The new TheEdge

Nereussailor · Aug 28, 2009

The little things? sounds like a lot of things. I see some major issues with number 4. My question is, Why is there so much water in the boat? for a new boat, you would think they could do better than that.
Oh yeah, good luck with the fat lady, you won't be able to change that
Dave

drbeer · Sep 11, 2009

I've only owned mine a month or so but I've already sailed it a bit. Couple of replies to Enigma's comments

Enigma said:
1. Why isnt the main halyard run to cockpit to allow solo sailing?

typically this isn't that hard to do. I did it on my 26M. The one catch is that you need to add a button block at the foot of the mast and the way Hunter put the head liner in you have to remove staples and pull back the liner material. Would have been nice if this was more modular.

Enigma said:
2. Why is there no dome cabin dome light over the desk that would normally serve as a Nav desk?
Why is there NO AC plug in outlet near that Nav desk to allow for electronics (radio charger), it's only on the side of the galley cabinet.

I intend to run a power line over to port. Then I can relocate the stereo inside the cabin since I don't like it under the sink put a light there, a 12V DC and AC outlet possibly and maybe a GPS. Actually shouldn't be too tough. It will require putting a conduit across the port side of the head though.

Enigma said:
4. Why is the float switch and bilge pump so high in the sump?
Why doesnt the bilge pump kick on without having to be selected as powered on?

Now those are actually good questions. I haven't poked around in there but suspect it has something to do with the location of the ballast tank and where it was possible to glue or screw the float switch so it would stay where it is put. I'll be checking into this in the off season and might relocate it.

Enigma said:
6. Why are there no eye straps screwed into the starboard side gas tank well if you want to put another 6 gallon gas can in?

yours had eye straps on the port side? Mine didn't have any so I put some in. Not a big deal in my book. The 26M didn't have
these at all and I had to add them to that.

Enigma said:
Why does my companionway hatch board essembly leak so badly in the rains?

Check around the hinge. On ours there is a long piece of white material, vinyl I think, which covers the hinge. One of the boats we saw at a dealer didn't have this and their hatch leaked a lot. Ours has this and doesn't leak. I suspect yours may not have this. If not you can probably use some vinyl or rubber and epoxy a strip of material over the hinge. That should reduce or eliminate this.

Enigma said:
7. Why does Hunter advertise a potential motor speed of 25 MPH when I can only squeeze out 19?

I only have a 50HP and my max speed is about 14. So 19 seems fast to me

Enigma said:
10. Why, oh why, is the steering without rudder down while docking so damn slow and lazy to respond?

I haven't found this to be the case but it's probably because it is a fairly heavy boat. Have you sailed other boats this size or larger? Some of it probably has to do with the rudder and engine configuration.

That said I like the way the Edge handles much better than the 26M. Handling the 26M in and out of the dock was like trying to steer an empty 2L soda bottle with the top screwed on. The wind just pushed it about. The Edge's extra weight and lower freeboard to weight ratio makes it less susceptible to this in my opinion.

Enigma said:
12. Why couldn't they have made the wheel bigger to fix the fat lady at the dance problem?

The wheel on my edge is 2inches wider than the one on the 26M. I find it more stable and easier to use. It seems to me like there is some room to put a larger one on but I'm happy with the one that came with it. Guess it's a matter of personal choice.

Enigma said:
OTHER THAN ALL THESE GRIPES.....I LOVE THIS BOAT!!!

I'm with you there.

I'm sure if I think about it a bit there are some little things I could come up with that I don't like on my Edge. However for the 26M I wouldn't have to think long to come up with a long list of major things I disliked about it. In fact there is a plethora of reasons I hated the 26M. I bought it because I liked the Power Sailor concept and Hunter hadn't come out with the Edge at the time. After the Edge came out I immediately checked it out and liked it. I think it was well worth the price differential between the two if you don't count the "lost my shirt" factor I got hit with in selling off the 26M.

Happy sailing...

seadaddler · Sep 18, 2009

1st year

I was always told don't buy a new model the first year out,may be that's it.
I always see sailors on this forum upgrading their boats to make it better and adding better things to improve it and not just Hunters.
All the things you listed could add up to costing more to buy the boat,when I ordered my new 2007 H-36 I ordered a lot of extra options and is every thing the way I think it should be no,Hunter could have more 110 outlets where there are none and a few other minor things could have been done better,for the most part they did a great job adding a lot of great features that I really like and many improvements over previous years they made my model,but not all the changes are liked by others who have this model,every one likes and this likes are different.
So keep enjoying your new boat and just improve it and try calling Hunter about your complaints,they do really like to hear from owners of their boats really.
Nick

drbeer · Oct 7, 2009

Enigma said:
I've decided to try to tun the main halyard back to the cockpit for safer solo sailing. Anyone try this? Any ideas on where to put a cleat?

