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Review of the Hunter 25_73-83 by Chuck Sparks

Year built 1981  
Location of boat Chicago  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength 16-22 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 1989  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, original owner taught me to sail on a 470 and that's fast and tissue-paper thin; on this H25, nothing breaks when you need to get home in 25-38 knots and 8-16 foot waves. One problem is beyond 90 degrees of heel, the starbd locker fell open and only then did we need to use the bilge pump. We fixed that with a lockable hasp. I wish she were 70 ft long and had an inboard when the wind goes below 5 and we still have 3 ft chop, but it's cool to spin her on the keel with the outboard. Move bodies aft and keep that longshaft in the water. Then the cockpit is crowded, but that's because there is so much downstairs compared to other 25's. 4 of us sailed 37 hrs, got off, after showers we wanted to go out again.  
Gear that's been added Yes:150%,storm jib, spinnaker gear, vang, cunningham, 2:1 main outhaul, vhf, loran,gps, autopilot, lines to cockpit, 3:1 traveler,masthead light,cooler foam,foot waterpump, outboard battery charger option, 70 lb gel-cell battery, 12V outlet, 2nd anchor, pinned bottom of steps to floor, added handholds  
Structural or complex improvements blister repairs(pre-1989),nylon bottom rudder bearing, removed stbd berth board for rear access (there's a ton of room down there!), battery moved under port berth locker, cooler drain, shortened tiller (-4" still too long.  
The boat's best features low cost for capabilities, ruggedness, actually sleeps 5(you WILL know each other well),eats 4, private head and V-berth, do-it-yourself maintenance, singlehand-able, lots of lockers and ports.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. blisters, smallish cockpit, motor difficult to lift (the mount needs another big spring), front hatch replaced, hand water pump hard to use, uninsulated no-drain cooler, stove scary to use in any waves, stbd locker falls open when heeling over 90deg, dumb battery location. Navigation light sockets are fussy. Only aft and V berth usable on both tacks. replaced porta-potty, water bag. Bug screens good at keeping bugs in. replaced '81 Johnson 7.5 with 2000 model 8 hp, later discovered it was not spun rod bearing but trashed lower end gears making noise. No headlights. Someone is always sitting on the locker you want to get into. Fog is scary when big ferry ship announces its presence w/o L/L's.  
Sailing characterisitcs easy to get high weather helm,then rudder stalls if tiller end is over seats. Dump main, reef sails, fall off, or, get 7 people on rail, put on 150 and embarrass bigger boats. V-berth use not recommended with waves over 5 ft for air time and rudder reasons (Thai food also not recommended). Weight distribution makes big difference. Have trouble pointing, is it me or ancient sails? Even the 110 only can round her up,if strong enuf breeze.  
Motoring characterisitcs Need weight aft to keep prop down in chop, typical with outboards. She went a hair faster and used less gas with the old Johnson 7.5 than new 8, maybe prop not well matched? reverse has much less acceleration for new and old. 6.3 kt was 6.5, 8 mpg was 9, New motor is much quieter. Old motor needed one fuel pump diaphragm, 1 waterpump suction pipe seal ring, a couple throttle linkage pieces 2 sparkplugs, and a handle in 19 years, failed to start twice in 19 years. So I bought another Johnson.  
Liveability One 6th sleeper got stepped on a LOT in bad weather, had 7 successfully one weekend but that was with no rain using cockpit;most trips were 2-4 day weekends, except for one magical Door County 9-day with 4 people. Made me want to go farther next time. 3 average length and 1 shorter person for starboard berth was a good limit, the V-berth is very good if you're alone, if not you gotta be friends. Head-to-head berths worked fine, but we are 5-9 and 5-10. On a boat this small you hear every snore etc. but can retain some dignity with the 2 private compartments for V and head. Headroom was almost enough. Only used burners in harbor or flat water, usually had one extra cooler for trips. Must insulate the cooler.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Never had to.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Bought from original owner after he got on as Pied Piper (Santa Cruz 70 Mac winner)crew. Crowley's recommendations for blisters have worked.  
Other comments We could keep up other same rated boats (PHRF 225)and a few bigger ones until they bought new sails (or just got better), but 225 is the slow end of Chicago racing crowd. So you have the widest selection of bigger boats to embarrass. Once came in first on a long distance race in light air. "Where's the rest of your crew?" "Uh, we're it." Keeping a crew of 5 or more gets harder if your friends get an actual life, house, kids, that sort of thing, but we could race with 2-4 depending on wind. With lotsa wind and lotsa bodies as ballast we were able to get in the way of a much better class of boats. Cruising involves much less yelling, at least away from the docks.  

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