Bluewater cruiser

Here is a new cruising boat from the design group at Hunter. The design is very much in keeping with the current Hunter range. I went aboard a new Hunter at the Seattle boat show and I was very impressed with the level of fit and finish to the interior.

This is a beamy hull with an L/B of 2.9. Any time this ratio gets under 3 you are dealing with a very beamy boat. Beam buys you accommodations, stability and room on deck. But if you look at almost any handicap rule, beam per se is always on the slow side of the equation along with displacement. Cruisers have to decide just how much they want to pay in accommodations for performance. It's a personal sailing style consideration and there is no formula to determine the right balance of features for everyone. A company like Hunter works very hard at identifying a client profile and tailoring its design specifically to that profile.

The D/L is 178 and I would consider this on the light side for a cruiser but there's nothing wrong with that. Lighter displacement has nothing to do with a boats ability to sail well when loaded with gear. This boat probably has a pounds-per-inch immersion of about 1,500 pounds. This would be probably the same if the boat weighed an extra 8,000 pounds. Although the displacement may change, the actual footprint or water-plane area would remain similar. You can get a shoal-draft keel drawing 5 feet or the deeper keel drawing 6 feet, 6 inches.

The interior is designed for two couples to cruise in comfort. While the profile and deck plan of the boat show an aft cockpit design, the interior layout shows more of a center cockpit type configuration. To my eye this means that there are going to be some headroom compromises in the aft cabin. The galley is wonderful with lots of uncluttered counter space. The reefer and freezer are both front loading. The forward head has the basin outside the head area and many clients of mine prefer this. The starboard settee looks too short to be another berth.

Hunter continues its adherence to the Bergstrom rig. The mast is deck stepped, but the lower panel, without benefit of belowdecks "bury," is reinforced and stiffened by two stainless struts. Deck-stepped masts have advantages, I have one on my own boat. A keel-stepped mast can be a big funnel to deliver rainwater down to the bilge, and in Seattle this is a serious issue.

The triangulated geometry of this rig provides for a rigid spar that needs no forward lowers. The disadvantage is that off the wind you can quickly impale the mainsail on the spreaders. The SA/D is 16, but this does not include the generous mainsail roach shown on the drawings. In this case area added by the roach would be significant. Note the mainsheet is led to a traveler on a stainless arch that bridges the cockpit.

The styling of this Hunter is strong. The variety of windows and port shapes has a big effect on the overall look of the boat, as does the prominent hull-to-deck joint feature. It's a unique look that obviously continues to find favors with Hunter's clientele.