Built in Alachua, Florida, the HC 50 brought offshore-racing ideas into a cruising boat, notably water ballast and a gimballed navigation station. Cruising World recognized it with a Best Performance Cruiser award in 2001.
Design and Construction
The HC 50 is a 50-foot monohull with racy lines and an unusual layout conceived for double-handed cruising. According to Steve Pettengill, only six boats were built, leaving the HC 50 a distinctive, low-volume design rather than a mainstream production model.
The designers paid particular attention to weight placement. The anchor chain runs across the deck on a protective pad, then passes below and into a keel sump to keep its mass centered amidships. A standard electric windlass, mounted just forward of the mast foot, serves this arrangement.
A space-frame-style tripod supports the rig. It was intended to spread and reduce the compression loads transmitted from the hull and decks—a concept later incorporated into hidden structural arrangements on many other boats.
Rig, Handling, and Passage Performance
All control lines lead aft, allowing the crew to remain in the cockpit during sail changes and reinforcing the double-handed brief. The show boat had a tiller, while a wheel was optional.
Pettengill sailed the HC 50 double-handed from Newport, Rhode Island, to the Southampton show. He described her as one of the most comfortable ocean-passage boats and as incredibly fast.
The 3,200-mile passage from Newport took 15 days. The boat encountered winds from 10 to 40 knots and ran under autopilot for most of the voyage—a real-world passage profile that few cruisers of this size can match with so little crew.
Cockpit and Accommodations
The deck and cockpit plan emphasizes living space and weather protection. The boat has plenty of cockpit room, an open transom, and a spacious, light dog house. Curved, slatted teak seats are shaped to keep occupants from sitting in puddles of rainwater, a small but telling sign of the care given to the layout.
Below, the gimballed navigation station brings a racing-derived workstation into the cruising interior, allowing chart work to remain level offshore.
Verdict
The Hunter HC 50 is a genuinely unusual 50-foot cruiser: a water-ballasted, low-production passage boat with racing-derived ergonomics and a proven double-handed ocean pedigree. It won’t appeal to sailors looking for a conventional production interior or broad fleet commonality. For a pair of sailors seeking speed and comfort across an ocean, however, few designs of the period made the case so clearly.
Pros
- Water ballast and centered anchor-chain stowage for carefully managed weight distribution
- Gimballed navigation station and control lines led aft for double-handed cruising
- Documented 3,200-mile passage in 15 days, mostly under autopilot, in winds of 10–40 knots
- Spacious, light dog house and an open-transom cockpit layout
Cons
- Only six boats were reported built, limiting fleet support and spares commonality
- The show boat had a tiller; the optional wheel arrangement may not suit every buyer
