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Review of the Hunter 25.5 by Brad Odland

Year built 1984  
Location of boat Milwaukee, WI - Lake Michigan  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 16-22 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2000  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes. See early season review for details.  
Gear that's been added See early season review.  
Structural or complex improvements Post season work. Will be stepping mast, adding a mast top light, new windex and removing old wind instruments also fixing steaming light.  
The boat's best features See earlier review.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. See earlier review.  
Sailing characterisitcs After a full season of sailing I have grown very fond of the 25.5. Once I put the W. Lee (Port Washington, WI) Sail 150 genoa I have not used the working jib. My wife, 11 year old daughter, two cats and I sailed from Milwaukee to Chicago on a two week cruise. We encountered a huge variety of conditions and sailing points. From downwind runs with the cruising spinnaker up in 6-10 knot winds to beating to beating into 25 gusting to 30 knot winds with a stub of headsail. We sailed over 80% of the time only motoring on two occasions when there was no wind and when the wind was gusting to near gale force and we motored. We had two occasions of being rather large waves. Leaving Chicago, Burham harbor the 4-6 foot waves were reflecting off the seawall and created a nasty jumble of waves. We motored out with the main sail up for a mile due east then set the headsail, the relections subsided and we were in 4-5 footers from the SE with 15-20 knot wind from the NW. We had a glorious 6-7 hour windward passage. The next occasion was leaving Waukegon we encountered similar situation. We layed up in Waukegon for two days to repair a delaminated tiller handle. I had purchased a new one during the winter. All in all we spent 27 days overnight on the boat this past season. THis boat can handle a lot actually. Just make sure you balance the sails and don't overpower. Reef early, I reef the main over 15 knots. Furl often.  
Motoring characterisitcs Motoring is easy with the 9.9. Even in near gale force winds the 9.9 was able to get us safely along. We used a total of 10 gallons of fuel the entire summer. This included trips to Port Washington (26 miles one way) and a two week cruise form Milwaukee to Chicago and back. Would like to get a 4 stoke honda....  
Liveability 27 nights spent on the boat with 14 consecutive days we were a bit "close" with two cats, kid and two adults but after the first couple days we had a great time.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) nope.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any see other review.  
Other comments none.  

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