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Review of the Hunter 23 by Bill Leathen

Year built 1988  
Location of boat Lake Onalaska  
The boat is sailed on Lakes  
How the boat is used Racing  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard?  
Owner bought the boat in 1995  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Definitly yes. Best boat purchase I have ever done. It kept my 16 yr old son intersted in sailing, We started racing for the first time. Boat can be sailed hard if you work at it, or easy if you want to be lazy. A lot of sail gear has been added to make it ready to race.  
Gear that's been added Twin track roller furling. Running rigging for 150 Genny, Spinaker set gear. Adjustable back stay. Main sheet travler, Adjustable motor mount, swing up tiller, compass, vhf mast head antenna, windex, depth sounder, knot meter, additional halyard for spinnaker, New main, 130 and 150 genny, small and huge spinaker, added 12v outlet socket, redid hunters poor ground connection in the electrical box.  
Structural or complex improvements Reinforced plexiglass hatch cover, adjustable back stay,  
The boat's best features Fun to sail, Challanging and good race boat. Can usually beat Hunter 23.5 outright. Precison 23 even, Whoever makes the least mistakes, wins. Points well . Down wind speed still somewhat of a mystery to me. Seems to be dependent on crew positioning and having weight distributed more forward.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Stepping mast is harder on the Hunter 23 than it is to step the mast on a O'Day 25. Hunter should learn a little from the O'Day people on mast steps. Mast cradel when towing seems excessivly long. My last boat weighed only 1000 pounds, but the Hunter feels lile a very heavy tow. I think very small changes in boat position on the trailer, makes a big difference in how it tows.  
Sailing characterisitcs Stable. Can take a hard blow. Ive been over canfaxsed several times and still maintained control. Heel becomes a lot when ;you have a 150 genny at 15 , but still predictable and controlable. Tiller pressure is a lot in these conditions. But if you hang on to the tiller, you can keep it from rounding up. Can put it over real hard, but it doesn't get spooky and unpredictable.Boat seems to excell in light winds. For me, with large sail choice the boat is very competitve in light wind.(2-4)  
Motoring characterisitcs Nissan 5 hp seems noisy to me. Must keep track of both tiller and motor position to keep the tiller from contact with the prop.  
Liveability Difficult because the boat is full of racing sails. Take some spare sails off and can sleep overnite. My son overnigted with 4 other friends but I dont think anyone slept. I have spent a few nites on it alone. For overnigters, I think 2 is the max unless there are small kids.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Have had no dealings with Hunter.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Bought the boat from a private individual.,  
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