You'll notice that to starboard of the entry way into the cabin there is a hatch panel in the cabin ceiling that screws off. Behind that panel you'll find the bottom of the bolts holding on the XAS clutch and U that holds the keel line as well as the bolts under the starboard winch. When you look at it you'll see that the XAS clutch is bolted in through a plate that is molded into the fiberglass/epoxy.

My thinking is that I'm going to pull the single clutch and replace it with a triple. The reason for this is because I want to
bring the main halyard and reefing line back to the cockpit but also need to leave a place for the swing keel line. Since I have a roller furler I don't need to run a halyard for the foresail back to the cockpit, and in general I think for most people doing so is silly since if you don't have a furler you have to go forward to raise the foresail anyway.

I went to the Spinlock website at http://www.spinlock.co.uk/ and looked at the templates for the single and triple clutches. The XAS single clutch is 39mm, the triple is 91mm. Now I didn't take any measurements on the deck plate the single clutch is bolted through but off the top of my head I think it might be wide enough to pull the single clutch and install a triple in its place with all the holes going through the deck plate.

I might end up using a Garhauer triple, not because I like it better, but because I have one that was installed on my 26M even though I didn't order it or want it (long story ask me about it if you're really interested) along with a double upright lead block (sometimes called a button block I think, though I'm not sure) and a double foot block (sometimes called a cheek block I think, again I'm not sure).

My current plan is to mount the double upright at the base of the mast. This will allow the main halyard and reefing lines to bend 90 degrees and lie in the plane of the deck. The trick then is to direct them back to the cockpit....

In a perfect world I'd pull the single cheek block used on the keel line and put in a triple, except I've never seen a triple. Only doubles. I have something called a "deck organizer" which is a line of single blocks all mounted in the same frame. To use this you'd probably want to pull the single cheek block then position the triple deck organizer at a 45 degree angle to the line of the boat with the aftmost part of it where the single cheek block is now. That way you can feed the keel line through the aftmost pulley, and the main and reefing lines coming off the upright lead block through the other two.

In my case I'll probably just end up using the double cheek block I already have and just positioning it near the cheek block for the keel line. The biggest drawback to this is that the spot where I'd need to put a backing plate and nuts for the through bolts is above the cabin liner and in order to access that it means I'll probably have to very carefully remove some of the staples holding the liner in place then staple them back later. There's a definite risk of screwing that up and damaging the header. I think the same consideration would come into play trying to use a deck organizer.

Of course on my 26M you didn't even have that option. If you wanted to mount something like this you had to drill through the cabin header and then use a hole plug to cover up hole, but then you'll always see the hole plug up there. There were lots of hole plugs in the thing to start with and I added more. So maybe having to pull back the head liner isn't such a bad thing after all since at least once you're done you don't have an artifact of the work you did on deck visible in the cabin.

Take all this with a grain of salt. I haven't finalized my plans at all. I'm open to suggestions...

Other small upgrades I plan to make:
1) move the XAS single clutch over to the starboard side and use that for my roller furler in place of the horn cleat that is there now.

2) install some short sections of T track on both port and starboard gunwales in line with the pedestal so that I can attach the Garhauer track mounted rotating cam cleats that I have from the 26M. I'm also considering mounting pulleys on or near the stanchion at the front of the cockpit. This will allow me to run the genoa sheet outside of the stays so that when sailing downwind I can let my 150% Genoa out all the way and use it sort of like a hybrid Genoa/Spinaker.

Hope these ideas help or at least get you thinking about how to lay out your boat to best suit how you sail.

cheers

drbeer · Oct 12, 2009

Enigma said:
4. Why is the float switch and bilge pump so high in the sump well under the aft berth because when I power down after planing some water seeps into the cabin floor and will this hurt the wood trim? My float switch did not activate yet a hand pumped pumped out buckets of water?

I think the real question is why is there water getting into the bilge in the first place? I think I know the answer because something similar happened to us yesterday.

We went out sailing yesterday. When we arrived at the boat there was a little bit of rainwater that had gotten in during a heavy storm. I think I now know how this might be getting in but that's a different issue. Because of this we used some towels and dried the floor, and checked under the sink, after berths, and around the head to make sure there wasn't any other water.

Then we went out sailing in 15mph winds. Got the boat going pretty fast and had it heeling a bit. When we turned down wind and flattened out my wife went into the cabin and noticed a fair amount of water on the floor of the cabin between the head and galley.

