Hunt 14

The Hunt 14 was a smaller version of the Hunt 18. Designed by Ray Hunt with a similar hull shape to her larger sister but fitted with an outboard motor. An inboard/sterndrive arrangement of up to 125HP was an option.

The tunnel keel arrangement allowed for 350lb of water ballast to be taken on at rest and dropped when under weigh.

Vital Statistics:

LOA: 14' 0"

Beam: 6' 1"

Hull Weight: 400lb

The following is an extract from an article by Chris Harris - ex Fairey employee and Chairman of the Classic Motor Boat Association:-

"C.Raymond Hunt is certainly no stranger to those of us brought up in the world of offshore boats, as he was the pioneer of the constant dead-rise deep-vee hull design. Hunt’s first offshore winner, the little known Hunter 17’ won the Around Long Island marathon in 1959, but his designs were immortalized by the famous ‘Moppie’ raceboats of the early sixties and marketed to a boat-hungry America by Dick Bertram.

Ray Hunt’s designs revolutionised the world of small boating, reducing the pounding of conventional planing hulls and making them dryer with the addition of longitudinal strakes, commonly known as spray rails. These ideas were adopted in the UK by Fairey Marine and further developed by Alan Burnard, Fairey’s chief designer and acknowledged leading propeller expert. Whilst we are all familiar with the fabulous range of Fairey offshore powerboats from Alan’s drawing board such as Huntsman, Swordsman and Spearfish, there was a smaller fibreglass weekender, the Fairey Hunt 18, and an even smaller sibling, not built by Fairey, called the Hunt 14.

This pretty little runabout was produced in the UK by Island Boatbuilders Ltd in the Isle of Wight, and at Marine and Industrial Plastics Ltd of Fareham, Hampshire, Fairey Marine’s contracted GRP moulder. I have the distinction of personally moulding the last of the Hunt 14’s in February 1976, as part of a GRP refresher course at MIP before my two- year sojourn in Kuwait. The 14 had not been produced commercially for about ten years prior to this, so an intense mould cleaning project was required to produce a somewhat lurid tangerine 14 footer! I wanted to mould an orange boat, but tangerine was the nearest pigment we had in stock!

I subsequently spent six years at MIP upon my return from Kuwait in 1978, a period of very interesting and exciting development in GRP marine construction. The tangerine 14 sat in the yard all that time, and was subsequently sold after I left the company, I guess around 1985/86. Naturally I kick myself now as the boat would have been mine for the asking – albeit only bare deck and hull mouldings – wonderful thing hindsight. I have been hankering after a Hunt 14 for some years, I know of one in the Isle of Wight, but it’s been hacked about a bit, so I am now determined to track down my old ‘tangerine dream’. I will keep you informed!

Chris Harris"

The club would like to hear from any Hunt 14 owners.