What's the story on the 280?

Tally Ho · Oct 2, 2024

I owned a Hunter 280 as my first boat.

Pros - solid boat, Yanmar 2GM20F diesel pushed the boat fine, very little to maintain outside (no teak except maybe some slats on the perch seats), sailed well with the 5’ keel. Huge cockpit. Big main sail and no backstay (B&R rig).

I did not like : plastic interior, open V berth (and very short), alcohol stove (and no oven). Mine had an icebox and no refrigeration.

You can’t see my face in the first phot, but I am smiling! Racing against a buddy on a H33, and I am over-canvassed, but I decided to run the length of the way home as ling as I was in front

And the cockpit full of friends…and room for more.

My H280 was a great first boat for me. Small enough to be easy to handle and learn on, big enough to sail on Lake Michigan. New enough and built to be pretty maintenance-free. Good engine access if you remove the “Step/cover”. Pretty simple systems, again easy to maintain.

My boat had Lazy Jacks, and I recommend something as the main is pretty large. Dutchman system would work to. I also had Harkin batt-cars on mine with a full-batten main. That made the sail pretty easy to raise.m

Mine did not have any primary winches on the coaming. There is a flat spot for them…they would be nice to have. I can’t recall if I had a spinnaker in that boat or not.

I sold it to buy an older boat, 5 feet longer, and with some “character”, which means I spend more time on teak and other maintenance

The H280 is a fun boat, sails well.

Feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions…

Greg

Crazy Dave Condon · Oct 3, 2024

@Brian M H23

I am still lurking around. Besides @Tally Ho , two people who know your boat is Al and Mike are former Hunter employees at SBO. GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU WASCAL.

CRAZY. DAVE

Ralph Johnstone · Oct 3, 2024

Brian M H23 said:
Longtime poster on here with a *very* long break that accompanied a ~ 8 year period of insanity that included selling my Hunter 23 and then two live-in gut renovations (one to sell, one to live in). Now that we've survived that

How anyone could survive that is a medical miracle. Perhaps the Mayo Clinic would be interested in having a look to see what you're made of

.

Ralph Johnstone · Oct 3, 2024

Brian M H23 said:
Once the first floor sheetrock got finished, moved into the living room and sold the old house)

Does NOT look like fun.

Brian M H23 said:
Then I went down the road and viewed a wonderful 29.5 from the same year;

Don't know what year the 29.5 is but it looks similar to my 1999 H-310 :

I've had the boat since new and tried to keep her in "as new" condition. This is much easier than having some idiot own the boat previously and then abuse it into the water as the H-280 had experienced.

Brian M H23 said:
We'll probably get 5 (or 10) ft - itus in a few years

Maybe, maybe not. I can honestly tell you from a practical perspective if someone were to offer me a mid to high 30's Hunter in exchange for my H-310, not a chance. The H-310 has more than enough room for three adults and is ideal for four adults if you behave in an orderly fashion at night. Cockpit is larger than most boats of a similar size out there and the interior is plenty roomy enough for four to dine :

Ralph Johnstone · Oct 4, 2024

Let us know what you finally purchase.

chp · Oct 6, 2024

I'm a 280 owner and really like mine. Its just my wife and I so it works great. Also I single hand a lot. Lots of room in the aft berth. We put in a memory foam mattress as the original is like sleeping on a rock. The V berth can be extended to 7ft. The ice box is only good for dry goods. I use a Bouge RV fridge freezer which has worked excellently for us. I have a 100 watt solar panel and haven't plugged into shore power once this year. Engine has run flawlessly. Shouldn't really be any water in the bilge. As for sailing, she sails quite well. As others have said the main is huge. Both my sails are new and tri-radial. As long as you reef at around 12 knts. the boat can be kept on her feet fairly easily up to 20 knts then second reef. It will handle some pretty rough seas as my wife and I got caught out in an unforcasted squall. Waves were 6' plus and wind 30 gusting 45. Was motoring and boat handled very well. Wasn't too sure about the stove, but after getting used to it, it works quite well. Don't need an oven.
Some things I don't like is the prop walk can be pretty hard to deal with. It can also be used to your advantage. The electrical panel doesn't leave any room to add anything. With the small helm wheel there can make steering a bit hard when motoring. Also the prop turbulence can really be felt on the helm.
Too bad people let their boat deteriorate. Its a shame to see boats allowed to die.

Ralph Johnstone · Oct 6, 2024

chp said:
Also the prop turbulence can really be felt on the helm.

Do you have a two bladed prop ?

chp · Oct 6, 2024

Ralph Johnstone said:
Do you have a two bladed prop ?

Yes. Is that what causes the turbulence on the rudder. The prop is only about a foot in front of the rudder.

Ralph Johnstone · Oct 6, 2024

chp said:
Is that what causes the turbulence on the rudder.

That's the problem. With a two bladed prop, both blades line up with the rudder at the same time which sends out a strong pulse to the rudder. This occurs twice per rotation.

When you have a three bladed prop, a single blade lines up with the rudder, three times for each rotation, with weaker pulses.