Tacking a Hunter 23

[Kermit]

Hey y'all! I'm new to hunterowners.com and am looking forward to getting know everyone.

My wife and I are considering buying a 1986 Hunter 23. We sailed her today and had a ball. The only problem I had was tacking. Only made one successful tack. We couldn't get her around after the first successful try. The owner said we didn't have enough speed going in. The hull has barnacles that will be removed before the deal is completed. My wife thinks the barnacles were the problem. Once we buy her, she will never be kept in salt water so barnacles will no longer be a problem.

Any thoughts will be a huge help. Thanks to everyone who helps!

 

[tomgrigsby]

If the boat has been in the water for quite a while it will be so sluggish that tacking may indeed be a problem in light winds. You'll be amazed at the difference a clean bottom will make. I haven't heard of a hunter 23 being anything but a fine boat, so I wouldn't worry about a design problem. Dirty bottom and perhaps sail trim are all that's wrong.

 

[Kermit]

Thanks for the quick reply. I should have said a little more about the conditions. The boat has a wing keel. We didn't have a wind meter, but it seemed to be 10-ish at the time.

Thanks again!

 

[tomgrigsby]

How long has it been since it's been hauled?

 

[Kermit]

Owner said it was out of the water briefly a couple of years ago while a hurricane was approaching. He had the barnacles removed once since he bought the boat 3 years ago.
I keep forgetting to say a few other things... Sails-wise, we had the main and jib up. We were sailing out of the mouth of a river into an ocean bay with the tide coming in. The wind and current were going against the rising tide.
At one point I commented that the boat felt like we were sailing with no keel. (Yes, the keel was still attached. Just felt like no keel.) We were moving sideways with what seemed like no forward motion. This was happening after a failed tack attempt.
I have a very small catamaran and sometimes have to head into the wind and back up while steering backwards to turn. This technique did not work on the Hunter 23. We never even made it straight into the wind.
So you'll know, I learned to sail as a teenager on a Sunfish. Didn't sail for a million years then bought an Aquacat 12.5 three years ago. So my entire experience has been with very small, single-sail sailboats. Although 23 ft. boats are considered small, they are HUGE to me.
The day before sailing on the Hunter 23, we sailed on a Catalina 22 with a genoa. I don't know what size genoa but it seemed pretty dang big to me. It tacked like a charm.
I guess I'm feeling like a complete novice all over again. Thought all along that sailing was sailing regardless of the size of the boat. Maybe I was wrong!

 

[Clark]

Basic sailing techniques will still apply but each model boat has their own set of trim settings to make them perform. A reasonably clean bottom is important but it sounds as though you were in some adverse conditions that required greater knowledge of THAT boat to make it do what you wanted. I agree with Tom that the 23 is a good boat; a little tender at times with the short wing but can really move when set up/handled properly.

 

[Deleted member 78819]

Having owned a Hunter 23 for many years I can tell you that you shouldn't have any trouble building up enough speed in the water with 10mph winds to make tacking easy. Just turn across the wind, allow the jib to back fill and swing the bow across the wind before you release the jib that used to be leeward and trim the new leeward sheet. My 23 was never sluggish in 10mph winds. No trailer? No way to haul her out and look at the bottom?

 

[Kermit]

Thanks for the new responses. Yes, the trailer comes with the deal. The boat will be pulled out and lifted, barnacles removed, the bottom painted before the deal is closed.
Just met a guy today who suggested a boat survey before consummating the deal. He said to look for blistering caused not by the barnacles, but by what is under the barnacles. He didn't explain what might be under the barnacles causing blistering. Just said that blistering is common under barnacles and can be quite expensive to repair. I guess that goes back to the old "Buyer Beware" adage.
Had a very lazy sail on the AquaCat 12.5 today. Light breezes. Extremely relaxing.
Thanks again to everyone.