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My brother and I helped a sailboat come into the little marina here on the island a couple of days ago and noticing that the boat was from Portland, OR. I asked when they made the trip up the coast and how it went. They (a couple in their late 50's) looked at each other and one responded "eventful". They then told us that all was well until they were in the Strait of Juan de Fuca about 20 NM west of Port Angeles, WA in 6' following seas and 25-30 knots of wind when coming down a wave they lost steering and then saw their entire rudder floating a few feet from the boat. They tried everything they could think of to steer the boat from dragging a bucket (handles ripped off almost immediately) to steering with the sails but they finally had to call the CG who came and towed them in. They had the boat hauled in PA and the fiberglass rudder post was cleanly sheered off at the hull. I guess they got a new rudder shipped and installed and they were on their way again in less than a week. They now carry a drogue.
I'm not bashing Hunter, don't know anything about them really, just thought this was interesting. I didn't get the year or model of the Hunter, it was about 32' or so and looked around 10 years old (?).
I'm not bashing Hunter, don't know anything about them really, just thought this was interesting. I didn't get the year or model of the Hunter, it was about 32' or so and looked around 10 years old (?).