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Simplicity. The Hunter's clean, unadorned deck keeps hardware to a minimum. Grabrails and adjustable sheet leads are absent from the sidedeck (right). |
With its fractional rig, streamlined deck design, and clean lines, the Hunter 23 presents a sporty, contemporary appearance in keeping with its successful larger cousins in the Hunter line.
Below decks, reduced headroom (4 feet 7 inches) shows the price paid for the 23’s sleek looks. But, after all, a small cruiser’s crew seldom needs to stand erect when below. There is unlimited headroom in the companionway because the hatchcover slides well forward and tips up to the boom.
In the 23’s cabin, there is plenty of sprawling space owing to a small hinged table and a sink-galley unit that slides away under the starboard quarterberth. The settees and berths are quite comfortable. Take off the cushioned backrests and you can create a king-sized double berth in the main cabin. Or you can sleep comfortably in the 7-foot vee-berth forward. The Hunter’s chemical head fits underneath the vee-berth, making it the only one in this fleet that was not enclosed. Two minor complaints: The starboard quarterberth extends too far under the cockpit to be of much comfort for sleeping (but this does allow for extra storage space), and the settees’ backrests should extend slightly farther out into the cabin to permit sitting upright.
Perhaps comparing the Hunter’s interior appointments and joiner work with the other boats in this fleet represents an injustice — the Hunter costs less. At any rate, the 23’s accommodations are simple and the overall level of finish is, understandably, not up to that seen on the other boats.
By the same token, Hunter has long been a leader among sailboat builders in boat packaging. Their standard Cruise Pac for the 23 includes a long list of standard items — everything from anchor to stove, from PFDs to fog horn, from galvanized trailer to outboard — all included as part of the base, sailaway price. There’s no doubt this creative packaging has done a great deal to make sailing safe and affordable for lots of sailors investing in their first boat.
Hunter’s theme of simplicity continues on deck. There is little hardware to trip over. Free-standing cleats have been replaced by steel rods molded into recesses below deck level. These work well back on the quarters and almost certainly won’t snag sheets or crewmembers’ toes, but we would like to see conventional cleats up forward. The recessed rods won’t accept rope of sufficient diameter for use as mooring lines. As a result, some owners have had to rig unsightly lines through the bow eye for anchoring or mooring.
Moving around on the Hunter’s deck proved reasonably easy — though the shrouds were somewhat in the way. The molded-in nonskid was nice to the touch, but it seemed to provide insufficient traction when wet.
The 23 carries its outboard motor on a custom-made fiberglass bracket. Advantages: Noise, odor, and vibration are isolated from cockpit. Disadvantages: Boat appearance is compromised and the motor is more difficult to reach — and more easily dunked — than a transom mount.
Under sail, the Hunter felt somewhat similar to the Schock. Though it wasn’t as fast as the West Coast boat, the Florida built Hunter showed good manners and was easily handled. Equipped with its builder’s own version of a winged keel, the Hunter drew the least water in the fleet (2 feet 3 inches). Rather than the full wings of the Hydrokeel, Hunter uses winglets on the after sections of the keel where they can eliminate much of the vortex drag from water flowing down and around the keel’s trailing edges.
Although it can’t match the Beneteau’s quickness, the Jeanneau’s accommodations, or the Schock’s speed, the Hunter offers a well-equipped sailing package that should entice many first-time sailors with its broad spectrum of sailing ability at reasonable cost.
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Convertibility. When the table is folded backs drop in between the settee berths to up and the galley unit slid away, the seat make a large double berth (right). |
