Test The Hunter 49 shorthanded cruiser/passagemaker promises Hunter 49 true value-for-money and an unbeatable warranty, writes ALLAN WHITING

PHOTOS: Allan Whiting; US Yachts merican sailing marque Hunter has price — with homelike features as part of always combined ease-of-sail handling the attraction. Awith build quality. But now this ideal Our evaluation boat is the proud possession cruising combination is available at bargain of Tania and Alan Pascoe, who were in the prices thanks to a strong exchange rate. throes of preparing it for an around-the- Jumping aboard the boat, we had a short world cruise. They took time off their busy play in the flagship 49-footer to see how schedules to show us around their home-on- much bang you get for your Aussie dollar. the-water and let us crew during the recent The 49 replaced the 46 in 2007, but 19-boat-strong Hunter Regatta held on somehow we missed out evaluating it Sydney Harbour. back then. But the recent climb of the Despite being fitted with pure cruising Aussie dollar has seen some refocussing on sails and loaded for passagemaking, plus the American craft and the Hunter 49 was an weight of six regatta drop-ins, Screensaver obvious boat to evaluate as our dollar soars managed a creditable fourth over the line in towards parity with the greenback. the Harbour race. Not bad for an around- the-world home. WHAT’S WITH 49? If the Hunter flagship had been designed HUNTER DIFFERENCE by a European boat manufacturer you’d Thanks to a trademark rubbing rail that imagine it would have been called a 50. But covers the flanged deck-hull join, Hunter in the USA, the number 49 probably has yachts are easy to pick. Closer inspection more appeal than plain old 50. shows another difference: a rig that has a Historically, those who joined the 1849 slender mast section and no backstay. California Gold Rush were known as 49ers The B&R rig was developed in the 1960s by and since 1946, the name has been carried Lars Bergstrom and Sven Ridder for use on by San Francisco’s gridiron football team. shorthanded, around-the-world yachts. This Also, the famous single-spinner Ford cars rig design has swept-back spreaders, with the were introduced in 1949. shrouds and forestay disposed at 120-degree With this 49 yacht, Hunter has managed to intervals, triangulating the mast support. cram an awful lot of kit into a boat that sells Hunter adopted the B&R rig in 1993. for less than the Australian median house The sturdy B&R rig requires a wide

Left: Hunter 49 test boat was set-up by the owners for an impending around-the-world cruise. But even on ho-hum Sydney harbour, our yachting man, Allan Whiting (pictured), was impressed by her space and ease of handling. the ers

49 tradeaboat.com.au 79 Clockwise from opposite: Underway, handrails help you traverse the companionway steps while an island bench aids support at the L-shaped galley; Easily sailed Hunter 49 is perfectly suited to couple’s cruising and shorthanded passagemaking; Owner’s shroud base, so Hunter yachts have that is used in surface materials in stainless steel frames, with integral forepeak cabin; Plenty of opening hatches dot the traditional, hull-exterior chainplates hospitals and food-processing plants. threaded rods. 49’s clean foredeck. and long spreaders. The wide The outer hull skin is Ashland AME- Our evaluation boat was fitted with sheeting base is a plus at all points of 5000 modified epoxy, for maximum the deep-draft keel, in the interests sail other than close-hauled with an osmosis resistance. of maximum righting-moment with a overlapping headsail, but that’s no The chainplates are attached to the ballast weight saving — the shallow real issue in the case of boats that are outside of the hull by massive bolts keel tips the scales at 5690kg, while designed primarily for cruising. The and a belt of reinforcement runs the deep one is 600kg lighter. 49 comes with a modest-overlap around the hull, from chainplate to Hunter’s production system is based and can be ordered with an optional chainplate. Deck walking areas are on modular assembly. While galleys, self-tacking headsail. plywood sandwich laminate, and cupboards, drawer units and settees Construction is state-of-the-art, Coremat reinforced FRP is used for are being prepared in a cabinet shop, with Hunter hulls and decks built vertical surfaces, with aluminium the interior FRP moulding is fitted in a production-line process, using a plates embedded in the laminate at with hoses, wiring conduits and combination of solid FRP and Baltek deck hardware attachments. tanks. The interior moulding is then “With the 49, Hunter has managed to cram an awful lot of kit into a boat that sells for less than the Australian median house price”

