Traditional Sailing on Traditional Gaff Rig Keel Boats

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A family onboard a wooden half-decker ready to sail on the Norfolk Broads

2 Hour Skippered Sails

We run a broad range of RYA and in house Keelboat training courses on both our cabin yachts and half deckers. Our highly experienced team of Senior Instructors.

Traditional wooden Wood class cabin yacht sailing on the Norfolk Broads

Cabin Yachts

Explore our unique fleet of wooden 1930s Hunter yachts; consisting of 2-berth, 3-berth and 4-berth gaff rig, fixed keel and self tacking…

Traditional wooden half-decker Buff Tip sailing on the Norfolk Broads

Half Deckers

With 8 traditional wooden half-deckers to choose from, you’re sure to find one of our Gunter rigs or balanced lugsails a real treat to sail on the Norfolk Broads. All of our day boats are great to sail…

Traditional wooden half-decker Sundew with students learning to sail

Learn to Sail & RYA Courses

We run a broad range of RYA and in house Keelboat training courses on both our cabin yachts and half deckers. Our highly experienced team of Senior Instructors.

Lullaby sailing on the Broads

Traditional Sailing Holidays on the Norfolk Broads

Come and enjoy a truly unique sailing holiday experience on the Norfolk Broads with your family and friends.

People have enjoyed Hunter’s traditional Norfolk Broads sailing yachts since Percy Hunter first opened the yard in the 1930s, over 90 years on and we are still helping holidaymakers to create countless memories on our humble waterways.

Whether it’s a short break or a long stay, our traditional Broads sailing yachts provide the perfect platform to admire the striking wonder of the Norfolk Broads.

We offer complete self-catering holiday packages for families, friends and groups. Sailing experience is required, but if you’re a novice why not try one of our special Learn to Sail Holidays?

Popular Traditional Norfolk Broads Sailing Holiday Package Example –

  • Take the helm of one of our Lullaby Class Yachts – 4 Berth Cabins (with option for 5th person)
  • Ideal for families – Parents with children or young adults – with separate sleeping cabins
  • Sail only – the traditional Eco-friendly sailing holiday – low impact and environmentally sensitive
  • Onboard facilities include flushing toilet, gas cooking and equipment, comfortable sleeping bunks
  • Full Safety Equipment supplied – Fully supported by our Boatyard Team
  • Free onsite parking (one car per boat)
  • 7-day Bookings – 2pm Saturday to 9am Saturday (alternative start times by arrangement)

Our Fleet

FROM £95

Brown Bess

Brown Bess is a single sailed balanced lug and particularly stable and easy to sail. She is a favourite of our customers and perfect for any who may have limited sailing experience.

Our half deckers are perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

– Seats up to four people

– Oars & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

 

FROM £97

Buff Tip

Buff Tip is a Gunter Rigged Yare & Bure One Design that is also known as a White Boat.

– Seats up to five people

– Oars & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

Our half deckers are perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

FROM £370

Hustler 1 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib.

FROM £344

Hustler 2

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £370

Hustler 3 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £370

Hustler 4 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £344

Hustler 5

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £472

Lucent with Engine

Lullaby Class – 4-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloops with Self Tacking Jibs and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £106

Lucky Rebel

Our Rebels are three of a select few available for hire on the Norfolk Broads presenting a rare opportunity for an exhilarating sail on this high performance class.

Experienced skippers only please.

If you are an experienced Half-Decker sailor then sailing a Rebel is a real treat and perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

– Seats up to five people

– Paddles & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

All of our half deckers can travel under bridges by lowering the mast. The masts on our Rebels are quite heavy and we recommend it is only attempted after full instruction from our team at the yard.  Please get in touch for advice if you’re planning on heading through any bridges on your holiday.

FROM £95

Brown Bess

Brown Bess is a single sailed balanced lug and particularly stable and easy to sail. She is a favourite of our customers and perfect for any who may have limited sailing experience.

