On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 08:55:21 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

I've been on several large Hunters in the SF bay with wind speeds over 20
kts. They round up like crazy and don't hold a course well. They were
impossible to trim well.

I chartered a Hunter passage 42 probably a late 90's model. Took it
outside the Sea of Abaco to the open atlantic one day when the wind
was up pretty good. Handled like a dream. Very good balance. I was
impressed I expected much less.

Handled, in my opinion, much better than the later Beneteaus I've
raced on for the last two seasons. A 311 and a 343. I'll admit to not
being on either of them long enough to learn to properly trim to the
weather and they were new to the owner also, but they seemed much less
forgiving.


Every single instructor who teaches on them has
only negative things to say. Also, the heel in the picture isn't that much.
Must not have been a good breeze... no white caps, no spray.

From the picture, I would say "sea" trial was a misnomer. More like a
LIS trial.

Frank

Interestingly, Rob contributed not one item when there was a flurry of ASA
questions. I guess he knows a lot about boats and sailing.