Racing the 26.5

Cliff Ruckstuhl · Oct 11, 2003

I am again thinking of down sizeing. Having sailed our 28.5 on Lake Erie for 3 years we love the boat but miss going to the other Great Lakes. We would love to spend a week up at Mackanaw,North Channel just to name a few. We did a week on Grand Traverse Bay 2 years on a row. It was the best vaction we had ever taken on the boat. When we bought the 28.5 I was worried about feeling Lake Locked and we now do. My 28.5 is my third Hunter and we are thinking of getting a 26.5 this time. Is ther anybody racing the 26.5 and how well are you doing? All it's numbers show it to be a good performer. We had a 25.5 and it was a great boat and we really enjoyed that boat but I think the 26.5 has more room to be a great race boat as well as a weekender. SO how well are you guys doing racing the 26.5?Cliff Ruckstuhl H 28.5 Red Dog

Gerald McCombs · Oct 11, 2003

I campaigned the 26.5 for several years. The boat has a ton of room so you will not run out of space. The best point of sail is off the wind...reaching and running. You will be fine upwind in a crusing class but you can't go upwind with the race boats (i.e. s27.9,J24,Wavelength 24, etc.)The boat is very stable.The SA/Disp. ratio is ok but we carried a J penalty for a bigger sp.pole and Genoa...remember in light air you are dragging that heavy mass of bulb keel around and you need the sail area and in heavier winds the boat is stable enough to handle the sail area. you can email me at gm18sail2@aol.com. We enjoyed the boat and raced the boat close to the money in the most competitive classes at the time and picked up a few trophies trailering the boat all over the Gulf Coast from Galveston BAy to Pensacola FL. But to start actually winning the regattas and taking first place trophies we moved to a s27.9 which trailered very well and would scream upwind. WE also had a H23 and we have since "retired" from racing and have a 1990 Hunter30G model. Good luck. Gerald McCombs "Tranquility"

Gerald McCombs · Oct 11, 2003

follow up

Nothing against the H28.5, we even considered buying one before we decided on the H30, but i never lost to a H28.5,deep or shoal draft, when i was racing our H26.5 "Nite Owl" even when a H28.5 had a sail maker on board on one occasion.