hunter scooper

[tyce]

hi,
i am after a new scooper for my hunter horizon 272, the scooper is hunters name for the cruising chute, but they have quoted 672 pounds which i think for what it is, is a lot of money.
so does any one know if the scooper is different from a cruising chute, if so in what way, and do you know who they are made by so i can cut out the middle man.
thanks in anticipation

 

[wooslehunter]

Quick call to a sailmaker should provide the answer. Try Arun or Crusader. £672 seems a bit steep. BUT make sure you're comparing like with like. Check the cloth.

 

[DJE]

I would just go direct to sailmakers for quotes. I doubt if Hunter know anything that the sailmakers don't. You might have to measure the boat or get the sailmaker to come and take his own measurements but for a popular boat like the Hunter most sailmakers will have the sail plan on file.

 

[dave_gibsea]

I would buy a conventional spinnaker. We have a cruisng chute and it only works well with the wind on the beam or forward of the beam. Running and broad reaching it's hopeless, a proper spinakker will do everything except perhaps a very close reach.

Talk to Rob at Kemp Sails - good quality and service at reasonabe prices

Cheers,

Dave

 

[DJE]

That sounds more like a genoa than a cruising chute. We carry ours with apparent wind angles from 90 degrees to 150 degrees. It must depend on the cut of the sail because we can't carry ours on a close reach but it is fine on a broad reach. Agree you can't sail dead downwind with a cruising chute (unless you goose wing it in very light airs) but it is much simpler to set, gybe, and drop than a conventional spinaker. You just have to learn to gybe it effeciently and then tack downwind. We find that we have to increase the halyard tension as we sail close to the wind and slacken it off as we bear away.

I agree that Kemps are very good.

 

[ditchcrawler]

The Hunter scooper is from Hyde sails & is Hunters name for a cruising chute. You can go direct to Hyde to get one or you can buy one from any sailmaker.The scooper has (allegedly) a Kevlar luff line so you can get the luff really tight.I can fly mine in light airs at about 60degrees with it wound in really tight.I also use a sock which makes handling really easy. .It really improves the speed from a run to a tight reach.I fly mine on a broad reach up to about a f4.
I use a pole to goosewing mine if on a dead run but you really need some form of pole uphaul to keep the pole near to horizontal if you can.
I think it is well worth having particularly for light airs when Hunters with the self tacking jib are a bit under canvassed.

 

[Swagman]

Re: Hunter Scooper

Made pals last year with guys on a Hunter 38? travelling south before the Portuguese trades using only such a 'scooper' and by the time they got to the Algave (usually well behind other similar sized yachts) they were ready to riot.

Lotsa calls to the Hunter preferred sail maker - but apparently no satisfactory answers provided.

I believe were they to have a second chioce they would have binned the supplied sail and gone for either a much larger cruising gennaker / shute or a real cruising spinnaker.

Cheers
JOHN

 

[ditchcrawler]

Re: Hunter Scooper

That Hunter 38 must have been the American Hunter(Legend in UK) because British Hunter (now Select Yachts Group) have never made a 38 ft boat,not according to the Hunter Association website anyway.Hyde sails have for some time been the Hunter supplier.

 

[Lakesailor]

You're in Cumbria so go to the man who can. Steve Goacher in Bowness has made the national series winning sails for Hunter Sonatas for years. He's won the series himself quite a few times.
He must be worth a quote. Goacher Sails