Is a Hurley 22 a classic?

[JREdginton]

Ok, like it says on the tin.

Is a Hurley 22 a classic. I know it's made of plastic, designed in the sixties, but... She looks right, sails well and has not compromised lines for headroom or a jacuzzi /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[graham]

Ours carried us thousands of coastal miles sometimes in weather that a 22 footer shouldnt be out in. I believe they are a classic design ,as you say no compromise was made to cram in extra accomodation or headroom.We also had a 24 Hurley still a good seaworthy boat but not as much fun as the 22.

 

[machurley22]

No-one will be surprised to learn how I voted but you are slightly wrong about compromises Graham. Certainly none were made externally but according to Ian Anderson his original design featured a structural bulkhead under the mast and this was moved aft under commercial pressure to to be able to describe her as having four berths.

Good excuse for an old pic?

 

[JREdginton]

Didn't know about the bulkhead move, ah! illusions all shattered now, there was a headroom compromise, even if it was horizontal /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Have to go and cry in my beer /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

She also got a skeg too, care of the Navy I think! and later on from somewhere a very stylish? scimitar rudder blade. I hear tell no one knows where it came from?

 

[machurley22]

There are at least four different rudder designs. At this remove it is probably impossible to tell how many were as originally manufactured but certainly three are sufficiently numerous to be reasonably sure that they left the yard like that. Silkie has the partial skeg and scimitar and is a 1972 boat from Hurley Marine so I don't know how Oscar Vermeulen (I think it was him originally) could have got the idea that this design is some kind of aberration, apart from the fact that he's probably a Dutchman's uncle.

You're a braver man than I to suggest on here that a plastic boat might be considered a classic.

 

[JREdginton]

[ QUOTE ]
You're a braver man than I to suggest on here that a plastic boat might be considered a classic

[/ QUOTE ]

Naw, not really. Few would argue about Twister, Mariholm and the like, and those who would, well /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif To be fair these designs are older, though the Twister not by much, but I would maintain it is the spirit of the boat.

I mean to say, many a new 'classic' is being built in strip cedar and epoxy/kevlar sheathing and being accepted, hardly classic, more space age than straight GRP.

 

[graham]

I would say its the timeless appeal of the design that defines a classic. The material its built from is not the deciding factor.

A grp folkboat /twister/contessa etcetc under sail is equally as beautifull in my eye as an identical wooden one.

my old hurley 22 in Porlock Weir .The "Classic" pilot cutter moored in the same pool is the "Breeze" last time I saw her she was ashore sadly in need of a major refit. The Hurley is still going strong with new owners.

I m sneaking in a pic of our current "classic " .An Anderson 22 designed by Oliver Lee.

 

[Cloona]

yes -
the working definition is -
a seaworthy yacht that is old enough to be avaible at an affordable price and is sailed further and more often than
its newly manufactured equivalent -

the word classic refers to owners smile

 

[JREdginton]

[ QUOTE ]
a seaworthy yacht that is old enough to be avaible at an affordable price and is sailed further and more often than
its newly manufactured equivalent [ QUOTE ]


Nice definition /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Not going to be too many mass produce 'classics' in years to come then judging by many of todays production offerings /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[stephenh]

Look on the Hurley site for an article by John Simpson.

He sailed the Atlantic solo three times in a 22, once leaving Falmouth in October.
On being asked 'Why three times?' he replied

'I didn't get it quite right the first two '

!!!

 

[PeteCooper]

[ QUOTE ]
yes -
the working definition is -
a seaworthy yacht that is old enough to be avaible at an affordable price and is sailed further and more often than
its newly manufactured equivalent -



[/ QUOTE ]Why should the distance and number of times sailed have any relevance to classic status? I don't think that material or age are relevant either. If something is built today but serves it's purpose particularly well and is aesthetically pleasing it is a classic. In yacht terms there are several parameters against which fitness for purpose can be judged. Performance, accomodation, seaworthiness etc. It also depends on the use for which the yacht was intended. If a yacht was designed to win races and did particularly well it would probably not be classed as a classic by a cruising sailor but in overall terms could be classic. A racing boat might not cover large distances but could still be a classsic. There are 'modern' classics of all shapes and sizes, and there will continue to be modern classics.

 

[JREdginton]

Not bad, 41 to 14 in favour of a 'classic'.

Whats beat me was the outburst in another thread about the 'concensus of opinion' and the reluctance to state what the deifiniton was.

Well, for my part, 75% is something of a concensus.

 

[machurley22]

Alternatively, me and 40 other Hurley 22 owners read the thread. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JREdginton]

[ QUOTE ]
Alternatively, me and 40 other Hurley 22 owners read the thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh no, don't say that! I was getting all excited that others aside from owners may think it's a classic. I don't own one, but I still think it qualifies /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif but then again, I'm not renowned for good taste /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif