Things to watch for on a Hunter 26
- Thread starter Fred
- Start date
We bought a water ballast H26 this past summer and have loved it. Make sure the seller has serviced the trailer if you have to move it any distance. There will always be little things you find but overall, we have had no major issues besides not filling the ballast all the way once. If the original opening ports are still on the boat, they will probably leak some b/c they angle at a way to hold water - we just ordered outside partial covers to help with the issue. We are going to have to rebed some of our fixed ports but we fixed them temporarily with Capt Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure (think that is the name). So far those are the very minor, basic maintenance things we found. We have done our own upgrades (new batteries, LED lighting, etc) and are working on storage solutions since we love staying on the boat. This is our first sailboat so I do not have anything to compare it to. A MacGregor was what we were first looking at until we went on one and the cabin height was an issue for us. Good luck!
Fred;
Ok you do not know me but I will be glad to help. If you want to email me, feel free to davecondon@mindspring.com If you live in the U.S. or Canada and want to include the location and phone, I can call. I am a retired Hunter dealer deeply involved with the Hunter 26 project and introduced the boat. If any of the folks here will chime as to let Fred know who I am that will help as some folks are caustious and they should be.
crazy dave condon
Ok you do not know me but I will be glad to help. If you want to email me, feel free to davecondon@mindspring.com If you live in the U.S. or Canada and want to include the location and phone, I can call. I am a retired Hunter dealer deeply involved with the Hunter 26 project and introduced the boat. If any of the folks here will chime as to let Fred know who I am that will help as some folks are caustious and they should be.
crazy dave condon
The primary driver for changing boats is improved creature comforts and boat stability for the Admiral. Does anyone have comments/experience on how the H26 (water ballast) would compare to the Macgregor/Venture 25 (steel swing keel) in terms of stability (eg. heeling, rocking etc.) Although the H26 would likely have a higher center of gravity due to water ballast, it is a wider and heavier boat overall. On the Mac I was used to reefing early since it did not handle particularly well with full sail in heavier winds (eg. greater than 12 knots)
I have '98 H26
I think you will be very happy with the H26. The advantage it has over the Macgregor is it's width. The number one rule with the H26 is to reef early. It's a main driven boat and can be over powered easily. It's very roomie for 2, but we cruised many years with two kids. Take a look here at some of the projects people have done to enhance the H26, and have fun. Mine has the stern rail seats. A must in my book (sorry Brian).
I think you will be very happy with the H26. The advantage it has over the Macgregor is it's width. The number one rule with the H26 is to reef early. It's a main driven boat and can be over powered easily. It's very roomie for 2, but we cruised many years with two kids. Take a look here at some of the projects people have done to enhance the H26, and have fun. Mine has the stern rail seats. A must in my book (sorry Brian).
When sailing the 26, remember that any healing over 12-14 degrees you will be fighting the boat. It sails faster flatter with use of control reducing the sail area and/or letting the sheets out.
Fred, I bought a 94 H26 from Dave Condon about 10 years ago. He is knowledgeable, friendly (for the most part), partly normal, and trust worthy. I would not hesitate to lean into him for any advice. Other than a couple of leaky ports and hatch, and a tenancy for the companionway to leak if not covered or closed properly, I had no issues. She was my first and I would do it all over again.
Some boats I have seen have had distortion of the rub rail where the shrouds are connected as if the shrouds were too tight. Is this prevalent among H26 boats? I noticed at least one case in the forum archives that mentioned this problem and fixed it by adding traditional chain plates, unfortunately the pictures of the modification were no longer attached to the post.
Fred;
First, David D,
Thank you for the kind comments.
If you want me to call and give you the poop on the 26, please send me your phone number and where you are at so I can call. The reason for where you live, if I call say at 8:30 am EST and you are in California, it would be 5:30 am your time and not good on my part. In addition, any information to include name, phone number and location are never retained nor do I give it to anyone and that includes my wife. I value privacy. I am of course in N. C. soon to depart in 6-7 months to the mountains of VA.
I was heavily involved with the Hunter water ballasted boats and even introduced each model to include current boats except for one I think before retiring. I have a policy not to be negative on other brands as I use to rep. most of them in the past to include Catalina, MacGregor, Precision, Oday, Beneteau, Hunter of course and others whose names I am having a brain fart on. Old age sucks when it comes to remembering names and that included my wife once when I ran for them that hills.
Please excuse me as sometimes I tend to let folks know I am an expert but I should rather say I am knowledgable.
crazy dave condon
First, David D,
Thank you for the kind comments.
If you want me to call and give you the poop on the 26, please send me your phone number and where you are at so I can call. The reason for where you live, if I call say at 8:30 am EST and you are in California, it would be 5:30 am your time and not good on my part. In addition, any information to include name, phone number and location are never retained nor do I give it to anyone and that includes my wife. I value privacy. I am of course in N. C. soon to depart in 6-7 months to the mountains of VA.
I was heavily involved with the Hunter water ballasted boats and even introduced each model to include current boats except for one I think before retiring. I have a policy not to be negative on other brands as I use to rep. most of them in the past to include Catalina, MacGregor, Precision, Oday, Beneteau, Hunter of course and others whose names I am having a brain fart on. Old age sucks when it comes to remembering names and that included my wife once when I ran for them that hills.
Please excuse me as sometimes I tend to let folks know I am an expert but I should rather say I am knowledgable.
crazy dave condon
im glad to help too...i dealt with alot of repairs as i bout the 1999 moel 4 years ago,
Feel free to contact me.
larry
Feel free to contact me.
larry