dismasting 1996 hunter 336

[martin nutt]

I bought a hunter 336 new in 1996 from uk hunter agents opal marine.My wife and I have sailed the boat sucessfully for the past 5 years. We have maintained all aspects of the boat profesionally and never go to sea when bad weather is forcast to date we have been lucky and not been caught out in anything more severe than than 30 knots of wind,we have never raced the boat, it has therefore been lightly used.We were totally stunned when in July this year the mast fell down on us in calm conditions fortunatly no one was hurt. The boat was badly damaged. The surveyor belevies the mast fell down due to a latent defect in the way the forestay was fixed to the mast combined with metal fatigue.Has any other hunter owner a similar experience?

 

[Pete]

Martin

I can only tell you that my 336 (also a 1996) has not had the same troubles as your, however could you be more specific as to what cause your mast to fall? I will inspect mene this month when it comes out for the winter! Sorry for your misfortune! Thanks, Pete

 

[Don curt]

There Should be an Outcry!

I have been watching since you posted your article on this unfortunate incident. I fully expected a major outcry from Hunter owners around such a serious topic. It is curious though that only one reply was given.I for one have the same boat, and would be very interested in any more information the develops on the problem over time.Don

 

[Steve Dion]

Anomaly.

Don:I am sure that Martins problem is an anomaly. We very seldom hear about any dismasting on ANY hunters. I am sure that there was a part failure (which happens). As you are aware, if anything happens on a Hunter everyone is jumping up and down. When something happens on a boat like a Catalina you seldom hear about it. There is something about a Hunter owner that is hard to put a finger on but they seem to think life should be perfect.I happen to own a Hunter and think they are built better than most high volume production boats. When you have a failure you are never SURE what the problem was. I'll be interested in finding out if Martin finds anything definitive.

 

[Peter Albright]

Maintained Profesionally ?

Martin,I don't mean to rub salt in the wound, but how can a fork fitting be too tight for 5 year, and not be noticed?We are all too comfortable about the condition of our standing rigging. Most rigging failures are from coorosion or fatigue. Niether is easy to spot unless you try to look for it.Glad that no one was hurt. Hope your insurance covered the repairs/replacement.