Hunter Minstrel....still none the wiser.

jellylegs

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Having bought the latest edition of Practical Boat Owner, I turned to read the article about the Hunter Minstrel.
Either I missed something, or it failed to say anything about the boat.
Instead there is something about renaming, outboard motors, and a galley box....
The boat seemed to not be mentioned. Did I miss the point?
 
Thanks for posting that, Dylan.

I am a bit curious.

Given your penchant (and mine) for silent creek crawling, would not the unstayed cat rig Liberty have been a slightly better choice?

Other benefits of no mast intrusion on the saloon plus a simple mast lowering procedure?

Interested to hear your thought process.
 
aha

Thanks for posting that, Dylan.

I am a bit curious.

Given your penchant (and mine) for silent creek crawling, would not the unstayed cat rig Liberty have been a slightly better choice?

Other benefits of no mast intrusion on the saloon plus a simple mast lowering procedure?

Interested to hear your thought process.

well.....

two masts to drop on the cat rigged version rather than one on the gunter

so more work to go under bridges

I like the flexibility of the gunter

short spars

more bits of rig to film while under way with a gunter

looks better on the DVD box

more conventional so more people can relate to the boat

easier to reef and shorten sail I think on the gunter

the downside of the gunter is that the mast is heavy

I can cope with it single handedjust but two is better

having said that I have rigged up a topper mast for upstream work so I could add a second topper rig if I wanted


cheers Dylan
 
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The Hunter Liberty Minstrel owners Association.www.hlmoa.org.uk is a mine of information about both types of boat. Hulls the same, main difference is rig. Sailing qualities very similar, according to various owners. Most report they perform above their "weight", meaning they sail faster than expected. Float in 12" of water, centreboard up. 3"6' board down. As an older chap, I wanted something easy to sail single-handed, and could use to creek crawl.
Bought mine, after seeing Geoff Hales owned one after very good review in Yachting Monthly - I think - some time ago.
 
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