Considering a Huntress - newbie questions

[LaDauphine]

Dear All,

I am a newbie in this forum, starting to think about a Fairey, some years after drooling after a lovely Huntress I saw up on Windermere. We have some experience of owning older boats, (1921 ex RNLI lifeboat, 1946 Chris craft, 1965 Albatross etc). I don’t have quite the budget some of you might have, and I really don’t want to buy a dud. Some questions if I may? Apologies if these are obvious.

Thinking of a 23ft Huntress diesel with a trailer to be able to take it to different parts of the UK.

- What is the reliability of a huntress diesel if properly maintained?

- What is a diesel huntress like to drive? Does she plane easily or is it a bit of a struggle?

- I have looked online at a 26ft Huntsman in Dublin with a single 145hp diesel. I like the concept, but Would that have sufficient power?

- What is the towing weight of a huntress? Presumably ok with a Range Rover (max 3500kg)?

- Are there any really common problems to watch out for, other than general condition of a 50 year old boat?

With thanks in advance

Stay safe

LD

[Paul Fl]

Welcome LD, don't be nervous about asking question because the the answers may seem obvious to some. To start with I have never owned a Huntress so will not comment other than in a general sense, my experience is with many years with a twin engine Huntsman 28. So I will suggest someone with direct Huntress ownership experience respond following my offering.
If an engine installation is done correctly, and 'maintained properly', as you implied, reliability should not be an issue, Problems tend to occur most on boats that are either seldom used and or badly maintained.
To keep the engine reliable start with the fuel tank, Make sure the deck filler seal is 100%, and the deck fitting and the pipe to the tank is sound and no leaking, check the breather pipe is clear and not restricted. Ensure the fuel tank is drained and cleaned, so all dirt, water and other unwanted debris is removed. Next attend to the fuel lines and check every joint in the line and check and clean the water separator, next part is the lift pump. remove the domed top and the fine filter will be uncovered, remove it and clean it, and refit. The main engine fuel filter(s) should be replaced. Having got this far consult the service manual for the engine. However if a Diesel engine only ever gets clean fuel, and is not allowed to overheat or run short of correct oil, it should not stop. If not maintained the areas likely to cause grief are Jabsco raw water pumps, the rubber impeller must be in good condition, and the intercooler, it should be clean in order to function correctly.
People sometimes have problems with fuel pumps and injectors, but ensuring a clean fuel supply will minimize problems in those areas.
OK that is my offering, I am sure someone will comment about Huntress performance generally, we have some lovely Huntresses in Club ownership, and in due course I hope you find one that you can offer a good home to. Take your time but look at more than one boat, look at two, or six, even if it means you go back to the first one. Unless you are very confident and have significant boat experience utilize the services of a professional surveyor before you commit to purchase. It could save you much grief and a lot of money. Good luck.
Paul Fl

[Tim Russell]

Having owned a Huntress for 20 years or so (though she is now with a new owner) I can offer a few points.

The hull skin itself is pretty robust and durable. However, be careful where water may have worked its way between the hull laminations from the deck join downwards. Sadly, the plywood of the time will not have fared so well – I ended up replacing a number of frames and bits of the cabin structure. Remember this is an old wooden boat, from the years when the yachting season was shorter and boats were wintered ashore in sheds.

A basic diesel engine (I speak of a Perkins T6.354) is pretty well bullet-proof so long as you feed it clean fuel, clean oil and clean air. A diesel in yacht use will not wear out – you just don’t do enough hours for that – but it will corrode away. So the basic mechanical bits of the diesel will last, but you may well have to repair or replace the marinizing components in the cooling circuit, and they can get expensive and hard to find. Be particularly wary of a salt-water cooled exhaust manifold.

I have done just a little bit of homework so I would guess the boat you are looking at in Dublin is Wight Huntress, which I remember from when she lived on the Hamble. She is a slightly unusual one-off being badged as a Huntress but being 26 feet long rather than 23 feet. With 145 hp in a 23 foot Huntress I think you should get about 23/24 knots with a clean bottom and not too much gear or too many people on board. My boat had a Navy-rated engine with 105hp and I got about 21 knots. I did not have any difficulty in getting onto a plane. The boat does not respond to any special tricks like having to send someone up to the bow – it just climbs out of the water and goes faster. Wight Huntress is bigger and heavier, so you may not go quite so fast.

The one thing you might need to think about is that according to the advertisement (if I am looking at the right one!) the boat has the horizontal HT6.354 version of the basic Perkins diesel. I have no direct experience, but I know that the engine has a rather esoteric sump system with a transfer pump which I suspect may be near impossible to replace if you ever had to. And with the engine ‘lying on its side’ one half of it is not very easy to get at.

I have no experience of trailing.

Hope this helps.

Tim

[CharlesL]

Hi, and welcome.

I really enjoyed Huntress ownership a while ago, and don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm. but they are not practical trailer sailers. (The one that I can think of that visited Windermere had its own articulated truck).

Firstly unless the slip is very steep you need a crane to launch and recover, and a whilst people do tow Huntresses behind Land Rovers, the brochure dimensions of a Huntress are length 23' (and that doesn't include the transom ladder), beam 8'-6" (2.59m), draft 2'-9" and slinging weight 2.3 tons.
A far cry from slipping an Albatross into the water!

