Hunter 18.5 | |
Designer: | Hunter Design Team |
Location: | United States |
Year: | 1987 |
Builder: | Hunter Marine |
Draft: | 2feet |
Displacement: | 16000NaN0 |
Hull Type: | Monohull |
Construction: | Fiberglass |
Loa: | 18.42feet |
Lwl: | 15.5feet |
Beam: | 7.08feet |
Engine: | Outboard motor |
Keel Type: | wing keel |
Ballast: | 5200NaN0 |
Rudder Type: | transom-mounted rudder |
Rig Type: | Bermuda rig |
I: | 21.42feet |
J: | 6.46feet |
P: | 21feet |
E: | 7.92feet |
Sailplan: | Fractional rigged sloop |
Sailarea Main: | 83.16square feet |
Sailarea Headsail: | 69.19square feet |
Sailarea Total: | 152.35square feet |
Phrf: | 288 (average) |
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]
The design was built by Hunter Marine in the United States between 1987 and 1993, but it is now out of production.[1] [5]
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 16000NaN0 and carries 5200NaN0 of ballast.[1] [3]
The boat has a draft of 2feet 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 3to 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 480NaN0.[1] [4]
The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 288. It has a hull speed of 5.282NaN2.[6]
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]
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