Our half deckers are perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

– Seats up to four people

– Oars & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

 

FROM £97

Buff Tip

Buff Tip is a Gunter Rigged Yare & Bure One Design that is also known as a White Boat.

– Seats up to five people

– Oars & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

Our half deckers are perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

FROM £370

Hustler 1 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib.

FROM £344

Hustler 2

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £370

Hustler 3 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £370

Hustler 4 with Engine

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £344

Hustler 5

Hustler Class – 2-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloop with Self Tacking Jib and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £472

Lucent with Engine

Lullaby Class – 4-berth, fixed keel, gaff sloops with Self Tacking Jibs and counter weight mast lowering.

FROM £106

Lucky Rebel

Our Rebels are three of a select few available for hire on the Norfolk Broads presenting a rare opportunity for an exhilarating sail on this high performance class.

Experienced skippers only please.

If you are an experienced Half-Decker sailor then sailing a Rebel is a real treat and perfect for camping on the river under the stars or mooring outside of your holiday cottage.

– Seats up to five people

– Paddles & Mud weight provided

– Boat cover doubles as camping awning

– ‘Biscuit’ Mattresses available for sleeping onboard

– Buoyancy Jackets supplied

– 5 litre water containers available upon request

– Fixed Keel

All of our half deckers can travel under bridges by lowering the mast. The masts on our Rebels are quite heavy and we recommend it is only attempted after full instruction from our team at the yard.  Please get in touch for advice if you’re planning on heading through any bridges on your holiday.

Frequently asked questions

We don’t ask for formal qualifications but expect you to have sailed recently as the skipper in charge.  Good dinghy helmsmen have no difficulty sailing our boats but experienced seas-sailors can find Broads sailing a bit different at first.

Our boats are provided with a quant (a type of punt pole) and instruction is given on its use.  We have a programme to fit electric flooding propeller motors to the cabin yachts and a number have already been fitted.  These motors are not designed for sustained motoring but just to use in awkward situations, like getting off a leashore, mooring and bridges.  Our day-boats are supplied with either oars or paddles.

Yes, and currents and tidal flows do affect sailing, particularly in light winds.  Tide tables are provided on the boats or on the ‘Aweigh’ app.  The tides do affect the clearance at some bridges too.  The tidal range in most of the rivers and broads is normally less than 10cm.

Each cabin yacht has two drawers under each bunk (capable of holding the contents of a reasonable sized suitcase) and further storage beside the bunk.  Storage space for suitcases/bags is limited so it’s best to unpack and leave bags in your car.  There are two large drawers in the well for food storage and bulky items can be stored in the forepeak.

Our boats have no power supply for refrigerators.  A good quality cold box will keep food cold for up to three days and we (and other boatyards) have the facility to re-freeze freezer blocks.

It was truly a delight to fulfil an ambition held for over 60 years since first I saw a Hunter’s yacht sailing!  Although we have hired half deckers a few times it was a yacht I really wanted to sail. It was a delight in every way, despite the weather. The boat was so well turned out and it all “worked”, clearly maintained with great care. What a fine bunch of ‘lads’ you must have!

– John

Just to say we had wonderful sailing in your beautiful boats. We were so lucky with the weather and saw the Broads at their best. Everyone enjoyed their two days. We feel it is a privilege to sail your boats. They certainly got admired as we were sailing along.

– Teresa

Thank you for having Hustler ready and waiting for us on Tuesday. We had a lovely two days of sailing on a beautiful sailing boat and we were very lucky with the weather. I appreciated the electric engine with mooring and feel it is a wonderful addition to some of your lovely ladies for us third age people.

– Joyce

A rather belated email to say thank you to all of you at Hunter’s Yard. We had such a great time sailing and really appreciated the help and support of all your team. You should be received a box of drinkable stuff on Friday at some point. Just a small thank you for all of us (we’ve sent another one directly to Mike!).

– Fiona

Another good weekend Vikki. All fine on Luna. Thanks to you and the staff for all your hard work in keeping the yard afloat in these difficult times. Look forward to seeing you again next year

– Phil

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