Boats


into gear. With virtually no tide in Southampton Water we had GPS readings consistently in the mid-5s upwind on both tacks. Even if you ignore the peaks of 5.8, that’s good going for a boat of this size and consistent with my readings on the Red Fox 200S in 1998.


As we clocked just over 6 knots on a reach, it seems that the Hunter is capable of achieving an unusually high percentage of her hull speed on the wind. In breezier conditions a few years ago the twin-keeled version easily maintained 7 knots on a reach. Whichever keel configuration you


have, she’s also remarkably stiff. In conditions when you might expect to be thinking about de-


fore-and-aft, making it impossible to trim the jib if you’re sitting on the windward side.


Among the other changes I would


powering, our daggerboarder was clearly capable of taking plenty more. A dinghy sailor’s instinct is to sit up on deck in a boat like this and that’s what we did, not that it’s essential for righting moment or for visibility given the low coachroof.


The sport Hunter Being so stiff, roomy, simple, forgiving and manoeuvrable, the Hunter makes an ideal family day-sailer-cum-weekender. Nonetheless, I would just love to see what would happen if she were given a larger sail plan, some upgraded hardware and fittings, and a spinnaker whether conventional or an asymmetric flown from a bowsprit. A longer tiller and a few tweaks to the hardware would make her easier to manage in cruising mode, too. For example, the jib-sheets’ cleats on the prototype are aligned


In 14 knots of


like to see is a rudder blade with more balance, because the helm was a little too heavy. The blade lifts vertically through its stock, and that’s the simplest system. It also allows the boat to be steered comfortably with the blade partially raised in shallow water, whereas the load on a hinged blade increases as it swings up. All that’s needed here is a some minor re-shaping of the blade and/or stock so the top of the blade can be angled back an inch or so: that would swing the bottom forward to provide some balance area. Since the blade is


wind she really got into gear


a good size, it bodes well for the boat’s heavy-weather abilities. The shallow rudders on the


twin-keel versions inevitably lose grip when the boat’s pressed hard. Potentially needing more work to resolve is the weather helm – a separate issue from the balance of the rudder itself, but one that combined with the under-balanced blade to make steering harder work than it should have been. Fundamentally there’s unlikely to be anything seriously amiss because the daggerboard was designed with its centre of lateral resistance in the same place as that of the twin asymmetrics. I would start by looking at the sail plan, since the jib on our test boat was under-sized as well as having the draught rather far aft and a clew that was too low to give the right sheeting angle (which we partially resolved by doubling the length of the tack strop). The combination of


Hunter 20 Sport LF data


LOA LWL


Beam


Displacement Ballast


Sail area Displacement/length ratio


6.17m (20ft 3in) 6.10m (20ft 0in) 2.50m (8ft 2in) 948kg (2,090lb) 400kg (881lb)


18.67sq m (201sq ft) 142


Sail area/displacement ratio 17.2 RCD category Engine


D


Headroom Designer Builder


2.5-5hp outboard 1.40m (4ft 7in)


David Thomas/Hunter Boats


Hunter Boats Tel: 02380 438551 www.britishhunter.co.uk


Keels can be a single daggerboard, twin fixed keels or twin asymmetric daggerboards


Draught with the keel raised is just 20cm (8in)


Room for a crowd: the large, clear cockpit is just what a day-sailer needs


a new jib and perhaps less mast rake might well be enough to redress the balance. So agile is the Hunter, with her


large rudder, shallow hull and high aspect-ratio daggerboard that, for manoeuvring, an engine is likely to be needed only in seriously tight spots. We sailed the Red Fox 200T in and out of her marina berth seven years ago and did the same this time. She can be spun in the tightest of circles and sailed backwards with ease. Lowering the main to sail into a berth under just the jib is easy because the cockpit extends to just abaft the mast. If you need auxiliary


power, a 3.5hp outboard will be ample in most


2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0


-0.5 20 40 60 80 100 Heel angle (°)


The GZ curve shows the maximum righting moment at 50° and an angle of vanishing stability (AVS) of 132°


Practical Boat Owner 522 June 2010 • www.pbo.co.uk 120 140 160


situations. The original well in the cockpit has been blanked in, so the outboard sits on a transom bracket.


Capacious cockpit In performance mode there’s comfortable room for two on the weather deck, or three if the helmsman slides aft a little. For a leisurely amble you could sail with twice as many: there’s only a sheet and a tiller to get in the way. If you were having a drinks party at least a dozen could squeeze in. Given the family nature of the


boat, having the mainsheet taken to a plinth on the cockpit sole probably makes sense. A traveller would be worthwhile for those who don’t mind the extra cost and cutting the cockpit in two. Full-depth lockers provide


stowage each side running aft to the transom. Looking in here


GZ Righting Arm (m)


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