and plywood sandwich materials. The Hunter has adopted solid stainless placed temporarily in a ‘dummy hull below the waterline is monolithic steel bar stocks, in concert with hull’ that has access holes in its sides. FRP and above the waterline it’s end- an isolation transformer to address Around 75 per cent of the interior grain balsa sandwich. The forward any corrosion issues. Steering is by rod fitout is done inside the dummy hull, section of the hull, from the keel draglink from twin wheel stations. with much less difficulty than doing sump to the , is reinforced with Hunter has been fitting winged keel the job inside a sealed hull. a Kevlar layer to strengthen the hull profiles since 1988, to concentrate The part-finished interior assembly against an object strike. weight as deeply as possible, without is then removed from the dummy hull The deck gelcoat is Maxguard that draft that’s excessive for cruising and lowered into the hull moulding, is said to be more flexible than most boats. The 49 can be ordered with with the bond between the interior finishes and also highly UV-resistant. shoal draft, 1.68m keel or a 2.13m moulding and hull formed by Plexus The interior gelcoat is MicroBan, deep-draft keel. Both keels are high- adhesive that ‘melts’ the resin faces of incorporating an anti-bacterial agent antimony lead bulbs, cast around both components. After curing, the join

80 tradeaboat.com.au is said to be as strong as the original laminates and up to six times stronger HIGHS than traditional FRP taped joins. • Equipment levels Final assembly of the interior • Value for money “Hunter must be confident of its includes engine installation. The deck • Ease of handling build quality and the reliability of its moulding is kitted out separately and • Warranty arrives in almost finished condition inclusions, because the warranty is an for bonding and screwing to the hull. LOWS Hunter must be confident of its • Close-hauled performance unbeatable five years — stem to stern” build quality and the reliability of its inclusions, because the warranty is an unbeatable five years — stem to stern. The cabin floor is bright-finished in teak-and-holly pattern, which despite A HOME AT SEA its high-gloss offers quite good grip. Most 49s are fitted out as owner’s The L-shaped galley is fronted by versions, with the master cabin an island bench that offers optional for’ard and two aft doubles, while second fridge and freezer space, while a charter variant has twin for’ard providing ideal ‘bottom support’ for cabins. Our test boat was the former the cook in a seaway. A brilliant galley model and the master cabin layout touch is a crockery cupboard with was very impressive. The bed is drying rack. Plates can be stacked set against the collision bulkhead and wet from the rinse water and left to the island mattress broadens halfway drip dry, with the evaporation aided along its length and then tapers by a warming light bulb inside the slightly towards the foot. The head is cupboard. Hunter won’t confirm that to starboard and a separate shower the inspiration came from a lazy male! cabin is to port. Opposite the galley is a practical The saloon would do a small city carbon fibre-look, lift-up nav table Opposite: Minus a backstay, the flagship apartment proud, with ample dinette with an adjustable captain’s chair. Hunter 49 utilises a Bergstrom & Ridder table seating for six to eight and a The nav station has ample wall space (B&R) rig for shorthanded, round- separate lounge opposite. We love the for optional instrument displays. the-world yachts. Above: Dedicated movable dinette bench seat that slides Aft of the nav station is a large shower compartment is opposite the out from under the table, exposing head and shower cubicle with a day- starboardside head. Below: Features storage space below. A drop-in floor use door and a second door into the of the apartment-like saloon include a panel means the seat can be left in portside aft cabin. The double bed movable dinette bench seat and a brilliant either position. is large enough for fore and aft or crockery cupboard with drying rack.

