A 52-foot yacht with just one permanent cabin? Discover why this bespoke, American-built cruiser completely flies in the face of convention
From the moment you clap eyes on the Hunt 52, you realise you’re looking at something rather special. It’s an exceptionally rare beast in British waters and, while at first glance its timeless lines and elegant styling suggest a classic English Gentlemen’s Yacht, it’s really not that kind of boat at all. On the contrary, the Hunt 52 comes from the stable of American boatbuilder, C Raymond Hunt Associates, whose Hunt Yachts brand is today owned by Maine-based Hinckley Yachts.
The Hunt story stretches back seven decades to a boat named Moppie. That boat featured the prototype of naval architect Ray Hunt’s deep-vee hull – a hull that continues to serve the company and its customers well to this day. In fact, it’s such a capable hull that Moppie won the Miami-Nassau offshore powerboat race in record time in a race where 30 percent of the fleet retired due to rough weather.
That success not only turned heads but led to other manufacturers, including Boston Whaler, Chris-Craft and Four Winns, using Hunt designs in their own products. In short then, Hunt is a very big name across the pond, which is where the owner of our review boat – currently on sale with Berthon in Lymington for £595,000 VAT paid – first spotted a Hunt 52.
“We were cruising in the northeast. It was in the harbour at Marblehead when we first saw one,” he says. “I thought, gosh, that’s going to be a lovely boat for Europe, so we commissioned one from Hunt. It was built in Taiwan and delivered to us in 2010.”
The huge cherrywood helm with leather skipper’s seat provides a brilliant driving station
Unusual lower layout
Built very much to the owner’s specification, this boat is by no means ordinary, inside or out. “We didn’t actually plan to spend a night on it. It was to be purely a day boat,” he reports. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever spent a night on board it so the number of berths didn’t bother us in the slightest. That’s how we ended up with this layout.”
Remarkably, for a 52-footer, that layout comprises just one full-time cabin plus a guest cabin that doubles as a kind of open-plan dayroom/galley extension. “How does it do that?” we hear you ask…
Well, in its ‘open’ format, the space this cabin occupies, which is directly opposite the galley proper, is more of an area than a room. That’s because there’s no permanent bulkhead separating it from the galley. Rather, there are sliding wooden panels which retract to reveal a settee on the boat’s starboard side and, at 90 degrees to it, an additional galley unit comprising worktop, sink, fridge, dishwasher and storage space. When the time comes to convert it into a cabin, it’s simply a matter of pulling out the settee to form a compact double bed and sliding the panels shut.
At the forward end of the cabin is a gloriously heavy wooden door which opens up into a large, fully equipped washroom with appealing granite worktops and super-shiny fixtures and fittings. This room acts as either an ensuite for the guest cabin or a day heads when the area is in open-plan mode.
The beautifully appointed saloon has the feel of an exclusive gentlemen’s lounge
The remainder of the boat’s lower deck accommodation is occupied by the main galley, with beautiful wraparound units housing the full gamut of kitchen appliances and plenty more storage space, plus the master suite.
Approached from the galley by way of a delicious cherrywood-panelled corridor, the main cabin is equally unusual. As you enter, you’re confronted by a large six-drawer storage cabinet that looks like it’s been built to take enough clothes for a tour of duty rather than just a few days. There are also large wardrobes on either side, plus a couple of storage lockers.
The bed itself is set up for the occupants to sleep with their feet pointing towards the bow rather than the usual aft-facing bed.
And completing the picture here is the owner’s ensuite – another big glitzy space, very much in line with the American penchant for proper restrooms.
Main deck arrangement
Retracing our footsteps from the lower accommodation takes us up five steps to the wheelhouse with its helm and main deck saloon. This is where the Hunt 52 really begins to get to you because this is a wheelhouse to die for. The saloon features a mix of sumptuous furnishings – an enormous horseshoe-shaped settee, two free-standing armchairs and two pouffes, all in a rather tasteful fabric print , combined with highly polished cherrywood cabinetry and granite-topped units, one of which conceals a pop-up television.
Taking centre stage is a bi-fold dining table so shiny and intricately grained it takes your breath away. It really is a genuine ‘wow’ feature but when you drag yourself away from it, it’s good to see that the settee uses a hinged backrest, enabling it to be swung aft, creating a bench seat with a view forward for comfort under way.
If the saloon feels like an exclusive gentlemen’s clubhouse, the helm is like the members’ private chamber. The single, fully adjustable, leather-faced seat provides the perfect driving position and the dramatically arched console is reminiscent of the Mighty Wurlitzer. The helm’s centrepiece is a large MFD, from which just about everything can be controlled, thanks to a recent upgrade to C-Zone digital switching. It also has the latest-generation Garmin navigation equipment – clearly no expense has been spared on maximising the potential of this Hunt 52.
In spite of multiple mullions, visibility is really strong
The final part of the jigsaw is the external day space. A spacious aft cockpit is arranged around an aft-mounted, centrally positioned four-seater settee, fronted by another beautiful polished table with plenty of space for free-standing chairs on the other side. It’s also particularly welcome that the aft cockpit is encased not by plastic mouldings but by heavy-duty guardrails, which improves the sense of space, while allowing fabulous open views off the rear quarters.
On-water performance
According to the owner, this is a boat that’s equally at home in the Med or the Solent: “We paid VAT on her in Spain and then when Brexit came along, we had to make the decision as to whether we were going to keep her in Europe. I think it was 2017 when we moved her to the UK, before the VAT was due to be paid again. We have a home not far from Lymington so it made sense to keep her there. It has actually proved to be a perfect, solid boat over here. It’s just the right size so it can get into anywhere. We have mostly travelled between Lymington and Cowes and, as we have both bow and stern thrusters, the manoeuvrability is excellent.
The owner’s cabin reverses the usual bed orientation to improve headroom
“Out at sea, the handling is really impressive too. We’ve never had her in really rough waters, but we’ve had her in some very unpleasant seas in the Solent with wind against tide and she’s behaved beautifully.”
Clearly then, the Hunt 52’s hull is as capable as its layout is unusual – and it really is something out of the ordinary. With its one permanent cabin, it flies in the face of convention for a traditional 52-footer but it does so with such infectious commitment and style. As the owner puts it, if cabins are not at the top of your priority list, then whoever buys this boat will feel very lucky indeed.
As a 52-footer with only one proper cabin, the bathroom is remarkably large and luxurious
Hunt 52 specifications
MODEL: Hunt Yachts 52
DESIGNER: C Raymond Hunt and Associates
HULL TYPE: Deep-vee
RCD: Category B
LOA: 57ft 3in (17.45m)
BEAM: 15ft 8in (4.78m)
DRAFT: 4ft 6in (1.37m)
DISPLACEMENT: 24,495kg
FUEL CAPACITY: 3,220L
WATER CAPACITY: 760L
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 8l/nm @ 20 knots est. (All fuel figures are estimated – based on a Princess V55 with Volvo D13s)
RANGE: 300nm at 20 knots with 20% reserve est
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