Hunter 26.5 trailer

[Polonez13]

Hi All,

I am looking to buy a sailboat trailer or a nice cradle for my 1989 Hunter 26.5
Also looking for plans how to build one. I would appreciate if anyone could help me with this project.

Thank you,

 

[rgranger]

I have flipped a lot of old boats. A strange thing about the trailer market. Used trailers are often very expensive.

HOWEVER!!!! There are a lot of cheap crappy boats sitting on decent trailers and you can get the pair for a few hundred dollars. I once purchased a 20' fishing boat on a dual axle trailer for $400. Stripped the boat of any useful hardware and sold that on craigslist. Then sold the hull for $100. All in I got this trailer for $100 when all done. This pic is after I stripped the roller skids and bunks.

I added wooden bunks to this trailer and I now have a Rhodes 22' sitting on it. What you need to do is search Craigs List and eBay for really crappy boats that are sitting on decent trailers. The wife has been nagging the fella to get rid of that boat for years.

They are out there. Happy hunting.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Is your 26.5 a shoal or deep keel as there are many things to consider. A deep fin keel one may have to consider stands vs bunks. Please let us know which keel

 

[Bill19233]

Is your 26.5 a shoal or deep keel as there are many things to consider. A deep fin keel one may have to consider stands vs bunks. Please let us know which keel

Are you sure the deep fin keel was even an option on the ‘87 to ‘89 26.5? I thought they were only made with the 3’6” draft wing keel. I hate to doubt you, Dave, but I watch online for 26.5’s for sale and I have never seen one offered with a fin keel.

My 26.5 on an aluminum trailer with galvanized stands.

 

[Polonez13]

Dave, its a winged keel sailboat.

 

[Polonez13]

Thank you Bill. Your trailer looks fantastic.

 

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[Crazy Dave Condon]

I believe the boat came out in 1985 but was discontinued when the 27 which I introduced replaced that boat. I saw two side by side on the cradels one with a finn keel and the other with the wing bulb keel. Due to the demand, the fin keel did not last long while the decision was to go with the wing bulb keel. There were only two fin keels one of which came to my dealership.

Same thing happened with the 23 starting with a swing keel with winglets but the demand was low which is why Hunter switched to the shoal draft wing keel.
Both boat brochures only mentioned the wing keels. Most of you have no idea what I knew. Warren Luhrs and I were friends

Now you understand why I asked that question as I want to know without assuming.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Bill
Are the stands with adjustable pads. Could not tell. Do you have any other pictures

 

[Bill19233]

Bill
Are the stands with adjustable pads. Could not tell. Do you have any other pictures

I thought Hunter made the 25.5 through '86 with a fin keel, transom hung rudder, and really tacky color schemes. I bought my 26.5 in '87, first one shipped to Texas the dealer said. It was replaced by the 27 in '90 that was the same hull and keel, but had a different deck with more headroom and an inboard was an option. My 26.5 had a lot of quality problems that the factory expected the dealer to fix. Biggest problem was the entire hull/deck joint was not sealed in any way, you could see daylight in some spots. I'll check the hull number when I get a chance.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The 25.5 and 26.5 hulls were different. The 26.5 and 27 hulls have the same beam and length over all. I became a dealer for hunter
in 1984 and quickly became their largest small boat dealer till retirement often being involved with designs for boats 30 feet and under although my degree was in history. Many do not know nor I wish to talk about achievements nor the knowledge I have. However, the original 23 and 26.5 had different keels not seen or mentioned in the brochures. Did you know the first hull was designated as hull 0?

It would be nice if we work together helping this fellow. As for modification of power boat trailers to sailboat trailers extra caution must be adhered to as the eight of the boat will be carried on the keel tray which would have to be built. Thanks

 

[Bill19233]

It would be nice if we work together helping this fellow. As for modification of power boat trailers to sailboat trailers extra caution must be adhered to as the eight of the boat will be carried on the keel tray which would have to be built. Thanks

I would sell him my trailer at a good price, but he would have to come and get it and take the boat with it. The boat hasn't been in the water for 15 years since I got involved with other boats. It may become a retirement project in a few years, make it into a Wednesday night beer can racer.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Thank you for responding. I sent you a private message. Gotta go to get more fertilizer to put down before it rains later this week. View from back prch