Beneteau 343 vs Hunter 340: buying advice sought

[DDabs]

I doubt the Hunter will be any better at the "pounding" issue. The Beneteau is about ~6000 lbs. heavier than the Hunter, for what it's worth.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by DDabs

I doubt the Hunter will be any better at the "pounding" issue. The Beneteau is about ~6000 lbs. heavier than the Hunter, for what it's worth.

6000 pounds?????
Actually, according to the manufacturer's specs, the B343 displacement is 11,800 pounds. The H340 displacement 11,400 pounds. Been a while since grade school but I think that is a 400 pound difference. Trivial.

Regardless, it's more a function of hull form than weight/displacement.

My intent isn't to criticize B but rather to note my experience in sailing both.

[DDabs]

My bad, sailboatdata had both its pages for the 343 stating displacement was 17k lbs.

[tortuga68]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Putting in a central A/C system is just going to be a matter of running the ducting...

I believe there is also a small matter of installing a compressor, evaporator, fan, controls and so on

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Retrofitting AC isn't a consideration in choosing a boat

I'm not concerned about whether it's possible. I am however concerned about whether the parts will be available here in the Philippines, and what the cost would be to purchase & install them. I think that's a relevant consideration when comparing two boats where one has AC and the other doesn't.

[tortuga68]

Well, I went aboard the Beneteau today. As expected, fairly similar to the Hunter in overall design. I have to say the Hunter was better maintained and presented despite being 9 years older. It was really immaculate. The Beneteau looks like it's been sitting for the best part of the last 5 years while her owner only comes here on holidays to sail her. Which is the case as far as I can gather. Other than that, which isn't critical, and the AC/generator on the Hunter, I can't pick much difference between them visually.


On the topic of AC, I received an estimate of $2700 to retrofit it. Apparently the boat needs to get hauled to have a water intake installed for the cooling. That could be done at a later date, maybe during the next antifoul (was last done in 2015). The marine generator is a bigger cost, the Paguro model (as fitted to the Hunter) is around $7,000 alone... so the total cost of upgrading with new components would be almost $10k

[tortuga68]

Planning to make an offer on the Beneteau... from researching more than 40 other B343s listed on yachtworld, apolloduck and theyachtmarket, the asking price of $79,500 seems about 10% high to me for a 2008 model with similar spec. So I think a firm offer of -25% ($60k) is reasonable, pending survey.

Any thoughts?

[danstanford]

Originally Posted by tortuga68

Planning to make an offer on the Beneteau... from researching more than 40 other B343s listed on yachtworld, apolloduck and theyachtmarket, the asking price of $79,500 seems about 10% high to me for a 2008 model with similar spec. So I think a firm offer of -25% ($60k) is reasonable, pending survey.

Any thoughts?

I agree with your assessment of the pricing. About 6 weeks ago we bought a 2007 B323 so we did lots of looking. Would really have preferred a 343 but there were none for sale anywhere near us and we really loved this boat so did it. You will love the Beneteau features and quality not to mention handling.

Dan

[a64pilot]

Sometimes boats up for sale, the owner really may not want to sell, so they price high.
Not always, but sometimes.

[tortuga68]

I saw some B343s listed for well over $100k so yes I agree that happens sometimes. However the 2 boats in question are definitely for sale. One owner just bought a replacement and the other has left the country.


On a side note, FWIW I noticed that prices on sailboatlistings.com were significantly higher than the other sites I mentioned, like 50% higher on average. The 5 most expensive 343s I found were all on SBL