Ray Hunt Design, the people who brought you the award-winning Hunt 72 last year, now have a new elegant fast cruiser on the drawing boards – an 80-foot Fast Express Cruiser. The new 80 certainly has a family resemblance to the Hunt 72, which was named Best Powerboat at the Newport International Boat Show last year, and it has the iconic low-profile, long sheerline and clean, timeless lines that have set Hunts apart for more than half a century.
When I asked Winn Willard, the president of Ray Hunt Designs, about the new 80 a few days ago at this year’s Newport show, he said he thought the luxury yacht would cruise easily at 30 knots and top out at about 40 knots, letting its owners cruise comfortably over 200 nm in five hours. The new 80, of course, will have Hunt’s traditional slender deep-V hull for ocean-taming performance.
The new 80 is designed for an owner-operator and will have three double staterooms plus a small crew cabin, a galley, dinghy garage and a combination salon/pilothouse. Power comes from two 1920-hp MTU diesels and Hamilton waterjets.
