Hunter 23.5 VANTAGE

[SkookumZac]

Hey guys, I've been a long time lurker on these forums, thought I should finally introduce myself. I'm now proud to say I am the owner of Hunter 23.5 #102 VANTAGE.

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for us. I bought the boat site unseen and had it shipped down from New York. BTW, you should never do this!

Let's start with the Good:
-Stern rail seats!
-New mast, boom, & standing rigging
-New-ish sails, barely used
-Roller Furler
-Bimini
-TWO outboards
-Autotiller, Stereo, Solar Panel
-Roadworthy trailer
-Ready to sail

And now The Bad (when the boat arrived):
-Stern rail seats poorly installed, leaking, with non-stainless hardware.
-Mast & boom not fully assembled & missing pieces. Mast plug ripped out of the deck.
-Mainsail is literally the cheapest mail order chinese sail you can buy. No insignia, no full battens. It IS new and barely used tho.
-Roller furler is also missing pieces. Genoa is also mail order and doesn't fit properly.
-Bimini poorly installed, leaking, ready to fall off.
-Neither outboard runs properly. One is covered in barnacles.
-Battery is shot and wiring is shoddy.
-Trailer IS roadworthy! Made it all the way down from NY. It will need a complete rewire and new bunks, however. That's fine.
-That bottom!
-A dozen other little things, collision damage, loose hardware, broken rub rail, crusty running rigging--ok, I'll shut up now.

Hey! I didn't come here to bitch! This is a story about success and triumph!

We got a great deal on the boat. Yeah, it turned out a little rougher than I thought. But. We got the exact boat we wanted, the rest can be fixed. My wife, to her endless credit, was completely unphased. "You can fix all that. Let's take it out next weekend."

We actually got rained out the next weekend but we DID have it out the following. More details to come (if you're interested.)

-Zac

 

[JRT]

Hey happy wife is happy life! Have fun and make some great family memories! If you want a pointer to sails, I was very happy with my Precision sail, they were made to order to my boat measurements and work great. I also love my 6hp, 25" sail pro Tohatsu motor that I ordered online from onlineoutboards with free shipping!

https://onlineoutboards.com/collect...atsu-6-hp-mfs6csproul-sail-pro-outboard-motor

 

[PropellerHead]

Woohoo! Welcome aboard. Please do keep us posted.

Lack of full battens doesn't mean it's a cheep sail. I paid top dollar for my North Sail main and it doesn't have full battens either. Come to think of it, I paid top dollar for my North Sail Jib also and the foot came out too long. After lots of measuring and pictures, the loft took it back and re-cut it and it's still a little too long!. I have to keep one wrap on the furler to sheet it in all the way or it hits the shrouds. Moral of the story, you can pay top dollar and still have problems. If you got a good deal and the sails don't have holes then you're doing well.

 

[PropellerHead]

Noticed something in your picture. The top of your forestay looks interesting.

Looks like the wire has a hard kink in it. I'd have that looked at. A new forestay is pretty cheep insurance.

 

[SkookumZac]

Noticed something in your picture. The top of your forestay looks interesting.
Looks like the wire has a hard kink in it. I'd have that looked at. A new forestay is pretty cheep insurance.

Good eye! It looks bad in the picture and I was worried about it at first so I straightened it out and inspected it thoroughly. It is brand new and looks like it would be ok. Then the next time I took the mast down it got bent again! It has to do with the stress the furler puts on the T-ball when the mast is horizontal. In fact I had trouble with all the T-balls getting fouled while stepping the mast. It was a complete fiasco the first launch!

 

[rgranger]

I also have a Tobatsu sail pro. Got it last week
Been out four times and so far it has started on the first pull each time. I got mine at a dealership and he matched the on line price. And now I have a relationship with a shop when it needs service

 

[PropellerHead]

There was a long thread a while ago debating the use of a toggle at the top of the forestay. The manual for the CDI calls for it but then a CDI rep chimed in on the thread and said that it's not really required for the 23.5. Now that I've actually had a chance to step the mast a few times with the furler, I'm thinking of adding the toggle after all. I just don't like how the weight of the furler puts that kink the forestay.

 

[isaksp00]

You may not want to do this if you raise and lower the mast often, but when I drop my 23 mast I remove the jib from the furler first. I did add a toggle at the top of the forestay. The weight of the sail if left on the foil can make it tough to manhandle so as to prevent stressing the wire.

 

[Kermit]

Was Achille involved in this purchase?

