Hunter boats? any views

[Seajet]

I'd go for the A22 in heavy weather; and Peter Cooper, read back and you may care to notice I was responding to incorrect critiscsm.

Angus, I seem to remember Camper & Nicholson etc also going bust; the nail in the coffin for Andersons was the end of the MOD contract.

Personally I'm not a Sonata fan, probably better for round the cans stuff I happily admit.

I'm as keen as anyone to talk Hunters on here, as you may see if you read my posts before insults came in.

 

[Nicholas123]

I'd go for the A22 in heavy weather; and Peter Cooper, read back and you may care to notice I was responding to incorrect critiscsm.

Angus, I seem to remember Camper & Nicholson etc also going bust; the nail in the coffin for Andersons was the end of the MOD contract.

Personally I'm not a Sonata fan, probably better for round the cans stuff I happily admit.

I'm as keen as anyone to talk Hunters on here, as you may see if you read my posts before insults came in.

You started the insults & the "incorrect criticism" was just someone having a different opinion to your own seajet.You should'nt take things so personally mate!

 

[Seajet]

No I didn't; you have not contributed a single positive comment about Hunters ( or Andersons which you seem to know even less ) while Angus is on a mission to have a go at anything I say or sail, even being desperate enough to cite J22's etc as a comparison when they are a very different, very limited boat.

For those who favour the later David Thomas designed Hunters fair enough they're good, especially at racing around the cans, but I can't remember coming across a single family voyaging Sonata, Delta or Impala in over 40 years of cruising, while funnily enough I have met people in the Oliver Lee designs, even the 16' 420 micro-cruiser, if this new format would let me post pics I'd put one up of the 420 I met in St Peter Port.

I've always thought there was a lot of underused scope for a cruising version of the Impala, with a slightly reduced rig and possibly a touch of internal ballast to supplement the lift keel; with the swing-up outboard and still very good performance, she would have been an attractive fast cruiser for those who don't want the hassle and bills of an inboard, and would go on drying mud moorings.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Angus...being desperate...if this new format would let me post pics...

I'm getting desperate for some pictures of your A22. I've told you before, so don't get all confused again, just insert the image's URL between {IMG} and {/IMG} tags, with square brackets instead of curlies. Go on...make a desperate old yapper happy.

 

[Kelpie]

I've always thought there was a lot of underused scope for a cruising version of the Impala, with a slightly reduced rig and possibly a touch of internal ballast to supplement the lift keel; with the swing-up outboard and still very good performance, she would have been an attractive fast cruiser for those who don't want the hassle and bills of an inboard, and would go on drying mud moorings.

Um, did you mean to say Sonata?

 

[Seajet]

Hi Angus,

I'm not at my own pc at the moment so am sadly unable to satisfy your very understandable craving; maybe later tomorrow if you ask nicely, but I really don't want to drift the thread, she was only mentioned to start with in the context that Oliver Lee designed the A22 which was a development of the Hunter 701.

You could look at the pics on the website in my signature, my boat is on the home page or various offerings on the photo album page - here's a handy tip, the side decks are not for normal use, it's easy to go over the top or via the forehatch, the side decks are just a secure pace to keep one's legs and feet wedged inside the guardrails in lumpy waves shuffling forward.

The wide coachroof of course doesn't just give room below, but buoyancy in a knock down.

Once used to the boat that shuffling manouvre is not necessary, one top tip I discovered by accident is that harness points at the foot of the mast can be clipped onto with a standard harness line, and it will allow hooking on in the cockpit and reaching as far forward as the forestay, I mention that in case it's useful for any similar sized boat.

 

[Seajet]

Hi Angus,

I'm not at my own pc at the moment so am sadly unable to satisfy your very understandable craving; maybe later tomorrow if you ask nicely, but I really don't want to drift the thread, she was only mentioned to start with in the context that Oliver Lee designed the A22 which was a development of the Hunter 701.

You could look at the pics on the website in my signature, my boat is on the home page or various offerings on the photo album page - here's a handy tip, the side decks are not for normal use, it's easy to go over the top or via the forehatch, the side decks are just a secure pace to keep one's legs and feet wedged inside the guardrails in lumpy waves shuffling forward.

The wide coachroof of course doesn't just give room below, but buoyancy in a knock down.

Once used to the boat that shuffling manouvre is not necessary, one top tip I discovered by accident is that harness points at the foot of the mast can be clipped onto with a standard harness line, and it will allow hooking on in the cockpit and reaching as far forward as the forestay, I mention that in case it's useful for any similar sized boat.
/QUOTE]

Mavanier,

no I meant Impala, they were available with a lift keel and an outboard which swang up into a stowage locker.

 

[TimBennet]

no I meant Impala, they were available with a lift keel and an outboard which swang up into a stowage locker.

Really? Got any information about them.

I've never heard of them.

