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Review of the Hunter 260 by George Kobernus

Year built 2003  
Location of boat Traverse City Michigan  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2003  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, have not regretted decision.  
Gear that's been added Yes, the usual;, depth finder, VHF, shore power, extra battery and lots of other minor improvements. Got most of these ideas from other H260 owners who frequent hunterowners.com. The best improvement was adding a remote throttle so I don't have my head in the motor well when docking. Go to my web page for all the details: http://pws.chartermi.net/~gkobernus/H260_Web/default.html Autopilot is next. gkobernus[addatsignehere]chartermi.net  
Structural or complex improvements NO  
The boat's best features Compared to other trailerables, it's the most roomy. Very easy to handle and trailer. Launching and retreiving is no more problem than my old 19' skiboat. Once trimmed properly it sails hands off for long periods. Everybody is amazed that I can rig this boat alone. It's not fun, but ease of raising and lowering the mast a key positive feature in my mind. Once you get a checklist and routine established, it's no sweat. B & R rig is a plus. Lack of backstay and traveler are two more things I don't have to worry about. Racers might consider this a negative, but there is no problem trimming this boat.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The hand pumps in the galley and head are crap. replaced them and eliminated the fragile/leaking water lines with flexible hose. Works great now. Hunter needs to rethink this. I'd like to have more handholds when going forward. I'm thinking about this and may add a couple of teak rails. Hunter could add this at time of Mfgr but it's a little hard to do later. Everybody complains about the rudder design, but I don't find this a problem. Was a little hard to get used to, but this rudder gets a lot of stress and it's not surprising that failures have been experienced. It's just something you have to pay attention to.  
Sailing characterisitcs As others have noted, in strong winds/puffs it rounds up very easily unless you are really paying attention. When I reef early all is well. On the other hand, the fact that it rounds up so easily can be considered a good safety design feature. Almost too well balanced. Sails easily hands off and wheel brake locked. Every now and then I experience some lee helm. Would like to have more weather trim and trying to tweak this by adjusting rudder setting.  
Motoring characterisitcs My Evinrude 9.9 pushes it at hull speed with no problem. Docking is easy with remote throttle.  
Liveability Have spent only a few nights on it, but plenty of room. For a boat of this size there is lots of room. People are amazed. Moving the boom off to the side opens up the cockpit. Raising the table to the ceiling opens up the cabin. What else would you want?  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Excellent, very responsive to the most minor issue.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any No problem with dealer. He is four hours away so can't really help much. Was very responsive when I needed something.  
Other comments Exactly what I expected. I compared the C250 and the M26 and it was no contest.  

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