How fast does your Hunter go?

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J

jack boats

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Sep 25, 2006
59
Hunter 420 SD
I'm interested in the kind of top speeds people have achieved at different wind speeds. I was out on the San Diego Bay yesterday where it was blowing around 18kts. with gusts up to 22kts. I was seeing speeds up to 8kts. downwind in my 420 slightly reefed main, full genoa. I eventually reefed more as the ladies on board were in jeopardy of sliding off when beam reached :) I'm still lacking a lot of large boat experience points but as I improve, I want to get invloved in the beer can races out here, so I'd like to know what I can expect out of my 420 and set some goals for practicing. Also, is reefing a furling genoa by simply rolling in a few feet an acceptable practice. I see people talking about storm jibs and such and I'm wondering why not just roll it in a little...
 
H

Harvey Small

North of 6 knots

Light air, 4 knots is good. 5 knots is having some fun, I've seen just over 6 knots on the meter -- crew is on the rail, maybe even a reef in the main and some furl on the jib to keep control during the serious fun! I do not ever want to see what 7 knots is like on my Hunter 26 Water Ballasted boat!
 
D

Don

Largely a function of hull length and sail trim

The 420 and my 40.5 are essentially the same LWL but of differing shape and sails so a better comparison would be with other 420s with furling main sail Jack. With a conventional main and max prop, my son who races can get 10+ with similar wind speed on a beam reach. More typical is 7 - 9 k in 20k wind with my novice skills but my wife isn't a happy camper at that point... Don
 
Alan

Alan

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Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
We've managed to clock 14.5 kts surfing down off waves on a spinnaker run. It's a rush to say the least! The trick is to try and hold it as long as possible before the speed drops back into the single digits and you look for the next wave face to roll off of. We can sometimes keep it up for 10 or 15 seconds. Makes 8.5 feel very tame in comparison! ;D ;D
 
Paul Akers

Paul Akers

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Dec 3, 2003
2,101
Hunter Legend 37 Portsmouth, RI
11knots...

... on my GPS going with the flow in the Cape Cod Canal and a puff of wind. Actually touched 7 kts (on speedo) under the head sail alone once.
 
E

Ed Childres

6.8 is our best to date

Harvey we have a current boat record of 6.8 sustained on our H260 under full jib & main. Previous to that it was 6.4 under spinnaker and main. The higher speed spinnaker runs tend to keep our attention. I agree that a 7 knot run with the spinnaker would be a wild ride on this boat. Maybe some day when the conditions are right I will see it.
 
newly anonymous

newly anonymous

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Sep 24, 1999
1,511
Hunter H46LE Sausalito
in the Berkeley slot we ALWAYS hit...

...9.6 knots (S.T.W.) on a close reach in our H46. and we're usually reefed, this time of year. ...................... sailed our old h410 downwind in a gale once. 40 knot winds and 14 foot following seas. We had the jib at 50% and the main at 0%, and AVERAGED 9.0 knots over a 12-hour period where we'd routinely hit 12 knots on the downhill side of most waves. you could look back and actually see the boat throw a rooster tail once it started to surf. not that you'd ever want to look back into 14 foot following seas that are cresting higher than your head when you're standing at the wheel. (and not that you ever want to see a 410 surf!) I think the "best" speed we saw that day was when my buddy Rick Dalton--owner of an h380--was at the wheel and we hit 14 knots. during the most intense period of the gale I cancelled our watch system and had all three hands on deck, tethered to the binnacle, for about three hours. about 15 minutes on the wheel was all anyone could handle before handing it over to the next man.
 
J

Jared

7.8 for us

I am jealous Lil' Sea... We have only gotten our H34 to go 7.8. I need a new main and a spinnaker and maybe we could change that.
 
Landsend

Landsend

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Aug 9, 2005
772
Hunter 28.5 Palm Coast, FL
8.1 knots

on my Hunter 28.5 in 18-20 knots of wind in Biscayne Bay.
 
C

clif

Hunter 25.5

This weekend we got to 6.5 knots Good sailing. Now to get some new sails at the boat show
 
T

tks

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May 25, 2004
20
Hunter 340 Dana Point, CA
Hit 7.8 last Sunday on my H340

with 20+ knot winds, with way too much weather helm. Quickly reefed and still maintained 7.4 on a beam reach
 
B

Buck Harrison

Jack

I've got an '01 420 w/ roller furling main and jib. Since mine is set up to cruise w/ dingy on davits, and lots of stuff to add weight I wouldn't even consider trying to race it... I don't want to go to all the work of lightening it and still have a dog in anything under 15kts of wind. With more than 15kts it will sail; but since I usually have the 6kt rule, that means i'm motorsailing to get somewhere. With 20-25kts on a (close to broad) reach I can sail and do 7+ kts (reefed main, leave jib completely out). Unbattened roller furling mains have poor shape and (at least in my experience) offer little thrust upwind. Also, people talk of how fast their boat goes in such and such wind... its usually "bs"... Many people have knot meters that show them doing as much as a knot or so faster than they really are going and they don't want to believe (or look at)their slower (true) gps reading... In short, your 420 won't be competative in the weekly beer can races unless you strip the weight off of it, get a max prop and a vertical batten main and usually have 15+ kts of wind... but good luck ! ! Buck 'L'Attitude'
 
J

jack boats

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Sep 25, 2006
59
Hunter 420 SD
great info

Thanks for the info Janet. That's exactly what I was looking for; and thanks No worries, Steve, its nice to know what the competition will be up to.
 
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