Practical Boat Owner advises "If the gross weight of the towing vehicle is 3.5 tonnes or less then the maximum permissible width and length are 2.3 metres and 7 metres respectively. (which the boat alone exceeds). The overall length of the towing vehicle and trailer must not exceed either 18m or 18.75m depending on the type of towing vehicle."

Other suggestions would be to see several before buying, and get a survey, which you will also need for insurance.

best wishes
Charles

[LaDauphine]

Dear Tim, Charles and Paul,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply. Your collective wisdom on this matter is very helpful.

Kind regards

Richard

[tjsb]

I would agree about trailing. Good for over winter, but as described, you will need to crane it on to avoid expensive sterngear damage. The type of trailer will need to be considered as the shaft and rudder will foul the spine of a standard trailer. As discussed, you will be right on the weight limit, so take care to check. If stuck, I can probably find the rules on an authoritative .gov website if it helps. Depending on location (near Southampton), I may be able to help with occasional towing with my Scammell Eka.

[tjsb]

Dear all

further to my last, from

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/weig ... dth-limits (Sorry can't work out how to make links work, but I am sure you could cut and paste into your browser)

Width and length
The maximum trailer width for any towing vehicle is 2.55metres.

The maximum length for a trailer towed by a vehicle weighing up to 3,500kg is 7 metres. This length does not include the A-frame.

The website states the length of the trailer, not what is on it. I would aim to have the front of the Huntress over the A frame so you can stay within the law. If the Huntress is less than 8'2" which I suspect it is, then it seems that with the right trailer it could be towed IF the trailer and Huntress weigh less than 3500kg, the trailer (less A frame) is less than 7M long and the tow vehicle is rated to tow it. Strongly suggest that if you are not familiar with towing you get some training with something of a similar size and if you want to be really sure, get legal advice. Personally, I think the stumbling block will be finding a suitable trailer at a reasonable cost more than anything else. Happy to discuss further as nec.

Yours

Toby

[CharlesL]

Toby - a Huntress has a beam of 8'-6"...

But as a chatty police officer told me, they have better things to do than run a tape over trailers provided everything looks sensible, good and well maintained. The problem is if there is an accident and its found you have not complied with the rules, that won't apply and your insurers will run away...

Charles

[tjsb]

Charles, very surprised the huntress is that wide as the Spearfish is only 9 feet, but you are right. My lack of knowledge on Huntress dimensions has been shown up. Agree with your point on police and insurance, it is important to stay within the law. I would be able to tow it with the Scammell Eka (you can see a picture if you Google LKJ 254V), on a suitable trailer, but that is not a car. Out of gauge loads clearance is through the ESDAL system.
Best
T

[PeterCharleston]

Hi , we regularly trail a 23ft Sea Ray on an SBS 3500 trailer, the boat is approx 2100 kgs depending on fuel and picnic, I think the trailer is just under 1000kgs but is extremely substantial and tows an absolute dream, we use a Jeep Commander (Grand Cherokee/tractor with a box!!) We did have docking arms but the boat is just under 2.5m wide and with the arms we used to pick up the odd hedge row .
the R4 SBS3500 will take a 9m + boat , a pal tows a 30 ft Rib with twin monster mercs regularly on one and takes to South of France most summers , usually a Discovery to tow I think .
We have had other trailers, they may be a bit lighter and cheaper but are an unpleasant towing experience . Chichester Marina has a superb self launch ramp and the staff on the lock are absolutely first class, we have used Baiter park at Poole but it can be busy in the car park.

[daveh354]

Hello LD,

I owned an ex-Navy Huntress way back and towed several times. Once from Poole to Chertsey and a couple of times Chertsey-Gosport and Gosport - Chertsey returns. The trailer was a substantial branded twin axel, overrun inertia braking type job and I either used my Hilux Surf 2,4 TD or a V8 Defender. In all respects it was not a compliant rig, despite the lights, straps, long vehicle tabs and extended wing mirrors etc etc.....

I also had the local TD officers come round and take a look and give me some advice. The bottom line was it doesn't comply based on overall length at that time nor total kerb weight, but trailer width was just on max limit. Overhang was another matter. But their summary and departing advice....."If it looks right, Traffic Dept officers will leave you alone; unless you are doing something really stupid and endangering other road users or you run into PC Jobsworth". And so it proved to be. On one trip as I came off Military road by HMS Sultan on to a big roundabout, 2 TD jam sandwiches and a motorcycle patrolman were gassing....They just sat and watched me gun it up and go for the main road.....I was only watching one thing.....the rear view mirrors to see if they were following. They didn't. It must have looked right.

I can honestly say towing and distance at this size and weight with ordinary 4x4 type cars is not for the faint hearted.

As for ownership, I loved every moment. The only time my T6 354 let me down was mid channel (very rough passage Bembridge to Portsmouth) when all the crap in the fuel tank kept blocking the lift pump strainer. Leave for a few minutes then re-start. Few grey hairs after that. Then I hankered for the twin engine Huntsman (Funny That).

As for which boat, good advice previously given. A survey given the age of our beloved boats is money well spent.

Regards

David H.