The design of the Hurley 24 was very modern when she was introduced into the Hurley range in 1972. She has a fin and skeg hull form, like the later introduced 30/90, as opposed to the semi long keel of the 18 and 22 or the longkeel of the 27. She was also available as a bilge keeler. She has a modern reverse-counter transom giving low wetted area and a long water-line for extra performance. Hurley 24/70 has a high aspect ration mainsail and big genoa for speed and manoeuvrability.

I have found that I rarely need to reef the main as it is so narrow but it does not power the boat at all if the wind is light if used on its own. However, it is a convenient way of displaying her sail number. An advantage of having a high aspect mainsail is that the boom is short. It does not encroach into the cockpit and is therefore very safe and convenient especially when sailing with children or novices. I have found my H24 Omega to be an excellent family boat, with plenty of space below, a deep safe cockpit and high freeboard to keep crew dry. These is always a but in yacht design. The side decks are too narrow to allow for easy movement forward and the coachroof is high so visibility forward when seated in the cockpit is a problem unless the vessel is healing over a bit. Below there are two separate cabins with 6’ headroom in the main saloon. She has 4 six foot berths and an enclosed heads compartment. Most have inboards but a few were factory built with outboards and were slightly cheaper. Having so much accommodation leads to the problem of windage on the high freeboard topsides.

I have owned Omega for 16 years now and love her dearly. I have sailed her across the channel many times. She is safe but also sporty and satisfying to sail.

Like many Hurley’s they can suffer from mast compression and osmosis. More about these problems can bee found on this site. More photographs can be found in the gallery and you can see my account of Hurley ownership in the Documents pages.

Interestingly there was only one mould for the 24/70. The keel combination was made up by bolting modular keel moulds into place which provides the moulded bulb keel shape that is so useful without the need for keel bolts that provide so much trouble for owners of other makes. As a surveyor I found keel bolts to be the most problematic area of vessels and they give owners a lot of anxiety.