Hunter Ranger 245 or 265 ?

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Alltnaha

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I would be grateful for any views/comments as to the differences between the above ( yes I am aware one difference is 2 feet ! ) .

My sailing area is Thames Estuary / Channel. I would like to get over to France as well. I sail with my family but one of the reasons I am looking at Hunter Rangers is the self tacking jib to make single handing easier.

Some people say the rig is the same on each - is this correct ?Any comments on how they sail esp in fresher winds would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

John
 
Over engining boats is a common mistake. I used to sail on an impala with a Yanmar twin inboard. I can't ever remember it being used hard and even in a flat calm, anything over six knots ( we had done 8 against foul tides ) was extremely uncomfortable and hard on the boat.
 
I've got a 265. It's a good safe family boat – great room below - and handles well in fresher winds. I’ve done 3 channel crossings – in some pretty heavy weather.

It’s not great in light winds though – the jib is very small so you might think about a cruiser chute.

I think the 9hp is ok but would prefer a bit more – especially in reverse
 
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I can afford either . Another question is is the Yanmar 9hp ( ? ) sufficiently powerful ?

Cheers

John

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I replace the yanmar with a 14hp nanni in my 26. Much better when pushing into tide and waves, although the yanmar was fine most of the time
 
I have a 245 and she's dead easy to sail. She has a Yanmar 1GM10 which is perfectly adequate. I sail solo a lot of the time and the self tacker is good. I binned the single line reefing as the lines kept sticking. I adapted it to have a ramshorn set up and it's much better. I'm very happy with mine.
 
I have a 245. , built in 2000
I would say , fine for 2 to 3 people , a bit small for 4 , no good at all with 4+
Both have lots of room below and standing headroom. I understand the 2' is missing in mine between the cooker and the start of the rear double berth. ie mine has nothing , the 265 has a small area where you can stand up to dress etc.
As others have said the Yanmar is fine most of the time , could do with a lttle bit more grunt punching into a head sea.
Due to the soft chine at the back of the hull , straight line stability is good , they do get in a groove.
The self tacking jib is good , my SWIMBO always struggled to sheet in the headsail on my Moody 27 which we had before.
Both have near 50% ballast ratio's so they are both reasonably stiff.
As others have said the single line reefing is a bit of a pain. I leave my reefing lines loose (ie lines all over the place when the sail is down) and always pull the main up with the rear of the boom raised with the topping lift. This makes sure you can get it up easily and get some tension in the luff. I then pull the rear of the boom down after the main is up and tensioned up.
Due to the small foresail she is not fast in light airs. I have one of the cruising chutes , which I admit I have not used much yet.
Being a fractional rig you can easily depower the main in a blow , on mine this works really well.
A 245 will save you a bit in marina fees over the years , I think with little disadvantage. The 265 will be a little faster theoretically.

I have sojme 245 reviews I will send if you PM me.
 
I had a 245 and now have a Channel 31. My 245 was terrific! It's a bionic boat, especially upwind in a bit of breeze. IMHO the 265 is a bit different. look at the bow sections and you will see the 265 is much fuller in the bow and generally has a lot more volume in the hull (relative to size). I think Hunters aimed the 265 at Centaur owners trading to something newer. Since the 265 design, Hunter's went progressively back to more performance orientated designs, first with the 245 and then with the sporty channel 31.

It is true that the mast height of the 265 is the same as the 245 and so the bigger model will struggle in the light stuff compared to the 245. On the other hand it feels a lot bigger inside. If you need the volume, go for the 265 and try to fit a Genoa (even a 100% or 110% will be better than the self tacking jib in light airs). You may also want the "scooper" - an asymetric spinnaker - but you will probably use this a lot less than the Genoa. If you want to sail faster, I would firstly fit a feathering or folding prop (sounds funny on a twin keel boat but trust me it's a worthwhile investment) then opt for a genoa and lastly opt for the cruising chute.
 
Thanks all , that is very helpful and it seems the 245 has no real disadvantages compared to the 265.

All your comments esp as to reefing much appreciated - jakeroyd I will send you a PM.

Cheers

John
 
Matt1 - your comments crossed with my reply , again many thanks. I have a cruising chute that should fit .

I have been on a 245 but not the 265 so will go and see .

Cheers

John
 
With the small hunters, two things that make the biggest difference in how they handle and perform is the rig tension and the mainsail.

Ensure the rig is tensioned up correctly by a gauge or have it done by a rigger ( actually not a big difference in price of either and is quite simple to do) - if it's at all slack the boat will be all over the place and won't point.

The main is the power house! careful trimming of this will reap big benefits in performance.

I think they are great little boats and I have done over 2500 miles in mine in just a few years bobbing about in the Solvent. They are still very manageable and balanced in a force 7.
 
Tross , thanks also for your advice , very helpful. I hopefully will get one this month .

As to the tensioning , if I buy a gauge , what is the number I need to tension to for both sets of shrouds ?

Many thanks

John
 
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