Hunter 290 Shoal draft

Sailboat specifications

The Hunter 290 is a 28’7” (8.71m) cruising sailboat designed by Hunter Design (United States). She was built between 1999 and 2001 by Marlow Hunter (United States). The Shoal draft version is offered with a short keel fitted with large winglets. This configuration provides an interesting draft / low center of gravity / upwind performance trade-off.

The Hunter 290 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Deep draft version (see all the versions compared).

Hunter 290's main features

Model: Hunter 290
Version: Shoal draft
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Marlow Hunter
Sailboat designer: Hunter Design
Country: United States
Construction: Hull and deck: GRP (glass reinforced polyester)
First built hull: 1999
Last built hull: 2001
Appendages: Keel : wing keel
Helm: Single helm wheel
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 2
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Hunter 290's main dimensions

Overall length: 29’ 4”8.94 m
Hull length: 28’ 7”8.71 m
Waterline length: 26’ 11”8.19 m
Beam (width): 10’ 10”3.28 m
Draft: 3’ 10”1.17 m
Mast height from D_WL: 42’ 6”12.95 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 7408 lb3360 kg
Ballast weight: 2553 lb1158 kg

Hunter 290's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 400 ft²37.16 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 32’9.75 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 11’3.35 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 29’ 1”8.86 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 12’3.66 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi fractional
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 1
Spreaders angle: Swept-back (Bergström)
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire continuous

Hunter 290's performances

Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 178 ft²/T16.56 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 173
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 34 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 6.95 knots