new boat test Hunter 20 Sport LF


to break off in the event of heavy impact. Significantly, the original Red Fox builders supplied far fewer replacement boards than they expected to. There’s a lot to be said for having a keel and a rudder that you can simply lift out, put in the car and take home. If you’re of a DIY bent, you don’t even have to buy a fully-built boat: the Hunter range is available for home completion. Because all the ballast is internal,


The simple, unballasted glassfibre daggerboard is fully raised when its top is level with the coachroof


reveals the close spacing of the frames stiffening the hull. Between the forward end of the lockers and the aft end of the quarter berths, Danny Wheeler has added foam to supplement that in the original design. Theoretically there’s enough to make the boat fully buoyant if holed or flooded. Other new additions are smaller, front-opening lockers each side with watertight lids.


Construction throughout appears robust. The frames are


supplemented by stringers beneath the cockpit, while under the bunks in the cabin is a framework of athwartships and fore-and-aft members that form stowage lockers and, being bonded to the hull, provide plenty of stiffening. A dedicated compression post is no longer needed for the mast because of the daggerboard case. Both the daggerboard and rudder


blade are glassfibre mouldings with sacrificial lower sections designed


you might imagine the Hunter would have less ultimate stability than a boat with a ballasted keel, but her angle of vanishing stability (AVS) of 132° is surprisingly high. Her maximum righting moment is at a highly respectable 50° and the righting arm remains notably high (above 0.55m) between 30° and 70° of heel. This makes a nonsense of her Category D rating under the RCD. Anyone concerned by this should be reassured by the performance of the original design, which has proved more than capable of looking after herself and has several crossings of the North Sea among other passages to her credit. Her form stability is derived largely


from the combination of a moderately broad waterline and a chine running the full length of the hull that becomes immersed and moves the centre of buoyancy well to leeward as soon as she heels more than a few degrees. Her ‘step-on’ stability is greater than that of many larger and heavier boats.


Accommodation If maximum open space is important below decks, you will need one of the twin-keel versions


You can take the rudder and keel home with you


because the daggerboard case inevitably divides the cabin. It’s not cramped, however. There’s 1.4m (4ft 7in) of total headroom, 0.96m (3ft 2in) above the bunks and a good 2m (6ft 7in) to stretch out on the forward berth. Couples might find it marginally less convenient than if the case weren’t there, but two single people will probably appreciate the extra privacy. At a pinch, two more could sleep on the quarter berths that run part-way under the cockpit, overlapping amidships with the occupants of the forward berth. There’s no headliner beneath the deckhead, which is simply painted in anti-condensation paint allowing easy access to fastenings. Vinyl covering (an option at £480) was added to the outboard shelving on our test boat, making it softer, plusher and less plasticky. Stowage is under the bunks, except where there’s foam further forward, and outboard beneath the shelving in cubby lockers that didn’t exist on earlier versions. A chemical toilet


could be fitted beneath the companionway and a compact cooker on the shelving.


PBO’s verdict Rarely has a boat been re-invented as many times over as many years as this one. And rarely has a boat deserved to succeed more than this one does. She has enormous potential both as a family day-sailer and, I believe, in souped-up guise on the race course. Given one or two minor tweaks she’ll be one of the most versatile little trailable weekenders you can buy.


Other boats to look at


Hawk 20 PRICE: £22,889


Like her open-decked sister, the ‘lidded’ Hawk has a centreplate that retracts fully to leave a flush bottom. She’s self righting, self draining and fully buoyant.


n www.hawk20.co.uk


jeanneau Sun 2000 PRICE: FROM £17,000


With a larger cabin and smaller cockpit than the Hunter, she floats in just 0.3m (11in) of water with the centreplate raised. Fast, simple and inexpensive.


n www.jeanneau.com


BayCruiser 20 PRICE: FROM £22,000


A development of the BayCruiser, she’s ketch-rigged with a one-piece carbon main mast and 400kg (880lb) of water ballast that can be emptied out for trailing.


n www.swallowboats.com Bed and board: there’s still plenty of room to stretch out down below despite the daggerboard case in the middle Practical Boat Owner 522 June 2010 • www.pbo.co.uk


You can buy boat tests online from www.pbo.co.uk by clicking on ‘Find PBO articles’ and entering the type of boat you’re looking for in the search area, or by calling the Copy Service on tel: 01202 440832


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6