Hardin 44/45 (Bounty 44, Hardin 44, Hardin 45, Hardin Voyager 45)

Status: conflicting

Bill Hardin's own design and the company's best-known boat: a heavy, long-keeled, centre-cockpit staysail ketch with a split-level raised saloon, a big aft stateroom and two heads. It was first imported in 1977 as the Bounty 44. Around 1980 it was revised to 45'2" with a shallower 5'6" draft, a trimmed transom and the aft hull ports moved to the cabin trunk, and brokers now call every boat of the family a Hardin 45. 'Hardin 44', 'Voyager 45' and 'Voyager 44' are names for the same family. A few were built in a charter layout with a V-berth and an extra double cabin. Hull no. 100 was Bill Hardin's own boat in Hong Kong [CW]. Shawnee (1978) is an early, pre-revision hull. Variant: Island Trader 45 (same hull, different deck).

years

1977 to the mid-1980s [CW]; 1977-1982 [BWB]; builder active to 1988 [SBD-BUILDER]. Revised around 1980 [CW, SBD-H4445, BWB-H45]

number built

About 130 [CW, SBD-H4445, BWB-H45]; about 160 (owner's estimate) [TPC]

rig

Staysail ketch [SBD-H4445]; some cutter-rigged [GOB-H]

loa

44.50 ft / 13.56 m [SBD-H4445]; 45'2" / 13.8 m after the c.1980 revision [SG-H45, BWB-H45, CW]; 44'6" (Shawnee, 1978) [OLD-SITE]; 45' on the Shawnee floor plan [local plan]. LOD: not published separately

lwl

32.33 ft / 9.85 m [SBD-H4445]; 34'6" / 10.5 m [SG-H45, BWB-H45]; 33 ft (Shawnee) [OLD-SITE]; 36.83 ft [GOB-H] (outlier)

beam

13.33 ft / 4.06 m [SBD-H4445]; 13'3" [SG-H45]; 13'4" [BWB-H45, OLD-SITE]; 13.25 ft [GOB-H]

draft

5.92 ft / 1.80 m [SBD-H4445]; 6'0" before c.1980, 5'6" after [CW, BWB-H45, SG-H45]; 6' (Shawnee) [OLD-SITE]; 6.17 ft [GOB-H]

displacement

32,000 lb / 14,515 kg [SBD-H4445, SG-H45, BWB-H45]; 30,000 lb (Shawnee) [OLD-SITE]

ballast

8,500 lb iron / 3,856 kg [SBD-H4445, SG-H45, BWB-H45, OLD-SITE]

sail area

809 sq ft reported [SBD-H4445, BWB-H45]; 706 sq ft fore and main triangles, I 45.8 / J 18.5 / P 39.5 / E 14.3 ft [SBD-H4445]; mast 56 ft above waterline [SBD-H4445, BWB-H45]

fuel

200 US gal / 757 L [SBD-H4445, BWB-H45, OLD-SITE]

water

200 US gal / 757 L [SBD-H4445, BWB-H45, OLD-SITE]; holding tank 25 US gal [BWB-H45]

engine

Isuzu C-240, 60 hp diesel [SBD-H4445]; Lehman Ford 2712E on a 1979 boat [LST-SHEST]; engines varied by hull

designer

Bill (R. W.) Hardin [SBD-H4445, SG-H45, BWB-H45, CW]; 'Unknown' [GOB-H]

builder

Hardin International Co. Ltd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan [CW, SBD-H4445]; US importer/dealer East-West Yachts, Marina del Rey, California [CW, BWB-H45]

Sources: CW; SBD-H4445; SG-H45; BWB-H45; GOB-H; OLD-SITE; KI (search snippet); LST-SHEST (search snippet); TPC (search snippet)