Tender

[Jim Hopper]

I have seen the term "tender" applied in various articles on Hunter 26s. What is the exact meaning of the term. I am quite sure it is related to my next question. I have owed a Hunter 26 water ballast for 2 years and love the way it sails in 10-15 Knot winds but in 20 knot winds it tends to round up (wiihout much weather helm). The only way to avoid this that I have found is to luff the main sail. I have tried reducing the rake of the mast but this didn't help much. With the kind of variable winds we get in Colorado in the summer I have to always be on guard to be ready the slack the main sheet if I experience a puff. This is especially troublesome when I'm sailing alone. The dealer I bought it from suggested I try flattening the main on a beat by using a better boom vang than the one that comes standard. Haven't tried that yet but I have my doubts. Do all Hunter's with B&R rigs have this characteristic? My former boat was a Mac 26 which you could lay over and I wouldn't round up until the rudder came out of the water.

 

[Bill and Nancy Berg]

WE have an H260 and previously had a Mac 26.You are Way beyond "tender". A lighter ballast boat is tender when it heels pretty good on a gust. (usually a heavy keel ballast will not even notice the same wind.) The water ballast boats are known as tender because they heel quickly when a gust hits and then stabilize when the water ballast takes hold. (it is higher up than keel ballast)For some people this takes a little getting used to.If you enjoy the lay down on the Mac 26, you will find the H 26 a little less tender, in my opinion.

 

[Michael Bell]

My 2 cents

Think it would be safe to say the H26 is a ‘main driven boat’. You will find many instances on this site for not increasing the jib size because of that. Having said that – you will also find the suggestion ‘reef early’ mentioned numerous times as well. That’s the nature of the boat. In a gusty situation – you can't out-guess it. I use the gust to head up as much as possible and take the benefit of that, opposed to having it knock me down.

 

[Guest]

Reef

It would seem prudent to have a reef in at 15.It seems that just about every other small to medium hunter needs to do this at this wind speed.

 

[Harvey Small]

If

If you're thinking about reefing -- you should have.This holds especially true for all the water ballast boats. Not only will the boat be easier to control, the ride will be better and it won't slow you down. Huh??? How can less sail not slow you down? Because heeling and reefing "look" the same from the wind's point of view. One of the things that happens when the boat heels is that the the sail area projected perpendicular to the wind is reduced, which is what reefing also does. OK, for all the math impaired -- / and | both have the same height, but the slanted line is longer.Harvey Smalls/v Waiting for the Sun

 

[Dennis]

Same on my M26

Had the same on my M26 and ended up moving the mast step foreward 1" and a new main from Crusing Direct. I found the larger the head sail the bigger the problem. you can Email me and I can tell you more obses4sail@aol.com