 

[SkookumZac]

Some background about my reckless purchase: Folks, I had been boat shopping for two years. I drove hundreds of miles and passed on a lot of ugly boats, and missed a whole sailing season because of it. I even had deposits on 2 different boats that ended up falling thru. One boat was on the trailer hooked up to my car, and I went 2 miles and found the trailer wasn't roadworthy for the 200mi trip thru the mountains to get home!

I saw this one come up and the price was good enough that I could afford to ship it down and fix a few things on it before I was even at the price of either of the boats I tried to buy. The owner was very gracious and straightforward about the issues he KNEW about. I don't hold any animosity over the things I discovered when it arrived. I've already fixed a ton of things and she looks better and better every day!

I could have been on the water much earlier if I wasn't dead set on a H23.5. Slip space in my area has waiting lists a mile long and my car has a towing limit of 4000lbs. Catalina 22 was the obvious choice but I wasn't impressed with any of the ones I looked at. The first time we stepped onto a 23.5 it was decided. It's pretty much the largest boat that I can tow, the cockpit and interior are huge, it can go in skinny water, and the open transom/swim ladder is super neat, and if we were lucky we might find one with factory stern rail seats (which my wife LOVES).


She cleaned up nice.
First Launch:

Bonus points if you can spot the rigging mistake I made in this photo

-Z

 

[Brian M H23]

I can't get over seeing that boat, those little trailer wheels, and a sedan pulling it... Moving my H23 was a much different ordeal. (Though my 20 year old Ford did it admirably!)

 

[caverun]

Congrats on a great boat and a beautiful family! On the rigging, not seeing your furler line, but maybe its on the starboard side?

 

[Kermit]

I haven’t found your rigging mistake but I’m curious about the red strap-looking thing that’s attached to the roller support near the bow.

 

[DJN51]

Looks like front side rigging is loose Also added this to furler forestay ,take a lot of strain off t-ball and lets forestay move in multiple angles

 

[SkookumZac]

I haven’t found your rigging mistake but I’m curious about the red strap-looking thing that’s attached to the roller support near the bow.
View attachment 163872

I'm not sure if it's an add-on or what, but the bow roller is attached on a pivot, and the strap holds it in place. I didn't mess with it because it seems to work fine. I read about the stock Hunter trailers having a useless roller in the front but this one does seem to hold some of the weight of the boat.

 

[CrispyCringle]

Congrats on the boat! We are going on 4 years with our 23.5. Its a great little boat. We mostly sail on a Indiana lake. But we took it up to the Great Lakes last summer for a long week sail and it did great. Probably going again this year. Ive got a pretty decent example of a 23.5 if you need any pics to compare to when your working on yours. But it sounds like you already have had it in the water, so it must be pretty much there.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Can you provide a close up of the forward trailer roller as that was modified from the original trailer. I did note the location of the tire secured to the trailer just behind it. I suspect that the line or web strap is holding that roller so it will not bend back. I will comment further when there is a close up of that roller with the base too.

 

[GL-WindPower]

Hello, congrats on the (new to you boat). I'm confused though. You said it was as Hunter 23.5 #102 VANTAGE but it says Hunter 240 on the side. I have a 2004 Hunter H240 I purchased 6 yrs ago. I purchased it from a a broker in Virginia and pulled it back to Michigan. I did put new tires on it and had the wheel bearing packed before I started the 750 mile trip. Other than that it was just a little grungy from setting at the brokers for about a year.

Regarding the T-ball at the top of your furler. I step my mast 3-4 times a season, doing it for six yrs and never bent mine. I leave the headsail furler attached to the mast while trailering and only remove it for winter storage. When stepping the mast, You need to make sure the T-bolt is in the right position (Pointing straight down the mast and not pointing out to the side) before you start to raise the mast. I would recommend getting your hands on an owners manual and verify the stepping process for your model. Step is slowly and when you get to 90% up, check your 4 turnbuckles for the shrouds to make sure they are straight up and not binding on the "U" bolts. The stepping instructions suggest pushing the white boots down onto the "U" bolts that will hold the cable straight up but it don't work to well for me so I watch them very closely that last 10%. I attached the mast stepping instructions for my H240, hopefully they will help.

 

[travelingjerryb]

Congratulations on your boat purchase! I’ve had my 23.5 for well over 10 years and now sail on Puget Sound here in Washington. I too have a tohatsu 6hp sailpro and it is absolutely the best outboard for this boat. Good luck and fair winds!

FYI Crazy Dave, who has already chimed in on this thread, is a FANTASTIC source of information on this boat and is always willing to help you sort out ANY issues.

 

[rgranger]

I'm confused though. You said it was as Hunter 23.5 #102 VANTAGE but it says Hunter 240 on the side. ....