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Originally Posted by Jeff_H
As much as I like Hughes Northstars (I owned a Northstar 500 QT) the 35 and 38 were pretty lousey designs and certainly not boats that I would want to pour good earned money into if I was planning to go offshore. You could buy a whole lot of really good boats for what it would take to buy and fix up a worn out one and still have a really poor seaboat.
Jeff
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Thanks for your comments. I re-read your post about Hughes 38s in this thread:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/buying...ghlight=Hughes and it appeared that the middle design H38 hulls (1968-1973) that were shared with Hinckley were S&S designed and not poorly done. It seems like this one (1972) would fall into the range you were discussing. You did note that they would not be your first choice for an off-shore boat, however.
According to the history of Hughes boats I've seen (
http://www.sailcaddy.com/history.htm) the "Northstar" boats began in 1971 when US Steel owned the company. It wasn't clear if the H38s made in '72 were redesigned, made elsewhere, or reduced in quality compared to the pre-71 Hughes 38s. (This could be the case.)
I've also read the Cruising World
articles about
Wild Card, Goodlander's Hughes 38 which I believe was a Northstar, but I haven't confirmed that yet. Apparently, his was initially inexpensive (storm damaged) but has served him well. If there were significant quality differences between a '70 Hughes 38 and a '72 Hughes Northstar 38, it would be good to know.
Thanks!
Jim H