Hunter Pilot 27 comments...

[scottsail]

Hi Folks, I'm considering selling my Oyster 26 at the end of the season for something more cruisey, stable, with excellent accomodation and a wheel house. I've noticed the Hunter Pilot 27 and I'm wondering if any of you ever owned one or had experience in one. If so can you be so kind as to comment on her performance, stability, comfort, strong points and of course her weak points. Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Steve.

 

[Cloven]

Steve

Try a posting on the Hunter Assoc website.

http://www.hunterassociation.org.uk/site/index.php

Might bring results

Hope this helps

 

[ditchcrawler]

I had a Pilot for 3 seasons.It is a very comfortable & stable boat.Good in a blow,but undercanvassed for light airs.The scooper(cruising chute) is a good addition for light airs sailing & can be used from about 60 degrees off the wind.
I thought that I would use the inside steering alot but in practise I found that I prefered to steer from the cockpit.For me the inside was too remote from the elements.I found the self tacker good when short handed but it is not so good off the wind(hence the scooper)
Make sure you have a good hull survey done.Some Hunter boats built mid nineties ish suffered with a water retention problem due to a resin problem.Hunters kept quiet about this as I know to my cost.
I bought mine in Holland & sailed it back no problem.
Hunter do not make it anymore but spares are readilly available from Select Yachts although they do not do kit boats anymore.
There are quite a few home finished kit boats about & many of them are in fact better finished than the factory boats with uprated fittings & fixtures.Mine had better winches,extra batteries,heating,improved instruments etc.
If you buy a home finished kit boat you need to be aware of RCD compliance regulations.This does not apply to kits placed on the market before 16th June 1998.The RYA were unaware of this rule.
By the way the dark blue hulls do seem to fade badly,judging by mine & others I have seen.There are several for sale on Select Yachts site & some have been on there for some time(circa £39k)You should be able to get one for around £35k upwards.If youwant a chat send me an PM .

 

[scottsail]

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond to my questions, I'll perhaps follow up with you as my boat purchase develops.

Steve.

 

[Yachtjoy]

We've had a Pilot for the past four years. She's been an excellent family cruising boat - we've limited ourselves to local cruising in the Solent. Certainly not the fastest boat around in light weather but given the cruising chute and a reasonable breeze I've been pleasantly surprised at how well she's gone. This year's Round the Island gave us virtually perfect conditions. I've only used the interior steering position a couple of times but I think that's just a natural preference for steering from the cockpit. Very happy to go into more detail if you want to PM me.