The Hunter 18.5 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team as a cruising sailboat and first built in 1987.[1][2][3][4]

Production

The design was built by Hunter Marine in the United States between 1987 and 1993, but it is now out of production.[1][5]

Design

The Hunter 18.5 is a small recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig with a fully battened mainsail, a raked stem, a reverse transom, a transom-hung kick-up rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed wing keel. It displaces 1,600 lb (726 kg) and carries 520 lb (236 kg) of ballast.[1][3]

The boat has a draft of 2.00 ft (0.61 m) with the standard shoal-draft wing keel, allowing ground transportation on the factory standard trailer.[1][3]

The boat is optionally fitted with a small 3 to 6 hp (2 to 4 kW) outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. Other factory optional equipment included a portable head, galley alcohol stove, water pump tap, cooler and anchor.[1][3]

The design has sleeping accommodation for three people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin and a straight settee in the main cabin on the port side. Cabin headroom is 48 in (122 cm).[1][4]

The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 288. It has a hull speed of 5.28 kn (9.78 km/h).[6]

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "in the late 1980s, Hunter Marine expanded their cruising, boat line into smaller sizes. They also redesigned the line with a more 'modern' look. The Hunter 18.5 was one of the first of Hunter's minicruisers to be introduced. Unique features include a very shallow (two-foot draft) keel with both a bulb and 'winglets.' Best features: Headroom of four feet is exceptional for a boat of this size ... Ballast is also highest for the group ... Worst features: The keel is too shallow, and has too small a lateral area, to expect even so-so upwind sailing performance, with or without the winglets (which we suspect are too small to serve any real purpose). The full-length battens make it difficult to 'read' the trim of the mainsail, The flip-up rudder, being deeper than the keel, is thus unprotected and therefore subject to damage or loss if a sudden shoal water situation is encountered and the flip-up mechanism isn't ready for it."[4]

See also

Similar sailboats

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Browning, Randy (2018). "Hunter 18.5 sailboat specifications and details". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  2. ^ Browning, Randy (2018). "Hunter Marine". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Hunter Marine (1987). "Introducing the Hunter 18.5" (PDF). www.marlow-hunter.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Henkel, Steve: The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats, page 37. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. ISBN 978-0-07-163652-0
  5. ^ Hunter Marine. "Previous models". www.marlow-hunter.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. ^ InterVisionSoft LLC (2018). "Sailboat Specifications for Hunter 18.5". Sailing Joy. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_18.5
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