Hunter Horizon 27

F

Fredcrawley463

New Member
Joined
23 Aug 2018
Messages
10
Visit site
Good evening. I am thinking of buying a hunter horizon 27 bilge Keeler. She seems a lovely clean boat myself and my wife could handle. We plan to initially sail around the East coast and then sail around the UK at leisure. However when I look at the brochures etc. They say it is only for channel hopping, rivers and very coastal. What are your thoughts? I don't want to cross the Atlantic but the channel might be nice.
 
Tomahawks question is sound, but with regard to the boat, many have achieved more adventurous endeavours in smaller similar boats. I’ve always found the Hunter Horizon 27 to be a reasonable 27 footer for coastal yachting and a good day sailer. Ideal for the east coast and with careful planning, coastal hopping around the UK, in reasonable weather conditions would be fine, certainly if equipped with a reliable inboard engine.
 
My partner has a Hunter Horizon 26 (same as 27 but without sugar scoop stern and slightly lighter keels) with twin keels.

I’ve learned not to call it a ‘bilge’ keel....’twin’ is how David Thomas the designer describes them!

It’s a solid, well built boat. I’d suggest well suited to East Coast rivers, hopping between them when it’s not blowing hard, drying out in places like Conyer Creek etc.

I’m used to more speed, (quite a bit more if I’m honest!) and also the sailing angle to windward is 15-20 degrees off where I’d usually point.

Not sure I’d want to channel hop in it, not because of the seaworthiness, just the additional time required and if you’re heading to windward it’s usually a motor job.

Someone will be along soon to say they go out in F8’s all the time and thinking nothing of popping to the Channel Islands etc I’m sure.
 
My previous boat was a Hunter Horizon 27 Twin keel. Excellent cruiser Starter boat. Sails well if you have decent sails. Twin keel almost as close winded and fast as fin keel version. Sails at the speed you’d expect from a 27’ boat. Twin keel works well on East Coast as well as allowing cheaper drying moorings to be used. mine had a yanmar 1GM10 inboard engine which I changed to a Beta. We did trips to Dunkirk and Ostend from east coast with no problems. About 18hrs Ostend to Harwich and 20hrs Ostend to Brightlingsea. Accommodation is a bit cramped by modern standards, so she was best suited to day sails or short cruises. Stern cabin isn’t really big enough for 2 people to sleep. Easy to handle single or short handed as long as you have a tiller pilot.
 
Had a 26 B-K version as my first yacht. Great boat, and with more experience at that time I wouldn't have hesitated over Channel crossings in it.
 
I am looking into buying a Hunter27 twin keel to sail out of the Deben and east coast and ultimately to take her across to the Baltic
I have been reading that the 1gm10 engine has had issue with water intake through the exhaust and just not having the pole for cruising. Is swapping out this engine for the beta 14 the best solution and is about£2k the right amount to budget for that. Would appreciate any thoughts/ experience?
 
Baltic sea said:
I am looking into buying a Hunter27 twin keel to sail out of the Deben and east coast and ultimately to take her across to the Baltic
I have been reading that the 1gm10 engine has had issue with water intake through the exhaust and just not having the pole for cruising. Is swapping out this engine for the beta 14 the best solution and is about£2k the right amount to budget for that. Would appreciate any thoughts/ experience?
Click to expand...


My partner has one for sale just added on Apollo Duck at Medway Yacht club. It had a new engine via French Marine and they advised an additional Vetus water lock/ anti siphon valve that wasn’t installed originally to stop the problem you describe, although she hadn’t experienced it.

Cost for engine, gearbox, prop and install etc was about £6k. £2k sounds very light for an engine, even DIY and a recon unit.
 
Baltic sea said:
I am looking into buying a Hunter27 twin keel to sail out of the Deben and east coast and ultimately to take her across to the Baltic
I have been reading that the 1gm10 engine has had issue with water intake through the exhaust and just not having the pole for cruising. Is swapping out this engine for the beta 14 the best solution and is about£2k the right amount to budget for that. Would appreciate any thoughts/ experience?
Click to expand...
No. The new Beta will be around £6k and you might get £2k for your 1GM. It is however almost a straight swap, but the bolt holes for the engine mounts are different so you will need to redrill the beds. You will also need a new halfcoupling on the shaft as the TMC box is different from the Yanmar and the exhaust of on the opposite side so you will either have to re-route the water trap and exhaust or specify the adaptor kit from Beta. Check the reduction ratio on your Yanmar to make sure you get the same for the new box to use the same propeller. The Yanmar is either 2.2:1 or 2.62:1. The TMC is either 2:1 or 2.65:1. If your Yanmar is 2.2:1 you may have to repitch the prop to use the TMC 2:1.

