Hunter impala 30 info!

[LouisBrowne]

I very much enjoyed my six years in the Impala class, which gave good racing on a reasonable budget.

I remember very well racing against Polly which, at the time, was owned by Ben Meakins's father.

As soon as I bought my boat I was volunteered for class secretary and I can thoroughly recommend this for a newcomer to a class; you get to know the boats and the other owners very well and very quickly.

I think of the 1990s as being a bit of a golden era for the Impala with boats such as Menace (Tim Rees), Polly (Phil Meakins and Olympic medalist Jamie Wilkinson) and Beeste (Charles Penfold) usually at the front.

My boat was Asterix GBR9532 which I sold to to an Irishman and she moved to somewhere near Cork.

I found the one problem with the Impala was that the boats were spread out across the British Isles from Scotland in the north Cowes in the south and from Ireland in the west to Levington in the east, so there were not enough boats for one design racing in any one area. As a result, owners were beginning, at the end of the nineties, to concentrate on CHS or IRC racing and were no longer concerned with keeping their boats in class.

It is very good news to hear that there is now a dynamic class association committee and that enthusiasm for one design racing has returned.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Where does it actually say that? Given that the first Horizon 30 was built nearly a decade after the last Impala, it seems a little unlikely, though certainly Hunters got as many models as they could out of one hull design.

I couldnt see it either but given that the beam of the Impala and the 30 are the same, I suspect they may have moulds in common.

Different boat maker but when I went round Prout they still had all the old moulds as indeed did Northshore. I guess that plugs and moulds are so expensive that the temptation is to keep them " just in case"

 

[sailorman]

I couldnt see it either but given that the beam of the Impala and the 30 are the same, I suspect they may have moulds in common.

Different boat maker but when I went round Prout they still had all the old moulds as indeed did Northshore. I guess that plugs and moulds are so expensive that the temptation is to keep them " just in case"

Foxs were sorting the yard out a while ago & found a moulded Oyster 40 something ( might be a lightwave) hull still in the mould

 

[Twister_Ken]

Foxs were sorting the yard out a while ago & found a moulded Oyster 40 something ( might be a lightwave) hull still in the mould

Should have cured nicely by now!

 

[Mark Taylor]

Impala "30" Runaway

I sailed on Runaway and did quite a lot of the work which saw her gain the sugar scoop, new rudder, Kubota engine and also the addition of the pipe cots and other interior mods including a proper strengthening of the mast support so rig tension could be maintained without the deck panting - a common Impala problem.

Why did we do the sugar scoop mod? Well we raced all over the Irish Sea and also did the Scottish Series and whilst the Impala was brilliant on most legs and dynamite in the light stuff, spinnaker reaches in any sort of wind and with any waves just got tiresome as the boat broached if you even coughed as the rudder seemed to cavitate out after just a few degrees of heal!

The owner and I were at Earls Court looking at then new Hunter Formula 28 which looked a great machine although less suitable for cruising..............whilst considering what we had seen, we ended up on the Guinness stand, met Nick Stratton (David Thomas's distributor on the Clyde) and x pints later we had been persuaded to go for the sugar scoop and other mods.

Scoop and new rudder were designed by David Thomas himself. Boat was converted at Dovey Boatyard in Wales who were brilliant and built a very light scoop out of wested ply, whilst Farrow Boat from Humberside did the rudder. Inboard diesel was fitted with the internal lead being removed to compensate.

Upshot of the conversion was a boat that was as fast in the light stuff, amazing in a blow, could reach for ever without broaching out - and the Channel Handicap dropped down to less than an Impala.......as they say, you couldn't make it up!! After conversion we never lost to any Impala on the water and after handicaps applied it just got embarressing!!

An added bonus was when ordering sails you just phoned up a number of lofts, asked for Impala prices and competed the lofts against each other for the best deal. Boat subsequently raced and cruised many miles, including Anglesey to Scottish Series at Tarbert, via Stornaway and Skye!!!

All in all a great boat and there is so little Impala class racing that you might as well have the speed advantage.......although not sure how IRC would treat her v Channel.

 

[FullCircle]

I sailed on Runaway and did quite a lot of the work which saw her gain the sugar scoop, new rudder, Kubota engine and also the addition of the pipe cots and other interior mods including a proper strengthening of the mast support so rig tension could be maintained without the deck panting - a common Impala problem.

Why did we do the sugar scoop mod? Well we raced all over the Irish Sea and also did the Scottish Series and whilst the Impala was brilliant on most legs and dynamite in the light stuff, spinnaker reaches in any sort of wind and with any waves just got tiresome as the boat broached if you even coughed as the rudder seemed to cavitate out after just a few degrees of heal!

The owner and I were at Earls Court looking at then new Hunter Formula 28 which looked a great machine although less suitable for cruising..............whilst considering what we had seen, we ended up on the Guinness stand, met Nick Stratton (David Thomas's distributor on the Clyde) and x pints later we had been persuaded to go for the sugar scoop and other mods.

Scoop and new rudder were designed by David Thomas himself. Boat was converted at Dovey Boatyard in Wales who were brilliant and built a very light scoop out of wested ply, whilst Farrow Boat from Humberside did the rudder. Inboard diesel was fitted with the internal lead being removed to compensate.

Upshot of the conversion was a boat that was as fast in the light stuff, amazing in a blow, could reach for ever without broaching out - and the Channel Handicap dropped down to less than an Impala.......as they say, you couldn't make it up!! After conversion we never lost to any Impala on the water and after handicaps applied it just got embarressing!!

An added bonus was when ordering sails you just phoned up a number of lofts, asked for Impala prices and competed the lofts against each other for the best deal. Boat subsequently raced and cruised many miles, including Anglesey to Scottish Series at Tarbert, via Stornaway and Skye!!!

All in all a great boat and there is so little Impala class racing that you might as well have the speed advantage.......although not sure how IRC would treat her v Channel.

Good reply.

 

[Aja]

The owner and I were at Earls Court looking at then new Hunter Formula 28 which looked a great machine although less suitable for cruising..............whilst considering what we had seen, we ended up on the Guinness stand, met Nick Stratton (David Thomas's distributor on the Clyde) and x pints later we had been persuaded to go for the sugar scoop and other mods.

Serves you right for going drinking with Nick! Bet you had to buy the drink too....

Regards
Donald

 

[Bajansailor]

I used to sail / race on an Impala called Maybee in the Solent in the early 90's, and I remember we also used to find ourselves racing against Polly (but I think she invariably always beat us).
Maybe was quite distinctive, with black stripes on the hull, and a black and yellow bumblebee on each side - I wonder if she is still around?
(Her then owners now sail a Sun Fast 35, also called Maybee)