We mopped up the water and I went down below to try to figure out where the water was coming from. I checked the hoses and through hulls for both the foreward and aft ballast tank vents. I checked the ballast tank inspection port ring and screw. I checked the sink drain through hull, the bilge pump through hull, and the spot where the cables pass out to the engine. I pretty much went over the entire boat and there was no sign of water anywhere. I turned the bilge on and a small amount of water pumped out of it. That's when it hit me....

There is no backflow valve on the bilge pump through hull fitting. The through hull fitting for the bilge goes out to the well just forward of the engine and it isn't that high up on the side wall of the well. The well has two drain holes through the transom which are right at the water line and are on the far port and starboard ends of the well. But the key is that the bilge pump through hull doesn't have a backflow valve on it....

So what I think happened to me was that with the boat heeling to starboard water came into the engine well through the starboard transom drain hole which normally wouldn't be a problem, but with the boat heeling the water was able to flow into the bilge pump's through hull fitting, then through the bilge pump and down into the bilge. With the boat heeling to starboard that water would collect on the starboard side of the boat. I think that this water was then able to flow forward through the storage areas under the aft berth and/or underneath them via the PVC pipe runs from under the galley cabinet to the back of the bilge and which the sink drain hose runs through.

So I'm pretty sure that I can fix this pretty quickly and inexpensively via the addition of a backflow valve placed inline in line for the bilge pump.

I'm not sure why Hunter didn't use the same type of through hull on my bilge pump line that they used on the sink drain. That's a very nice SS through hull with a built in backflow valve. Perhaps they figured that it was high enough that they didn't need it.

I'm guessing that you might be experiencing the same thing and that a backflow in your bilge pump line will eliminate this problem...

cheers.

drbeer · Oct 27, 2009

I got a copy of the electrical system layout from Hunter. It turns out that the float switch that they install behind the batteries is not connected to the bilge pump. It is only connected to the high water alarm. The bilge pump is only activated manually via a switch on the main panel.

Aqua Alarm makes a combo high water alarm, bilge pump control and monitor which lets you set the bilge pump in auto, manual or test modes and will tell you how much it has been going on, if at all. Too bad Hunter didn't spend the small amount of extra $ and use this.

I personally think that the bilge pump should be wired direct to the 2nd battery and have it's own float switch and manual cut off switch. I'd also use a bilge pump monitor.

Installed that way the bilge pump will kick on automatically if you get water in the bilge sufficient to float its switch. If the bilge is going on at a time it might annoy you (like at night) you have the manual cutoff. Whether the bilge pump is on or off if the water level gets too high by having the high water float switch located above the level of the bilge pump float switch it will let you know by activating the alarm that you're either taking water on too fast or the bilge pump has failed.

I do have an extra bilge pump float switch and panel rocker switch so I'm probably going to re-wire my bilge pump at some point. My boat doesn't take on much water so it's not something I'm likely to get to right away...

hope this extra info helps...

1ged1 · Jan 13, 2010

Hi Guys,

I have had my EDGE for 4 months and also have a leak in the bilge similar to what you describe. While undersail I climbed into the aft area and found the engine bolts were leaking and the pipe between the outboard pod and the rear of the boat also had a crack. The second item I fixed with sikaflex from the surface. The first problem is bigger and more difficult to get access. I have referred it the Hunter and await a reply!

I also checked the bilge pump switch and found the actual pump has an inbuilt switch. I think the switch in the aft Starboard area is just for the alarm.

drbeer · Aug 2, 2010

I've been out sailing and haven't checked the forums lately.

My Hunter dealer sent me new gaskets for the hatch. I pulled the old ones and put the new ones on and the leaks seem to be gone. Hooray!

I noticed a tiny bit of water in the bilge when we first filled the ballast tank. It seemed to be coming from where the pipe from the guillotine valve runs to the tank itself. We put in May 1st and it was colder then. I cranked the hose clamps down and since it has warmed up this problem has gone away. I think once the temp warmed up the hose expanded a little. Next year I'll probably try resealing it.

The float switch in the back is, in fact, for the high water bilge alarm. I decided to relocate the bilge from in front of the bulkhead behind the aft birth to behind it. This let me put a 2nd float switch that is attached to the bilge in line with it. I also yanked the bilge power from running to the main switch panel and instead I mounted an auto/manual bilge switch on the back bulkhead. In addition I found a $25 12V cycle counter being sold online. The one drawback is that it didn't have a housing but I made one for it using PVC pipe. It's not that pretty, but it works.

The new TheEdge

Enigma

Nereussailor

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Jeff D

Enigma

drbeer

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Enigma

seadaddler

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Enigma

drbeer

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drbeer

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drbeer

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1ged1

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drbeer

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