its gone. If it goes all the way down then drill end holes to stop them from spreading, then, use plastic welding or epoxy to fix. Luran (asa) is the same material used for 3d printing.

 

[BobbyFunn]

working with epoxy, you need to be careful to get a mat that is compatible with epoxy.

JimInPB: Im thinking of a motor mount repair like what you did. What cloth should be used for epoxy?

 

[swidmier]

If I were you, I would take the boat but with anticipation of having to do some work. I have learned over the years that there is no such thing as a "free" boat! I restored a Hunter 212 made using this same plastic/structural foam construction. The plastic is just a skin to protect the structural foam....think of a foam snark sailboat on steroids. The cracks are fairly easy to fix using Devcom plastic weld you can buy at your local Ace Hardware store. I wrote down the procedure I used on the Sailboatowners.com owner mods forum (a great source of information as you work on your new boat) https://hunter.sailboatowners.com/mods.php?task=article&mid=9&aid=100105&mn=212 . Only change is to not use bondo or epoxy to fill and level as neither sticks to the plastic skin or plastic weld. Just use the plastic weld and then sand it down once it is hard. Make sure you terminate the cracks by drilling small holes at either end. Also, try an eliminate any air spaces that have developed between the foam and the plastic. This is the same plastic used in car bumpers so it is strong but is vulnerable to cracking if there is a big temperature differential between the two sides....like when there is trapped air that heats up on the back side. There are two articles on ACP plastic repair and cleaning here: https://hunter.sailboatowners.com/dl/downloads.php?task=model&mid=9&model=212

 

[dntrdave]

Well, here's my two cents. I purchased my Hunter 170 in March 2006 from Crazy Dave in NC. The two things that I like about this boat: 1. open transom, 2. large unobstructed cockpit. After that it goes downhill. The hull is not fiberglass and any repairs are not permanent, (some of the areas that were repaired prior to my purchase have cracked again several times), winds below 9 mph can be handled alone although you will be sailing on the edge. The main power in this boat comes from the jib, if you furl it you will dramatically reduce the speed of this boat. Two months after I purchased the boat I had the first set of reef points put in the main sail. The following spring I had a second set put in the main sail. When I race at the local club on a lake and the wind is below 9 mph, I am the fastest in the open fleet, if I have to reef and furl, I am dead last. On light wind days, 5 mph and below, I'm moving when no one else is. If I were to buy this boat again I probably wouldn't. Being that it is a free bee go for. It is easy to trailer, I moved it from Dave's place in NC to southern NJ behind a Ford Windstar without a problem. You can rig and raise the mast yourself although another set of hands is helpful. The open transom is great when you fall out of the boat because it is so tippy, second time out on the boat 12 yr old daughter was able to swing the boat around to pick me up. Felt like Flipper at Sea World trying work my way back into the boat. And lastly, the high boom makes for safer sailing, don't have to worry about the boom hitting you in the head as it swings. In the end, I never go out in this boat without my life jacket on.

 

[Jackdaw]

The boat has little weight. The sail to displacement ratio is like 35:1, so she is a bit overpowered. This makes her go with just a slight breeze. It also means that you are going to want to reef sooner than you would on most other boats. With the main sail reefed, she is easier to handle in a medium breeze. With the main reefed & the jib furled, you can actually take her out in heavier air. She points pretty well, but she is less impressive going downwind do to the way that the stay geometry limits the sweep of the mainsail.

One minor point, SA/D ratios in dinghys are meaningless unless you factor in crew weight, which the boat requires as ballast.

That being said, it is a light boat with a fair amount of sail.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@dntrdave

Thank you for responding. Cannot remember that long ago but not in the practice of selling new cracked boats at the time. Can you’ve more descriptive. For the record I urged Hunter to reconsider building the boats out of fiberglass. I am retired

@Jackdaw
Thank you for your response

 

[BobbyFunn]

Felt like Flipper at Sea World trying work my way back into the boat.

Lol, my son and i flipped this on purpose to see what it would be like to get back it. First time was on belly... the easiest way is facing back then doing a "dip" upwards so butt goes on first. Much more dignified. This is how i get on and off when its on trailer as well.

 

[SFS]

If you have decent handholds and enough room forward of the trailing edge of the swim step, this method is surprisingly effective:

 

[BobbyFunn]

The main power in this boat comes from the jib, if you furl it you will dramatically reduce the speed of this boat.

Check out this speed chart. We always start with a reef and no jib. Note at about 1/2 mile we got bored, lost speed as we set up the jib the got a good groove going once trimmed out with jib. This was saturday at noon with 10knot gusting to 15.

 

[dntrdave]

@dntrdave

Thank you for responding. Cannot remember that long ago but not in the practice of selling new cracked boats at the time. Can you’ve more descriptive. For the record I urged Hunter to reconsider building the boats out of fiberglass. I am retired

@Jackdaw
Thank you for your response

Hi Dave, boat was not new, it was a 2001 that I purchased used in 2006. I for one am not a fan of the material this boat is made of, it just can not handle dramatic temp swings that lead to cracking. Spring clean up is always a chore because I can't put a cover on it over the winter. It is moored in the water during the summer in a cedar lake. I make it a point to tip the water so I can scrub the bottom to remove the stain while it is still wet. That's the beauty of this boat, easy to tip in the water.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

When stepping into any small boat to include kayak and canoes , I have always tried to step into these boats low Amin the center to include the 170.

As for sailing I found it was not necessary to heel over12 degrees sailing in a sense a little flatter which I could go faster thru sail control. Hope this helps. Can you post a phot or two of your issues

 

[Scott C]

any thoughts on the photos below Dave?