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My Boat Gets No Respect!

"I think the Hunter 54 might be the most maligned boat design ever," our old friend Warren Stryker of St. Thomas told us the other day. We became friends with Warren in the ’70s when we both owned Rhodes-designed full keel Bounty IIs in Sausalito. Thirty years ago Warren set sail for the U.S. Virgins aboard Fifties Girl, which was built of fiberglass in Sausalito in the late ’50s, and has lived on St. Thomas ever since.

After a couple of decades of racing and taking mobs of friends out on Wednesday nights — and having Fifties Girl spend a month on the bottom courtesy of Hurricane Marilyn — Warren decided he wanted a more performance-oriented boat. It came down to the Hunter 54 or a Santa Cruz 50. The Santa Cruz had a much better reputation, but even a well-used one cost nearly three times as much as the Hunter, which was for sail for $54,000. Never one to go with the crowd, Stryker decided that the Hunter looked like a bigger bang for the buck.

Warren’s Hunter 54 Botox Barbie delivers a lot of bang for the buck.

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

He hasn’t regretted the decision since. "I love Botox Barbie because she’s fast, nimble and fun to sail. Everything I want in a boat. Part of the reason is that she displaces the same as my Bounty did, but she’s has 27 feet more waterline, and waterline is speed. It’s not uncommon for us to hit 10 or 12 knots when a group of us go out on Wednesday nights. The only boat that gives us competition is one of the Gold Coast 55 charter cats. And I personally don’t care for sailing on catamarans."

A few years ago, Warren, his son John-Phillip, and a young friend beat their brains out to get to St. Barth for New Years. We joined him for the famous New Year’s Eve Around the Island Race, which features a lot of hot boats. Despite the handicap of having us drive part of the way, Stryker’s Botox Barbie took line honors in the rabbit start event.

Stryker has made one significant improvement, which is putting the headsail on a boom and getting a headsail with batten-imposed built-in camber. "Who needs to grind when tacking? Who needs a spinnaker?" he asks.

"Botox Barbie has held up well, too. I haven’t had any structural issues, and even the 31-year-old fridge-freezer is running fine. The boat has a few nice touches, too. Not only does she have very large transom steps for climbing on and off, an important feature in the tropics, but the dinghy slides into a ‘garage’ beneath the cockpit. So I think the Hunter 54 is not just the most maligned boat ever, but was actually far ahead of her time."

Warren can stow his dinghy under the cockpit. What’s not to like?

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

What about your boat? Do you think she doesn’t get the respect and admiration she deserves? If so, let us know why in a few short paragraphs. Including a photo wouldn’t hurt.

The following are photos of boats you also might find interesting.

This is Warren’s inflatable dinghy. He pays $350/month to keep it at Crowne Bay Marina. Ouch!

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Eric Clapton’s old Blue Guitar. She’s not quite up to rock star standards anymore.

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Check out this older but goodie sailing machine. Warren tells us that she was originally built as a minesweeper, and thus has a mahogany hull that’s extremely thick. She may not be fast, but she’s got a lot of style.

latitude/Richard
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
There’s nothing wrong with a drink on the rocks, but it’s all wrong when it comes to boats on the rocks. When Hurricane Earl came through the Virgins a few years ago, he’d already moved west to Puerto Rico when he sent a last 100-knot gust and tremendous tidal surge to Charlotte Amalie. It resulted in a number of large boats, including a large racing trimaran, going on the rocks and being destroyed. Botox Betty bounced off the bottom, dropping her mast.

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
On the ferry to the British Virgins, we came across a blue-hulled sistership to Stryker’s Fifties Girl. The design still looks great. The boat in the foreground is overloaded with either Haitian refugees or folks off a cruise ship. Either way, it looks like about the same amount of fun, doesn’t it?

latitude/Richard
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

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"There’s a whale out there," exclaimed an attendee at Wednesday’s Spring Crew List Party.
No experience is quite like hanging over the side of your boat as a pod of dolphin squirm and play and splash in your bow wake — the sheer joy they so clearly take in showing off can’t help but be contagious.