C. Raymond Hunt Associates

Last updated

C. Raymond Hunt Associates
Type Privately held company
Industry Boat building
Founded1966
FounderC. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel
Headquarters
New Bedford, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
President: Winn Willard
Vice President: Benjamin I. Stoddard
Chairman: John H. Deknatel
Products Sailboat and powerboat designs
Number of employees
nine
Website www.rayhuntdesign.com

C. Raymond Hunt Associates (doing business as Ray Hunt Design) is an American naval architecture design firm, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the design of fiberglass sailboats and powerboats. [1]

Contents

The company was founded by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel in 1966. Deknatel remains the chairman, while the current president is Winn Willard. In 2023 the company had seven employees. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Hunt and his firm are noted as being the only designers of that period that achieved international success in both powerboat and sailboat design. [1]

Founder

Hunt's 1939 design, the International 110 International 110 sailboat going to weather.png
Hunt's 1939 design, the International 110

C. Raymond Hunt was born in 1908 and completed his formal education only as far as two years at Phillips Andover prep school. He had no formal training in naval architecture. [1] [3] [5]

The Hunt family were members of the Duxbury Yacht Club (DYC) in Duxbury, Massachusetts in the 1920s. In 1923, Hunt was the captain of the DYC Junior Sailing Crew, leading it to victory in the 1923 Sears Cup in Marblehead, Massachusetts. This was the first sailing championship for the DYC since its establishment in 1875 and a victory over the principal yacht clubs of Massachusetts and New York. [6] Hunt competed as captain of crews representing the DYC in the Sears Cup in 1925 and 1926, winning his second championship title in the event in 1926. [6] Upon his successes in these competitions, Hunt was invited to tea with US President Calvin Coolidge, who at the time was vacationing in Marblehead, Massachusetts. [6]

Hunt also won the DYC junior golf championship in 1926. [6]

Prior to founding the firm in 1966, Hunt had already established a name by designing the Concordia yawls in 1938, the International 110 in 1939 and the 1958 America's Cup 12 Meter defender Easterner. He designed a number of 5.5 Meter sailboats, including the boats that won the 1960 Summer Olympic Games. His captained his own 5.5 meter design, Chaje II to the 1963 5.5 Meter World Championships. He also designed the Boston Whaler. [1] [3] [5]

He invented the "deep vee" powerboat hull design, which uses a high-deadrise. This proved successful in offshore racing through the 1960s. The deep vee was never patented, as a small sailing magazine had published an article describing it the year before his patent application, making the design public domain. [1] [3] [5] [7]

His business partner, Deknatel, said of him, "Ray was a self-effacing, quiet guy—the antithesis of any of that snooty, yachty stuff." [5]

Hunt died in 1978 at age 70. [1]

History

The Hunt-designed Paceship PY 26 Paceship PY 26 sailboat Dalriada 2517.jpg
The Hunt-designed Paceship PY 26

The company was founded in 1966 by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel with the concept of applying the "deep vee" hull concept to a wider range of boats. The firm started designing for the production and custom markets. Powerboat manufacturer that produced Hunt designs included Bertram, Boston Whaler, Robalo, Cruisers, Chris-Craft Corporation, 4 Winns, Southport, Grand Banks, SeaArk, Regal and Wellcraft. The company has designed all the hulls used by Grady-White Boats since the 1990s. The company also designed custom yachts for Burger, Palmer Johnson, Hinckley, Lyman-Morse, Nautor and Royal Huisman. [1] [4] [7]

In the sailboat market the company did design work for Cal Yachts, O'Day Corp, Ranger Yachts and Paceship Yachts. Newspaper owner Phil Weld sailed his Hunt-designed trimaran Moxie to win the 1980 Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race. [4] [5]

In the 1970s the firm entered the commercial boat market and the military market. They produced designs for several navies, coast guards and police departments as well as for fire departments. Among his naval designs was a 34-foot patrol boat for the US Navy as well as several destroyer hull designs. [4] [5]

