Review of Horizon 23

Basic specs.

The Horizon 23 aka Hunter Horizon 23 is a small sailboat designed by the British maritime architect David Thomas in the late eighties. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Horizon 23 is built by the British yard Hunter Boats Ltd..

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 4 berths and a galley.

Rig

Rig of Horizon 23 anno 1990. Adjusting the reefing pennant

The boat equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

The Horizon 23 has been built with more than one type of keel.

One option is a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.But be aware that even though a Twin Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

Another option is a bilge keel. A bilge keel is a double keel, which allows the boat to be beached. Bilge keels are the most popular keel for tidal waters.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.94 - 1.04 meter (3.08 - 3.38 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

Horizon 23 is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar 1GM10 diesel engine at 9.0 hp (6 kW), which gives a max speed about 5.7 knots.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Horizon 23 is 2.43, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 5.7 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Horizon 23 is about 96 kg/cm, alternatively 538 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 96 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 538 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Horizon 23 is 12.5.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 31% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Horizon 23 is 2.68.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 76% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Horizon 23 is 52%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 92% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Horizon 23 is 204 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Horizon 23 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.4.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Horizon 23 has more rig than 79% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 15m² (161 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	20.9 m	(68.5 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	20.9 m	(68.5 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	20.9 m	(68.5 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	6.9 m	(22.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	6.9 m	(22.7 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	17.3 m	(56.8 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	15.2 m	(50.0 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	2.7 m	(9.0 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	5.5 m	(18.0 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	5.5 m	(18.0 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Horizon 23 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.