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PRICE AS TESTED $660,000

OPTIONS FITTED Additional top-loading fridge and freezer; solid boom vang; antifouling paint and barrier coat; bimini frame and cover; CD stereo system in cockpit; spray dodger; electric halyard winch upgrade; engine upgrade Practical nav station includes an (100hp); Fischer Panda 12kW adjustable captain’s chair. generator; icemaker, leather cushions; Oceanaire shade and hatch package, quiet- flush heads; Raymarine 7001+ athwartships sleeping and three opening make their choice, depending on the autopilot, E80 display with RS125 and 2kW radar, and ST60 ports ensure good air flow. role they choose for their boat. Tridata repeater at port helm; The starboard aft cabin is smaller, Screensaver’s mildly overlapping, 110 washer/dryer; and watermaker has a dedicated cupboard for a washer/ per cent headsail tacked easily, with final (30lt). dryer and can be optioned as an office. tensioning done by powered sheet winches. Hunter has sacrificed some The 49’s traveller mounts PRICED FROM Local agents US Yachts held its annual jockeying that saloon floor space by adopting a atop Hunter’s patented TravelerArch $550,000 Hunter owners’ regatta on Sydney Harbour would not have companionway with a shallow angle that consists of paired, heavy-wall on a Saturday afternoon with a 15-knot looked out of place that is very easily negotiated in rough stainless steel tubes that form a targa GENERAL nor’easterly breeze that drew out what in any IRC fleet. weather. The plus for this design is a top over the cockpit and double Material: ...... FRP monolithic seemed to be every seaworthy craft available. Nineteen Hunters headed wet hanging area below the stairway as locators for the various bimini and balsa sandwich hull, and With packed ferries and motorboats dialled off on starboard tack across the foredeck crew holding out jib clews for that that’s ideal for foulies. Engine access is options. The traveller car operates plywood sandwich deck into the mix, the Hunter crews had to be on harbour and then put in several digs to lay extra bit of sail area. via a lift-up stair and side panels in the via lines leading down the arch tubes Type: ...... Monohull their toes. Fortunately, the regatta was held the large mooring buoy off Athol Bight. From Then followed an impromptu race back aft cabins. to camcleats. The endless mainsheet Length overall: ...... 15.21m without incident. there it was a continued work across the race to US Yachts’ base at the National Maritime The combination of opening and fixed can be worked from the helmsman’s Hull length: ...... 14.61m Waterline length: ...... 13.36m Just because people buy Hunter boats fleets and ferry tracks to round Clark, then Museum moorings in Darling Harbour, ports and skylights keeps the 49’s interior position, using the port jib sheet winch, Beam: ...... 4.47m for their renowned cruising abilities doesn’t Shark Islands, before a run back to the finish followed by drinks, mini hamburgers and fish light and airy, but blackout blinds make or from the powered halyard winch, Draft: .... 2.13m (1.68m optional) mean that these buyers have lost their line in Farm Cove. and chips at the adjacent Yots Cafe & Bar. The it easy to dim proceedings when required. behind the spray dodger. Weight: ...... 14,884kg competitive streak. The Farm Cove start-line The Hunter fleet made a fair fist of the tales got taller and the passages faster as the Insect screens are a handy inclusion for The sweptback spreaders didn’t cause saw pre-gun windward legs, pointing off a few evening wore on. All good fun. use at inshore anchorages. as much restriction to square-running as CAPACITIES degrees in comparison with the hotshots Ample lift-up floor panels are we expected. Another surprise was the Berths: ...... Three doubles in other racer fleets, but made good provided for access to through-hulls, ease of goosewinging the headsail. The (four-cabin layout optional) speed in the moderate breeze. The This photo: Globe-trotting Hunter plumbing and wiring. Alan Pascoe sail dimensions and the wide sheeting Fuel: ...... 568lt (840lt optional) boats with larger, battened mains did owners don’t mind a joust between has experience of bilge water sloshing base made the jib self-setting for square Water: ...... 757lt noticeably better than mast-furling themselves at the annual Hunter around in canoe-bottomed yachts that running, and only racing enthusiasm Holding tank: ...... 197lt craft, but water traffic played as large a Regatta on Sydney Harbour. Below, lack a bilge depression and was pleased sent crew members to the foredeck to Water heater: ...... 42lt part as boat performance through the left to right: Hunter owners get to see the large keel sump in the 49. hold out the headsail clew. Hunter fleet. together post regatta at Darling The Hunter mainsheet design and ENGINE Make: ...... Yanmar diesel The square run saw most boats Harbour’s Yots Cafe & Bar; Foredeck UNDER SAIL a pair of rope bins behind the spray Type: ...... Shaft drive goosewing their headsails and the crew assist with winging the ; Our Hunter 49 evaluation coincided dodger eliminate sheets and halyards Australia’s exclusive Hunter yachts Rated HP: ...... 75 keenest had with the annual Hunter Regatta held from the cockpit floor. In conjunction Prop: ...... Fixed three-blade distributor, US Yachts owner and on Sydney Harbour. As touched on, with the optional autopilot, it’s possible CEO Matt Hayes (blue shirt). Screensaver was in ocean-cruising mode for one person to operate the engine, SAILS and carried 10 people for the event, so it make and shorten sail, tack, gybe Sail area: 94.2m² (with mast- was hardly setup for race performance. and steer the boat. And that’s what furling main with vertical Despite that, the 49 showed a handy shorthanded cruisers demand. battens); asymmetric spinnaker turn of speed with the sheets eased a tad. Moving about the Hunter 49, above optional The Pascoes spec’d their boat with and below decks, is a safe operation, in-mast Selden roller furling and while thanks to high-grip deck surfaces and SUPPLIED BY this arrangement offers easy reefing and ample hand-hold rails. US Yachts Pty Ltd, dousing, it’s not a high-performance The Hunter 49 is a superbly- Sydney By Sail Festival Pontoon, option: vertical battens and a straightish equipped, beautifully finished boat Darling Harbour, NSW Phone: (02) 9280 1110 leech don’t provide maximum efficiency. that suits shorthanded cruising and Postal address: P.O. Box Q1195, In contrast, some of the fleet had passagemaking to a tee. It is excellent QVB, Sydney, NSW, 1230 roachy, battened mains that gave much value-for-money and comes with the Website: www.usyachts.com.au more power, but at the expense of more best warranty in the business. Oh, and complicated reefing. Hunter buyers you can sail around the world.

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