The new Hunt 52, the legendary builder’s largest yacht, is pretty, fast and elegant.
By Peter A. Janssen
Heading down Narragansett Bay at 25 knots in a lingering drizzle and a light chop, I had temporarily forgotten I was driving a brand-new 52-foot yacht. It was handling more like a 35-footer, and a sporty 35-footer at that. But then, superior performance has never been a problem for Hunt Yachts. Indeed, ever since the legendary Ray Hunt introduced the first deep-V hull almost half a century ago, they have excelled at it.
That tradition was certainly alive and well on this late spring morning as I put hull number one of the new 52 through its paces. With me were Peter Van Lancker, the president of Hunt Yachts, and Ray Hunt, grandson of the founder and head of engineering for Hunt Yachts. The flagship of the company's fleet, which previously ranged from 25 to 36 feet, the 52 is a quantum leap in LOA. But, as I discovered that spring day outside the factory in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, it really is a logical expansion of the Hunt tradition of performance, beauty and quality. Designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates (with Winn Willard, the CEO, as the point person), this is a boat made by people who know how to make boats. The fact that it's also one of the prettiest boats on the water doesn't hurt — from the steeply raked stem, the slightly flared bow, the long straight sheer (to maintain the Down East lines the company is famous for) to the gentle curves aft and the hint of some tumblehome. And that's before you get to the flawless fit and finish and the elegant touches of a larger yacht — from the custom louvers on the cabinets inside to the molded-in gold cove stripe with the Hunt logo on the hull. The sweeping curved lines in the side windows simply add to the visual appeal and the sense of motion.
Inside, there's a natural flow from the bright, open salon, with 360-degree visibility from the helm, to the aft deck/cockpit, which opens up to one big indoor/outdoor area via a large sliding glass door, all on the same level. "This is a social boat," says Van Lancker, "built for the way people use their boats today." Meaning the boat provides a safe, comfortable ride to get you where you want to go, in any conditions, and then morphs into a lot of relaxing areas on board once you get there. "It's also a customer-driven boat," he says. "They wanted two staterooms, the accommodations, the space we have here. But it's built so two people can operate it. We started out looking at a 48-footer, but it grew to a 52 when we put in everything they wanted."
One thing Bob Price, a veteran cruiser, former owner of a Hunt 36 and now an owner of the new 52, wanted was a large garage so he could carry — and easily launch — a good-size dinghy. Hunt not only gave him the garage, but they also designed a custom 11-foot dinghy with a 20 hp Yamaha to put in it. The garage is indeed enormous; there's extra room even when the dink is in there. "I'm sure this is the biggest garage on any boat this size," says John Deknatel, the chairman of Hunt Associates. "But it helps make this a modern cruising boat. This boat is very livable and easy to use."
You open the garage by pushing a button next to the cockpit settee, then the entire middle section of the transom, including the settee and the swim platform, lifts up so you can simply slide the dink out on rollers, controlled by a winch, directly into the water. But wait, take a good look inside; the garage has the same flawless gelcoat surface as the rest of the boat. It also has a nice door/hatch at the forward end leading to the engine room. This serves as an emergency exit from the engine room and as a service door. You can use it to take out the engine oil, for example, without having to go up the steps to the salon (the normal engine room access) and walk through the cabin. It's a nice touch.
From the dock, you board the boat by stepping on the large, curved, teak swim platform. (The side rails also have gates so you can board in the center of the boat on either side.) A stainless swim ladder is recessed under the platform; there's also a hot/cold transom shower. Then it's up three curved steps on either side (which lift up for the shore cord access) to the cockpit and through a stainless gate. The curved settee is inviting enough, but that's before you see the innovative teak table facing it — "an engineer's dream," as Van Lancker says. Van Lancker showed me how, sitting on two stainless cylinders, the table rises, falls, swivels, expands/contracts (via a teak middle leaf) and does everything except drive the boat. After all this maneuvering, I wanted to stay there and have a cold drink.
You enter the salon through the large, full-length, curved sliding glass door, which joins the cockpit and the salon into one room. "It's all one big party space here," Van Lancker says. It's also light and airy, with a striking bamboo sole and windows all around. The side windows are huge, with front sections that are electrically operated. "They go up and down like in your car," Hunt says. There's also a supersize sunroof overhead, also electric, although we didn't try it on this rainy day. Three large windows in front give the helmsman excellent visibility; the middle one has a vent for extra air (hardly a problem), and the starboard one has a defroster.
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The salon is bright and inviting (the cherry interior keeps everything light) with a large settee (with two ottomans) on the port side with a pneumatic high-low dining/cocktail table. The starboard side is primarily a granite countertop over a built-in wet bar, ice maker, fridge and dishwasher, a hidden TV; plus a very comfortable barrel chair. Forward, opposite the helm seat, the companion seat is large enough for two. The helm seat also holds two, although the wooden wheel is centered, facing a curved two-level dash with a Raymarine E-Series plotter in the middle and plenty of room for other electronics. A joystick for the standard bow and stern thrusters is just to the left of the wheel, as are the shifters. There's a teak footrest for the captain. Standing at the helm, carving turns at 20-plus knots, I was taken with how pretty the view of the boat is — just elegant. On a better day, I would have opted for Block Island for lunch.
Down half a dozen stairs, the U-shaped galley to port is large and built for cruising. Even though it's a galley-down arrangement, it has lots of light coming in from the windshields and the sunroof on top, plus its own opening port. You'll find the usual fridge, freezer, two-burner cooktop, microwave and coffee maker, plus lots of countertops, cabinets and storage. There's extra storage under a hatch in the sole and even more in a pantry in the center hall.
Facing the galley is the guest stateroom, an inviting area for one person or a couple with the settee/single berth against the starboard side. When you pull it out to convert it to a double, there's not a lot of extra room behind the two sliding pocket doors. With the doors open, this can be a conversation area or a study. It also has a washer/dryer hidden behind Hunt's megayacht-quality cherry cabinet doors, all with custom molding. A good-size head with a large circular shower (big enough for me, and I'm 6 feet 1 inch) is forward, with doors from both the guest stateroom and from the center hallway, so it also serves as a day head.
The master, forward, is a surprise because when you walk in a large custom bureau blocks the view; the island queen bed is on the other side, with the back of the bureau as the headboard. (Price wanted it this way; you can have the traditional arrangement, if you want it.) But the stateroom itself is large, with two big hanging lockers and lots of storage and light. The master head has an extra-large vanity and a separate shower.
Under way, this boat, with the upgraded Caterpillar C18s (1,001 hp), topped out at more than 35 knots. That's an impressive performance, considering there are a lot of extras on board. Cat C12s (705 hp) are standard. Pod drives are available with Volvo IPS 900s (662 hp), in which case you get a third stateroom because the engines are farther aft. Whatever you choose, the Hunt hull, the lines and the attention to detail are all the same. "This is an elegant, sophisticated, modern boat," says Van Lancker, "with all the Hunt tradition." And that's hard to beat.
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