jamesjermain
Active member
Bully for him.I still think they are cheaply fitted out & toy like looking.Each to his own.
All right, I am going to enter this debate. I agree with you, Nicholas123 - and with Seajet. I think some of the Hunters do look a little toy-like - dinky - particularly the Medina, Sonata and Impala. But I can assure you, Nicholas, they were extremely well made. The methods they used were simple (no GRP linings until very recently and no sandwich construction) for easy maintenance and repair and this meant that sometimes the decks flexed a little more than some people were used to. But at least they never became crunchy as some balsa and foam cored decks do.
In most of my reviews of Hunters I would describe the interior as 'simple', 'basic' or even 'spartan' and Peter Poland and I would have occasional spats. But again the keynote was toughness and easy maintenance above fashion and frippary.
I owned a Sonata lifting keel which the five of us (inc three daughters under eight) would cruise between Chichester and Poole with occasional forays to the West Country. She was the only 23 footer then that could sleep five and was fitted with a proper sea toilet. My wife produced splendid suppers on the two-burner Origo stove.
Madrigal went through some pretty severe weather and harsh treatment but in four seasons I don't think anything broke. Mind you, since she lived in a mudberth for two years, the keel would regularly jam. Amazingly she sailed almost as well with it up and down!