C. Raymond Hunt Associates (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Ray Hunt Design) is an American

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

design firm, based in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

. The company specializes in the design of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s and

powerboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...

s. The company was founded by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel in 1966. Deknatel remains the chairman, while the current president is Winn Willard. In 2023 the company had seven employees. Hunt and his firm are noted as being the only designers of that period that achieved international success in both powerboat and sailboat design.

Founder

International 110 sailboat going to weather

C. Raymond Hunt was born in 1908 and completed his formal education only as far as two years at

Phillips Andover Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

prep school. He had no formal training in naval architecture. The Hunt family were members of the

Duxbury Yacht Club The Duxbury Yacht Club (DYC) is a private club located in Duxbury, Massachusetts that offers sailing, golf, tennis, paddle, swimming, and junior activities. It was founded in 1875 and was incorporated in 1895. The DYC is unique among yacht clubs in ...

(DYC) in

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 ...

, Massachusetts in the 1920s. In 1923, Hunt was the captain of the DYC Junior Sailing Crew, leading it to victory in the 1923 Sears Cup in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

. This was the first sailing championship for the DYC since its establishment in 1875 and a victory over the principal yacht clubs of Massachusetts and New York. Hunt competed as captain of crews representing the DYC in the Sears Cup in 1925 and 1926, winning his second championship title in the event in 1926. Upon his successes in these competitions, Hunt was invited to tea with US President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

, who at the time was vacationing in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Hunt also won the DYC junior golf championship in 1926. Prior to founding the firm in 1966, Hunt had already established a name by designing the

Concordia yawls The Concordia yawl is a class of wooden yawl sailboats; it was designed in 1938 by the naval architect C. Raymond Hunt with input from Llewellyn and Waldo Howland, Clinton Crane, Fenwick Williams and Frank Paine. Earlier that year, the Colin Arche ...

in 1938, the

International 110 The International 110 is an American sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt as a one-design racer and first built in 1939.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 122-123. Houghton Mi ...

in 1939 and the 1958

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

12 Meter defender ''Easterner''. He designed a number of 5.5 Meter sailboats, including the boats that won the

1960 Summer Olympic Games The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. His captained his own 5.5 meter design, ''Chaje II'' to the 1963 5.5 Meter World Championships. He also designed the

Boston Whaler Boston Whaler is an American boat manufacturer. It is a subsidiary of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. Boston Whalers were originally produced in Massachusetts, hence the name, but today are manufactured in Edg ...

. He invented the "deep vee" powerboat hull design, which uses a high-deadrise. This proved successful in offshore racing through the 1960s. The deep vee was never patented, as a small sailing magazine had published an article describing it the year before his patent application, making the design

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. His business partner, Deknatel, said of him, "Ray was a self-effacing, quiet guy—the antithesis of any of that snooty, yachty stuff." Hunt died in 1978 at age 70.

History

The company was founded in 1966 by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel with the concept of applying the "deep vee" hull concept to a wider range of boats. The firm started designing for the production and custom markets. Powerboat manufacturer that produced Hunt designs included Bertram,

, Robalo, Cruisers,

Chris-Craft Corporation Chris-Craft Corporation is an American manufacturer of recreational powerboats that is based in Sarasota, Florida. Since June 4, 2018, the company has been owned by Winnebago Industries, an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles.Galvin, ...

, 4 Winns, Southport, Grand Banks, SeaArk, Regal and

Wellcraft Wellcraft is a brand of American powerboats. It was founded in 1955, making wooden runabouts. The company is owned by Groupe Beneteau, part of its Rec Boat subsidiary. Acquisitions In 1982, Wellcraft purchased California Yachts from the Marsha ...

. The company has designed all the hulls used by Grady-White Boats since the 1990s. The company also designed custom yachts for Burger, Palmer Johnson, Hinckley, Lyman-Morse, Nautor and Royal Huisman. In the sailboat market the company did design work for Cal Yachts,

O'Day Corp O'Day Corp. was an America sailboat builder, located in Fall River, Massachusetts. History It was founded in 1958 by George O'Day, the American Olympic and World champion sailor. George O'Day sold the company to Bangor Punta Corporation in 1966 ...

, Ranger Yachts and

Paceship Yachts Paceship Yachts Limited was a Canada, Canadian, and later United States, American, boat builder originally based in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The company was founded in 1962 and specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. ...

. Newspaper owner Phil Weld sailed his Hunt-designed

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...

''Moxie'' to win the 1980

Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in t ...

. In the 1970s the firm entered the commercial boat market and the military market. They produced designs for several navies, coast guards and police departments as well as for fire departments. Among his naval designs was a 34-foot patrol boat for the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as well as several

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

hull designs. The company started its own boat building subsidiary in 1998. Called ''Hunt Yachts'', it built high-end powerboats in the size range. It was building about 30 to 40 boats per year in 2013. The division was sold to Hinckley Yachts in 2013.

Boats

Summary of boats designed by C. Raymond Hunt and C. Raymond Hunt Associates: * Concordia 25 - 1938 * Concordia 40 - 1938 *

- 1939 * International 210 - 1946 * Concordia 41 - 1957 * O'Day 22 - 1972 * O'Day 23-1 (Lift Top) - 1972 * Paceship PY 26 - 1972 * O'Day 22 MH - 1973 * O'Day 20 - 1973 * Paceship PY 23 - 1973 *

O'Day 25 The O'Day 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 300. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. Production The boat was built ...

- 1975 * O'Day 32 - 1975 * O'Day 32 Ketch - 1975 *

O'Day 30 The O'Day 30 is an American sailboat that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates as a cruiser and first built in 1977.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 214-215. Houghton Mifflin Compan ...

- 1977 * O'Day 37 - 1977 * Ranger 30 - 1977 * O'Day 23-2 - 1978 *

O'Day 28 The O'Day 28 is an American sailboat, that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates and first built in 1978. Production The design was built by O'Day Corp. (owned by Bangor Punta and later Lear Siegler) in the United States between 1978 a ...

- 1978 * O'Day 19 - 1979 * O'Day 34 - 1980 * Tanzer 27 - 1982 * Cal 24-3 - 1983 * O'Day 26 - 1983 * O'Day 222 - 1984 * O'Day 192 - 1984 * O'Day 35 - 1984 * Cal 22 - 1984 * Cal 33 - 1984 * Cal 44 - 1984 * O'Day 31 - 1985 *

O'Day 272 The O'Day 272 is an American sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt of C.R. Hunt & Associates and first built in 1985. Production The design was built by O'Day Corp., a division of Lear Siegler, in the United States from 1985 until 1989 ...

- 1985 * Cal 28-2 - 1985 * O'Day 40 - 1986 * O'Day 322 - 1986 * Cal 39 (Hunt/O'Day) - 1988 * O'Day 240 - 1988 * O'Day 280 - 1988 * O'Day 302 - 1988 * O'Day 290 - 1989 * O'Day 250 - 1996

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.rayhuntdesign.com/ C. Raymond Hunt Associates

Founder

History

Boats

See also

References

External links