Hunt has launched hull number one of its new Ocean 63 series, with a lot of input from its new owners, experienced cruisers who knew just what they wanted in a blue-water yacht.
The owners, Jim and Cindy Cuminale, from Darien, Connecticut, worked with Hunt during the boat’s construction in Taiwan, and during the commissioning at the Hunt yard in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (which it shares with its parent company, Hinckley Yachts). They have been boating most of their adult lives, and most recently owned an Eastbay 50. But they wanted a larger boat, one in the 60-foot range, so they could cruise with their family. They also wanted to run the boat themselves.
The Hunt Ocean 63, designed by the C. Raymond Hunt Design studio in New Bedford, Massachusetts, has the clean, classic, Down East lines that define the brand, with a sheerline that seems to go on forever and a slightly rounded transom. It also has a sea-kindly hull, with a 20-degree deadrise at the transom, that is the latest iteration of the iconic deep-V that Ray Hunt first drew more than half a century ago.
The 63 comes with either three or four staterooms below, with the galley up or down. The Cuminales chose three, with the galley down. The master stateroom is amidships, the VIP is forward, and a third cabin is opposite the galley. They chose to make this a lounge with a settee that converts to a bed, and a table. A pocket door separates it from the galley, but with the door open the galley and the lounge become one open space.
The Hunt also has helm stations on the main deck and the flybridge, but Cuminale put in wing station controls in the cockpit, and he had Hunt create a custom staircase leading up to the flybridge; it’s curved, to create more room in the cockpit.
With twin 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives, the new Hunt tops out at 32 knots. At its cruising speed of 27 knots it has a range of 390 nm. Dial back to 10 knots and the range goes up to 1,100 nm. You can see a video of the boat in action below; note its efficient running attitude.
Specs.: LOA: 69’6”; Beam: 18’0”; Draft: 4’2”; Disp.: 78,000 lbs.; Fuel: 1,150 gals.; Water: 200 gals.; Power: 2×1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives. Read more: http://huntyachts.com
