The Hunter 28 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 terminolo ...

that was designed as a racer- cruiser and first built in 1989. The Hunter 28 is a development of the 1985 Hunter 28.5.

Production

The design was built by Hunter Marine 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 territori ...

between 1989 and 1994, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Hunter 28 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, 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 clo ...

. It has a fractional sloop rig, a

raked 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

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 ...

, 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 air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a wheel and a fixed

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 wing ...

. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard wing keel fitted. The boat is fitted with a Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

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-ca ...

of Universal Atomic 4. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The design has a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-t ...

of .

Operational history

Marine surveyor David Pascoe wrote a scathing review of the design in 1998, criticizing the aft cabin, the head design, dinette, the reverse transom and swim platform, rigging dimensions, deck hatch, cockpit dimensions with regard to the wheel size and placement, winch mounting, lack of cockpit back support, the keel design, fiberglass quality and the engine mounts. In concluding he writes, "This could have been a nice, well-made boat. Parts of it are, but the builder didn't have his priorities straight. If all you're going to do is sail around the pond on balmy days, its probably fine for that. A serious deep water sailor she's not. This is a price boat, and there's altogether too much that you don't get for what you don't pay, for any serious sailor to take the Hunter 28 seriously. There's a good reason why first impressions should be taken seriously, too. What you don't pay for up front will surely be heavily loaded on the back end. Count on it ... If you wonder why people are leaving sailing like the plague just arrived, possibly this boat offers some reasons. There are too many just like it."

References

{{Hunter Marine Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat types built by Hunter Marine

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References