The company started its own boat building subsidiary in 1998. Called Hunt Yachts, it built high-end powerboats in the 25 to 29 ft (7.6 to 8.8 m) size range. It was building about 30 to 40 boats per year in 2013. The division was sold to Hinckley Yachts in 2013. [4]

Boats

Paceship PY 23 Paceship PY23 sailboat 0716.jpg
Paceship PY 23
O'Day 25 O'Day 25 Moon River 0326.jpg
O'Day 25
O'Day 23-2 O'Day 23 Play On 0400.jpg
O'Day 23-2
O'Day 272 O'Day 272 sailboat Awakening 2520.jpg
O'Day 272

Summary of boats designed by C. Raymond Hunt and C. Raymond Hunt Associates: [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal Yachts</span>

Cal Yachts was a manufacturer of performance oriented fiberglass sailboats from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Costa Mesa, California, headquartered company was founded in 1957, among the earliest of all-fiberglass, mass-production sailboat builders. Although the brand has been out of production since 1989, the existing fleet is still substantially active in racing and cruising.

O'Day Corp. was a America sailboat builder, located in Fall River, Massachusetts.

The Tanzer 27 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt and first built in 1982. The design is out of production.

The US Yachts US 25 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Gary Mull and first built in 1981. The design is out of production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Day 25</span> Sailboat class

The O'Day 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Day 23</span> Sailboat class

The O'Day 23 is a series of American trailerable sailboats, that were designed by C. Raymond Hunt Assoc. and first built in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paceship PY 23</span> Sailboat class

The Paceship PY 23 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by John Deknatel of C. Raymond Hunt Associates and first built in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluejacket 23</span> Sailboat class

The Bluejacket 23 is a 23-foot (7.0 m) Canadian trailerable, fibreglass monohull sailboat designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian as a day sailer and club racer and first built in 1967.

The Crown 23 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by C. William Lapworth and first built in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paceship PY 26</span> Sailboat class

The Paceship PY 26 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by John Deknatel, president of C. Raymond Hunt Assoc. and first built in 1972.

Mark Ellis is an American-Canadian naval architect, who has designed sixteen production sailboats, along with many custom sailboats and powerboats. He is best known for his Nonsuch series of catboats, the Limestone series of powerboats and Niagara sailboats. In 2003, Dan Spurr described Ellis as "one of Canada's premier yacht designers".

The Cal 39 (Hunt/O'Day) is an American sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt and Associates as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal 24</span> Sailboat class

The Cal 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) racer and first built in 1958.

The Cal 2-24, also called the Cal 24-2 and the Cal 24 Mark II is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a racer and first built in 1967.

The Cal 3-24, also called the Cal 24-3 and the Cal 24 (Hunt) is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paceship Yachts</span> Sailboat manufacturer

Paceship Yachts Limited was a Canadian, and later American, boat builder originally based in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The company was founded in 1962 and specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats.

The O'Day 19 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by John Deknatel of C. Raymond Hunt Associates, as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1979.

The O'Day 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by John Deknatel of C.R. Hunt & Associates as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Day 302</span> Sailboat class

The O'Day 302 is an American sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates as a cruiser and first built in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Raymond Hunt (C.R. Hunt & Assoc.) 1908 - 1978". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  2. ↑ C. Raymond Hunt Associates (2020). "C. Raymond Hunt Associates Staff". rayhuntdesign.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 C. Raymond Hunt Associates (2020). "Ray Hunt". rayhuntdesign.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Blenkey, Nick (21 July 2016). "C. Raymond Hunt Associates celebrates 50th year". Marine Log. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "C. Raymond Hunt, A New England Boating Pioneer". North Shore Magazine. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mittell, David A. (1995). The Duxbury Yacht Club Story. Attleboro, Massachusetts: Colonial Lithograph. pp. 39ff.
  7. 1 2 C. Raymond Hunt Associates (2020). "About C. Raymond Hunt Associates". rayhuntdesign.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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