@Barnacle Bill makes a good point, categorical statements about a particular brand of boats is not all that useful, it really gets down to boat itself and how that particular boat and model were designed.
Why NOT Take a Hunter Sailboat on an Ocean Crossing
- Thread starter Prairie Virgin Sailor
- Start date
Henk Meuzelaar sailed his Hunter 43 around the South Pacificfor years, delivering medical supplies to remote islands. Search for him in the forums, and you will find a number of informative posts on the subject.
If you have a boat with a good blue water design, there are still a lot of modifications to add to make the boat work well. The best source on this preparation is the Pacific Cup Handbook by Jim and Sue Corenman.
If you have a boat with a good blue water design, there are still a lot of modifications to add to make the boat work well. The best source on this preparation is the Pacific Cup Handbook by Jim and Sue Corenman.
Thanks for sharing this story and info, Dave. I wish I got the chance to meet Warren and pick his brain. He was a remarkable guy. I've always thought it was interesting how the innovations that Warren's world-class racing effort came up with eventually filtered down to their production boat line.
As for crossing oceans on Hunters, check out Sailing Jibsea on YouTube. They're actually doing it:
I am not an ocean voyager (yet), so take my opinion for what it's worth to you. With that said, my general thoughts on safe ocean voyaging is that the make of a boat matters less than the overall condition of the boat and its major systems (rigging, engine, structure), etc. Also with that being said, coastal cruising can be just as dangerous in a unkempt boat. Help is generally closer in a coastal cruising environment, but in 50° water that help may still be too far away.
Weather is the most important factor in ocean voyaging IMO. You're going to get your ass kicked in nasty weather whether you're in a 26' Catalina or a 65' Tayana. You need to be an expert in interpreting weather forecasts and routing accordingly. I think it's important to keep this in perspective. In a serious weather situation, any sailboat between 20,000 - 125,000 lbs (basically any serious recreational keel boat) is going to be in peril. There's a lot of discussion that happens online that, honestly, comes down to splitting hairs. Any common boat that you look at is, at the end of the day, a small, recreational keel boat that has a lot more in common with the next one than it has in differences.
As far as stability goes (which is extremely important) - the CE rating matters. I've seen an enormous amount of criticism thrown at this standard online, but it is the best, data-based lens we have to look at the major safety components of boat designs. I've attached a paper that the original standards committee comissioned for the development of safety requirements. It's a really interesting read, studying the characteristics of known losses up until the time of the study (1994). Edit - the forum rules won't allow me to upload the document. It's available here, under "Stablility": https://oossanen.nl/papers-and-publications/
The stability requirements established in the report are remarkably clean, and suggest very strongly that a smaller boat needs most resistance to capsize (which the standard eventually adopted and still requires to this day).
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Yes I agree with all of your comments. I do indeed follow "Sailng Jibsea" and yes, they make out just fine with a Hunter. I am about 98% settled that I will indeed purchase a Hunter. I will keep my options open once I officially make the trek back out to the coast next month and begin the final stage of boat buying, but every time ( in the past ) when boat searching, I like Hunters best. Thanks for the input.
To reinforce the sentiment that the crew is more important than the boat when it comes to crossing oceans, there was a famous couple, Dave and Jaja Martin, who sailed around the world in a Cal 25. There are many Hunters that are more capable of handling heavy weather than a Cal 25. Dave did rebuild the boat before setting off across oceans. The Martins claimed the only major equipment failure they had was birth control.
There were a LOT of different boats built under the Hunter brand. Quality and capability of Hunters varied across models and the years. Saying Hunters are not good for crossing oceans is almost as open as saying sailboats under 50 feet are not suitable for crossing oceans. Some are more capable than others.
There were a LOT of different boats built under the Hunter brand. Quality and capability of Hunters varied across models and the years. Saying Hunters are not good for crossing oceans is almost as open as saying sailboats under 50 feet are not suitable for crossing oceans. Some are more capable than others.