 

[Seajet]

Tim,

when back home tomorrow I'll try to dig out the brochure; not surprised you didn't hear of them, like the lift keel Sonata & Medina they didn't sell, don't remember if the price was a lot more or it was just because these Hunters went to racing fleets where fin keels were tolerated.

Which still leaves my problems posting pics despite Angus's encouragement but I'll give it another whirl.

 

[Pye_End]

like the lift keel Sonata & Medina they didn't sell,

There are quite a few lift keel Sonatas around. Not as many as the fixed keel - both boats can be cruised, but presumably only the fixed keel can be raced.

I cruised mine extensively, as others have done.

 

[Seajet]

Pye_End,

not being funny, genuine question, how many lift keel Sonata's would you guess were made ? Apart from the youth training outfit I've never seen any, and only one lift keel Medina, while I'd have thought there would be a lot more around Chichester Harbour.

 

[TimBennet]

Pye_End,

not being funny, genuine question, how many lift keel Sonata's would you guess were made ? Apart from the youth training outfit I've never seen any, and only one lift keel Medina, while I'd have thought there would be a lot more around Chichester Harbour.

I would guess there was somewhere between 30 and 50 lift keel Sonatas built going by the numbers who joined the class association and the many more I saw around that weren't members! Lots went to Holland and Denmark.

All the Medinas were lift keel and there was certainly more than one of them built!

 

[Pye_End]

Don't know, but if you put 'Hunter Sonata For Sale' into Google, the first result is this:

http://hunterboats.apolloduck.com/boats.phtml?id=388

of which the very first result is a lift keel.

This was my next click: http://essex.boatshed.com/hunter_sonata-boat-124613.html

And my third click: http://www.sonata.org.uk/boatsforsale/index.php

Young Skippers probably had six originally, then changed to Duettes.

I have seen plenty of lift keel Sonatas over the years, but since it was my first boat I take a particular interest.

 

[Simondjuk]

We once passed a Hunter in our Evolution 25 whilst heading through the Solent to Lymington with about 25 knots on the nose. I forget which model it was, but 26 feet as I recall. We swapped a couple of tacks abeam Beaulieu and by the time they arrived alongside us on the Town Quay, we'd packed the boat up and I was on my second beer, so maybe an hour or so. May have been a bilgie, but even so, not the speediest to windward.

 

[Marakei]

The OP asked if Hunter boats were any good. 113 posts later the answer seems to be more or less yes, which is what I understand too.

And BTW, the Westerly 22 and Nomad were both around before the Anderson 22, very successful designs with no side-decks, so lack of these is not an unique feature.

 

[Seajet]

Merry Girl,

there are loads of boats with minimal side decks or completely full width coachroofs, I wasn't calling the A22 unique in that respect just countering Angus who loves to criticise that and anything else about the Anderson...

 

[Marakei]

Seajet

My post was intended to point out that lack of side decks on monohulls is not a cause for derision.

I mentioned the Westerlys because they're 22 footers, and because they were very popular just before the era when the Anderson was designed.

 

[Nicholas123]

No I didn't; you have not contributed a single positive comment about Hunters

You started the insults with this remark in post number 36. "I wonder what sort of work your hands were doing, clearly your brain isn't involved." You did that because you could'nt stand my criticism.
I am happy to discuss the pro's & cons of sailing boat design & build but remarks like that don't help.

 

[JimC]

...I've always thought there was a lot of underused scope for a cruising version of the Impala, with a slightly reduced rig and possibly a touch of internal ballast to supplement the lift keel; with the swing-up outboard and still very good performance, she would have been an attractive fast cruiser for those who don't want the hassle and bills of an inboard, and would go on drying mud moorings.

The Horizon 30 cruiser was based on the Impala hull though I don't believe there was a lift-keel version, the vast majority were twin-keeled. The Horizons were mostly developed from racing yachts: the Horizon 21 from the Medina, the 23 from the Sonata and the 26/27 from the Delta. The later Rangers were designed from the outset as cruisers, as are the present Channels.

 

[Seajet]

You started the insults with this remark in post number 36. "I wonder what sort of work your hands were doing, clearly your brain isn't involved." You did that because you could'nt stand my criticism.
I am happy to discuss the pro's & cons of sailing boat design & build but remarks like that don't help.

Nicholas 123,

how about ' cheap and nasty ' early on in the thread then ?

I suggest we get on with talking about boats' actual good and bad points, partuicularly Hunters.

Merry Girl,

yes there's a Westerly 22 in my club, restored to immaculate ' better than new ' condition, when I suggested to the owner that the WOA must be interested the reply was he'd already been onto them and they weren't interested in anything but the late expensive big boats, a chum who has just boaught a Centaur got the same impression, shame.

Back to Hunters, is there an Owners' Association ?

I know there is for the 19 / Europa, as I've met Toby Roberts who runs it and I accidentally get their mails, it seems a good active outfit.