I purchased a Hunter 260 this past spring and on Saturday Sept 18th I had a chance to race it. The race was the Battleship New Jersey Regatta held on the Delaware River. It was a mixed fleet race from the Ben Franklin to the Walt Whitman Bridge and back. What made the racing more than interesting was the tail end of Ivan. This gave me a chance to put the 260 to the test. I had a crew of 3 men, experienced dingy racers,but first timers all, racing a boat this size. At the start of the race, the wind was out of the north straight down the river at 25mph and gusting 30mph+. The tide was against the wind ,the narrowing of the river and the long fetch was producing waves up to 3-4ft. Intermitant rain was heavy at times. The water was also littered with floating logs and pilings just to add to the difficulty. We were low on the learning curve and made a comedy of errors prior to the start. As it was a down wind start, we stayed behind the 30 odd boats who seemed to know what they were doing. This kept us out of serious trouble. We started the race 200 yds behind the pack with a reefed main and jib.
Racing the Hunter 260
- Thread starter Dan C.
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part 2
Once we got our technique and teamwork together we started to gain on the pack going down wind. After rounding the mark we past several boats going upwind. The 260 performed remarkable well in those conditions. It felt solid, pointed well and maintained speed on the tacks. I now would feel confident in this boat in all but the most extreme weather.
Once we got our technique and teamwork together we started to gain on the pack going down wind. After rounding the mark we past several boats going upwind. The 260 performed remarkable well in those conditions. It felt solid, pointed well and maintained speed on the tacks. I now would feel confident in this boat in all but the most extreme weather.
Whale of a Sail
We almost had our own class in the annual Whale of a Sail race on Lake Carlyle. We had two Hunter 260's and my Hunter 26 plus one Hunter 23.5. We were racing Catalina (22's, 25's and 27's), J-boats of all sizes and S2's. Of 12 boats in the class - the 260s came in 5th, 9th and 10th (I was 10th). My strongest leg was after rounding the windward mark - caught one boat on the run. Tom Grass Grasshopper II H-26 174
We almost had our own class in the annual Whale of a Sail race on Lake Carlyle. We had two Hunter 260's and my Hunter 26 plus one Hunter 23.5. We were racing Catalina (22's, 25's and 27's), J-boats of all sizes and S2's. Of 12 boats in the class - the 260s came in 5th, 9th and 10th (I was 10th). My strongest leg was after rounding the windward mark - caught one boat on the run. Tom Grass Grasshopper II H-26 174
reply to Captain Ron
We sailed downwind broad reaching and jibing. We did not have a whisker pole and did not feel confident going wing on wing with the many wind shifts on the gusts. Initially we lost ground to the pack due to our inexperience. We rounded up hard a couple of times. We quickly learned to read the shifts (survival)and started to gain on the pack.
We sailed downwind broad reaching and jibing. We did not have a whisker pole and did not feel confident going wing on wing with the many wind shifts on the gusts. Initially we lost ground to the pack due to our inexperience. We rounded up hard a couple of times. We quickly learned to read the shifts (survival)and started to gain on the pack.
Results - H23.5
I don't know his final position - but I'm pretty sure he finished before both me :{ and the H-260 directly ahead of me (i.e. before 9th place). Tom Grass Grasshopper II 1994 H-26 174
I don't know his final position - but I'm pretty sure he finished before both me :{ and the H-260 directly ahead of me (i.e. before 9th place). Tom Grass Grasshopper II 1994 H-26 174
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