I made the swap (although in a very different boat) and it is as easy as such swaps can be. The difference is worth it if you do a lot of motoring as many do when cruising. also quieter and smoother plus you can get hot water easily if you want.
 
Tranona said:
No. The new Beta will be around £6k and you might get £2k for your 1GM. It is however almost a straight swap, but the bolt holes for the engine mounts are different so you will need to redrill the beds. You will also need a new halfcoupling on the shaft as the TMC box is different from the Yanmar and the exhaust of on the opposite side so you will either have to re-route the water trap and exhaust or specify the adaptor kit from Beta. Check the reduction ratio on your Yanmar to make sure you get the same for the new box to use the same propeller. The Yanmar is either 2.2:1 or 2.62:1. The TMC is either 2:1 or 2.65:1. If your Yanmar is 2.2:1 you may have to repitch the prop to use the TMC 2:1.

I made the swap (although in a very different boat) and it is as easy as such swaps can be. The difference is worth it if you do a lot of motoring as many do when cruising. also quieter and smoother plus you can get hot water easily if you want.
Click to expand...
Tranona said:
No. The new Beta will be around £6k and you might get £2k for your 1GM. It is however almost a straight swap, but the bolt holes for the engine mounts are different so you will need to redrill the beds. You will also need a new halfcoupling on the shaft as the TMC box is different from the Yanmar and the exhaust of on the opposite side so you will either have to re-route the water trap and exhaust or specify the adaptor kit from Beta. Check the reduction ratio on your Yanmar to make sure you get the same for the new box to use the same propeller. The Yanmar is either 2.2:1 or 2.62:1. The TMC is either 2:1 or 2.65:1. If your Yanmar is 2.2:1 you may have to repitch the prop to use the TMC 2:1.

I made the swap (although in a very different boat) and it is as easy as such swaps can be. The difference is worth it if you do a lot of motoring as many do when cruising. also quieter and smoother plus you can get hot water easily if you want.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that really clear.
 
Just to add, you will also need to fit a larger water intake seacock. The Beta requires a 19mm whereas the current one is 12.5mm.

I f you decide to stay with the Yanmar then the exhaust issues are easily solved. The failures are caused by 2 things, first the inner exhaust tube on the standard exhaust can break away at the weld causing water to be sucked into the engine or water being sucked back up the exhaust if the drop to the water trap is too little. The inner tube can also get perforated over time from the salt water spraying on it. The inside of the exhaust elbow should be inspected regularly - easy to remove and check. Longer term solution is to replace the elbow with an aftermarket one which seem less prone to failure than the original. Also an antisyphon valve should be placed in the hose between the outlet on the head and the injection point into the elbow. The Yanmar is a very simple and reliable engine - just a bit short on power for a boat that size.
 
Hi Baltic Sea,

As you have learned engine replacement is more expensive than you imagined. Whatever the price of a new engine, you can expect to spend more on auxiliary components plus labour if you get the job done professionally.

Another fact is that the condition of the engjne in a second hand boat has more to do with how well it has been maintained through its life than how good it was originally, how well it was installed or how many hours it has run.

Lastly, the suitability of an engine for a given size if sailing yacht depends on what you expect from the engine. Up to the 1970's, the auxiliry engine in a sailing yacht was expected to haul the yacht on and off the mooring or in and out of the harbour and little more. If there wasn't enough wind to get you where you wanted to go, you didn't go - simples. A Stuart Turner 4 hp would have been considered adequate for a 27 foot yacht. Nowadays, a sailing yacht is mostly expected to motor at hull speed to reach the planned destination at approximately the planned time (or at least on the planned day). Depending on where your expectation lies in this spectrum, the 1GM10 may or may not be appropriate to the Hunter 27. It's clear the deficiencies you have heard of in the water cooled exhaust (not the water intake) can readily be solved at much less cost than replacing the engine. It's possible that this has already been done on the boat you are considering - have you asked?

Peter.
 
I have crossed the North Sea and Channel many times in smaller and slower boats than the Hunters, but generally, small boats can be tiring in open water which introduces physical stresses that you don’t get inshore. The Hunter is perfectly capable of doing these crossings, so long as the crew is up to it, but its relative lightness and high cabin doesn’t make it ideal for the job, just that the weather window will be a bit narrower than for something like, say, a Nic 32, which won’t be any faster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top