The Hunter 39 (also called the Marlow-Hunter 39) is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by

Glenn Henderson Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement ...

as a cruiser and first built in 2009. The Hunter 39 was designed as the production successor to the Hunter 38.

Production

The design was built by

Hunter Marine Hunter Marine is an American boat builder, now known as Marlow-Hunter, LLC, owned by David E. Marlow. The company also produces the Mainship powerboat brand. Marlow also owns and manufactures the Marlow Yachts brand consisting of long rang ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

between 2009 and 2012, but it is now out of production. Hunter Marine became Marlow-Hunter in 2012, just as production of the Hunter 39 was ending and the design was also marketed under the designation Marlow-Hunter 39.

Design

The Hunter 39 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

B&R rig, a

plumb stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a walk-through

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

with a swimming platform and folding ladder, an internally mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

controlled by dual

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

or optional shoal-draft

wing keel The winged keel is a sailboat keel layout first fitted on the 12-metre class yacht ''Australia II'', 1983 America's Cup winner. Design This layout was adopted by Ben Lexcen, designer of ''Australia II''. Although Ben Lexcen "had tried the winged ...

. The boat has a draft of with the standard deep fin keel and with the optional shoal draft wing keel. The boat is fitted with a Japanese Yanmar

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

of . A engine was a factory option. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . Factory standard equipment included a 110% roller furling

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, steel mainsheet arch, four two-speed self tailing winches,

marine VHF radio Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (for example with harbormasters), and in certain circumstances ship-to-ai ...

, knotmeter, depth sounder, AM/FM radio and CD player, dual

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

rollers, hot and cold water cockpit shower, fully enclosed

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

with shower, private forward and aft cabins, a dinette table that converts to a berth, complete set of kitchen dishes,

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce t ...

, dual

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

sinks and a two-burner gimbaled liquid petroleum gas stove and oven. Factory options included a

liferaft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts (liferafts) are also used. In the mil ...

and EPIRB, a double aft cabin, Bimini top,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, electric anchor winch and leather cushions.

Operational history

At its launch ''Sail'' magazine noted the design's long waterline length, new windows and twin wheels. In a 2010 review in ''Cruising World'' Alvah Simon noted the strong construction and B&R rig. Of the sailing performance Simon wrote: "Out on the water, the boat tacked handily, even in the 8 to 10 knots of wind we experienced during our test sail on the Chesapeake. The near-plum stem extends the waterline length to 34 feet 8 inches, resulting in a moderate displacement-to-length ratio of 220 that indicates that the boat should be able to muscle through some chop. And the sail area-to-displacement ratio of 19.4 suggests the boat will deliver a good turn of speed in stronger winds. Overall, it should prove weatherly, especially if fit with the deep keel."

Variants

;Hunter 39 Deep Keel :This model displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard deep fin keel. ;Hunter 39 Wing Keel :This model displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the optional wing keel.

References

External links

*
Official brochure
{{Hunter Marine Keelboats 2000s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Glenn Henderson Sailboat types built by Hunter Marine