Design and Construction
The HC 50 is a 50-foot monohull with racy-looking lines and an interesting layout conceived for double-handed cruising. At a reported six boats built according to Steve Pettengill, it remained a low-volume, distinctive design rather than a production mainstreamer. Weight placement received unusual attention: the anchor chain is routed through a keel sump to center mass amidships, running across the deck on a protection pad before disappearing below. A standard electric windlass sits just forward of the mast foot to serve that arrangement. The rig is supported by a space-frame-style tripod intended to spread and reduce compression loads transmitted from hull and decks, a concept later absorbed into hidden structural schemes on many other boats.
Rig and Handling
All control lines are led aft, keeping the crew in the cockpit during sail changes and reinforcing the double-handed brief. The show boat carried a tiller arrangement, with a wheel offered as an option. Pettengill sailed the HC 50 doublehanded from Newport, Rhode Island to the Southampton show and described her as one of the most comfortable ocean passage boats and incredibly fast. On a 3,200-mile passage from Newport in 15 days, the boat met 10 to 40 knots of breeze and ran on autopilot for most of the way, a real-world passage profile few cruisers of the size can match with so little crew.
Accommodations
The deck and cockpit plan favors livable space and weather protection. There is plenty of cockpit space, an open transom, and a spacious, light dog house. Curved, slatted teak seats are shaped so occupants are not left sitting in rainwater puddles, a small but telling detail of the layout's thoughtfulness. Below, the gimballed nav station brings a racing-derived workstation into the cruising interior, allowing chart work to stay level offshore.
The Verdict
The Hunter HC 50 is a genuinely unusual 50-foot cruiser: a water-ballasted, low-production passage machine with racing-derived ergonomics and a proven doublehanded ocean pedigree. It is not a boat for those seeking a conventional production interior or high fleet commonality, but for a pair of sailors wanting speed and comfort across an ocean, few designs of the period made the case as clearly.
Pros
- Water ballast and centered anchor-chain stowage for tuned mass distribution
- Gimballed nav station and led-aft control lines suited to double-handed cruising
- Documented 3,200-mile passage in 15 days under autopilot in 10–40 knot winds
- Spacious, light dog house and open-transom cockpit layout
Cons
- Only six boats reported built, limiting fleet support and spares commonality
- Tiller-only show configuration with wheel as mere option may not suit all buyers
