United Motor Yachts Hunt 52ES
Stewart Smith from Gold Coast brokerage United Motor Yachts (UMY) recently visited Taiwan to sea-trial the latest Hunt 52 Express Sedan, and plans to introduce the famous American badge to Australia through that particular model.
UMY only recently signed-up as Hunt Yachts’ Australian dealership, with the Hope Island based agency planning to distribute the marque’s full-range of inflatables, centre consoles, day and coastal cruisers, hardtop coupes, express sedans and flybridge cruisers, from 24 to 68 feet.
Meeting with Peter Vanlancker, the president of Hunt Yachts USA, Stewart said their 50 years combined experience with the C. Raymond Hunt designed deep-vee hull was the catalyst for many stories regarding the designs during the four-day visit.
Stewart said Peter showed him the yard’s extensive production facility at Kaohsiung, which gave him some extra insight into why Hunt Yachts are among the best quality in the world today. The builder manufactures at Rhode Island in the USA, but for the past 14 years its 42ft-and-up models have been made in Taiwan.
While in Taiwan, Stewart witnessed the testing of the New Hunt 52 Express Sedan on a near-perfect day in Kaohsiung.
After clearing customs and cruising slowly through the congested port they passed the breakwater and headed out in a 1.5m swell. The Volvo Penta IPS900s were brought slowly up at 100rpm increments to maximum revs, where they delivered an impressive 32kts average speed head-on into the swell.
Stewart said he was delighted with the exceptional ride and quietness of the Hunt 52 and was amazed at the fact that they hardly had a drop of water on the deck at all at that speed into that sea. The combination of the Hunt hull with the IPS900s offers outstanding performance and remarkable manoeuvrability, he reports.
The Australian dealer was extremely impressed with the production facility. The skill and craftsmanship of the factory has been established over the past 14 years and is second-to-none.
For more information visit www.unitedmotoryachts.com.au
QuickSpecs:
Hunt 52 Express Sedan
MATERIAL: Vinylester-infused PVC foam-cored laminate
TYPE: Planing deep-vee monohull
LENGTH: 16.63m; 17.47m (overall); 14.63m (waterline)
BEAM: 4.78m
DRAFT: 1.42m
FUEL: 2560lt (CAT C12); 2840lt (CAT C18); 2270lt (IPS900)
WATER: 570lt
ENGINE: 2 x 705hp Caterpillar C12 ACERT (standard); 2 x 1001hp Caterpillar C18 ACERT (optional); 2 x 690hp Volvo Penta IPS900 (optional)
Photos: Hunt 52 Express Sedan; UMY’s Stewart Smith (right) met with Hunt Yachts president Peter Vanlancker in Taiwan.