purchasing a hunter 23 wing keel (advice?)

[tom bruno]

is it a solid stable family boat. i day sail long island sound out of westport ct 10-15 winds

 

[Mark Major]

A safe family boat

I bought my 1986 H23 two years ago, and have sailed it extensively up and down the Florida Gulf (single handing 6 to 8 days), and have made weekend trips with my family of 3 aboard. It is designed to sleep 5, and I have done that, once (but never again). It's a good, safe, stable boat, and I'd recommend it for family day outings.I found one flaw with my boat, and it seems others have had this same problem; the aluminum rudder housing will break in a heavy weather helm. Inspect the housing for previous damage and repair, for cracks in the lower part of the housing. I would reinforce the gudgeon side (forward) of the housing with aluminum angle before it fails (aluminum has a tendency to fail without symptoms prior). In the event of failure, you will have to be prepared to motor or be towed in. I can send or post pictures of what I did to reinforce mine, if you'd like. Feel free to email me at memajor@mpinet.net

 

[mmsailor]

h23 good boat,

the h23 is a very good boat, there is a ton of info in the archives here, so check them out, as to whether the one you are looking at is a solid, boat, get a survey, this is one piece of advice that is repeated here more than any other when it comes to boat buying, , and the people you hear it from the most are the more experienced sailors, , the cost will be more than worth the price u pay , good luck , happy 23 owner, Mike B