Sailing an '85 Hunter 22

[Setsail51]

Agreed to price on an '85 Hunter 22, all in all seems very solid and well taken care of. Yet did not have opportunity to sail it, thus I am wondering about its sail characteristics. The current owner says she starts off fast and will heel over till you get the sails set, thus I suspect she is tender to sail.
She has a swing keel lead ballast in the bilge. All was very dry when inspected. Current owner to pull boat out and we will do a final check out of the water and fully see the hull/keel and how well the trailer functions underload. Then if all goes well, trade dollars for boat. Any other advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

 

[rgranger]

These little boats are easy and fun to fix up... unless the keel is toast. Then it becomes hard and expensive to fix. I've restored two MacGregor 21 and and Macgregor 22 and I've pulled the keel on all three... a real bugger of a job. I guess I'm not too smart because it took me three tries to learn my lesson.... So when you get it out of the water really take a close look at the keel. If the keel is showing a lot of damage or the cover is cracked and you see rust leaking out.... move onto the next boat. There are a lot of boats of this vintage on the market.

Also, the sails, motor and trailer are the most expensive parts to replace on an old trailer sailboat... so try not to look so much at the boat but at those other three things.... I always say the boat is free and what I'm actually buying is the sails, trailer and outboard. Fiberglass is easy to fix and paint is cheap but you can drop $2K on a trailer and another $2K on an O.B and $1K on sails real fast.... and for $5K you can buy a really nicely outfitted trailer sailor....

my 2 cents....

Happy hunting....

 

[Setsail51]

Rgranger,
Your perspective is most appreciated!
Craig

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

SE; There have been a lot of posts recently on the Hunter 22 and keel so if you think you need to do any research, look up those posts as they are most helpful. Good luck with your boat sir.

 

[Setsail51]

Decided against this boat, the trailer was a bit suspect, plus while the owner did some real good work fixing-up the boat, it was a repo and a project boat. Thus, I thought it best to pull back from the deal.

However still looking for a good trailable weekend boat.

C

 

[SeaTR]

Setsail51,
Some things to consider re: the 1980's H22 (see the thread below).
I hope the thread provides you some useful information...
I have the 1981 H22 "project boat" that I've been working (& sailing) on for the past 9 yrs.

Need Rudder and swing keel dimensions
SeaTR, Jan 24, 2009 ... 5 6 7

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Look at the Hunter water ballast boats as they were designed so one person can handle all phases to include launch, mast raising, sailing and trailering.