What Makes the Hunter a Coastal Cruiser ?

[imagine2frolic]

I chartered a Hunter 42CC for 2 weeks in the Bahamas. What I didn't like was the swept back spreaders for reasons mentioned, She felt quite tender in a big gust. I would've liked more storage instead of the tiny tub.

It had good accommodations for 2 couples. The interior, and cockpit both had a great layout. Did I mention the tiny tub thingy?........i2f

[goboatingnow]

what , wheres all the valient, taswell, tayana lot , have they been bowled over by the logic in this thread.

sitting back now

Dave

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

what , wheres all the valient, taswell, tayana lot , have they been bowled over by the logic in this thread.

sitting back now

Dave

they must be too buy getting stuff fixed at great expense

[ozskipper]

I have spent time on two small Hunters. One was on a 31 foot boat -delivery from melbourne oz to Sydney via Bass Strait. The other was on a legend 335- delivery from Townsville to Hamilton Island (Whitsundays) then raced for a week then returned.

The experience on the 31 was somewhat scary. It was a new boat. We were caught in a typical Bass Strait blow with 45knots of puff and an opposing current. The waves were standing up and we chose to turn and run. We spent the next 36hours on a broad reach with a 3rd reef in the main and no headsail. The boat sailed very well and at no time did we feel like it was going to let us down

We did however, have serious problems with the new yanmar and the radio. Air got into the fuel system and I remember saying to myself that I never want to bleed another at sea ever again. Everything took 5 times as long as it would at a marina. Its not the engines fault that there was air in the system. We still can only guess how it got there. The radio issue is a long one- I wont bore you now.

The delivery on the 335 was fantastic. Typical Queensland sunshine and 15-20 knots SE of breeze. We were racing at a regatta at Hamilton Island, one of the more well known isles in the whitsunday group. We had four men sleeping on board. We were all comfy and had our own "space" at night.

Performance wise, the legend 335 suffers from windage around the marina. Its freeboard is quite high for a little boat. But the winged keel certainly helps the boat going to windard.

All that freeboard means more space inside. There are few production boats with as much room as this boat. This boat had a backstay. It aslo has a very tall rig. 50+feet from memory. All that sail area meant we could give a mighty challenge to bigger boats. It was a nice feeling to sail past a 40 foot beneteau.

I am considering a Hunter myself at the moment. So I am more that interested in hearing any negatives as well.

Cheers
Oz

[ShipShape]

what , wheres all the valient, taswell, tayana lot , have they been bowled over by the logic in this thread.

they must be too buy getting stuff fixed at great expense

Ouch! Talk about hitting the head right on the nail.

Busy fixing stuff - yes! Stuff on boats wears out, and the Classic Plastic hulls are holding up well. It is worth fixing up our old boats - I know my boat will still be going strong long after I am gone. But the expense depends on the quality and quantity of whatever is being fixed. It is possible to spend a little or a lot on any boat, although it is seems to usually be the seller who spent a little and the buyer who spends a lot.

Does anybody foresee 75 year-old White Plastic Boats?

Interesting thread with lots of great info BTW, some of you have made impressively informative contributions - Thanks!

[rhr1956]

The wife and I plan to escape in about three years. I'll be late 56-57 and she's only four years behind me. The kids all in they're twenties. At this point we are leaning toward a newer...5-10 year old price-point boat in the 40-45 foot range. She grew up in New England and has sailed offshore some. I owned a 21 West Wight Potter on fresh water in Texas for about 8 years. We honeymooned in the BVI for a week on a 54 Jeanneau. That is the extent of our sailing experience. Neither of us are afraid to make the jump as we are both inclined to try things new. Ultimately we want to spend time in the caribbean and have family visit us there from time to time. Also plan to visit New England and Texas annually during hurricane season. Not sure how to approach the storage of the boat while we are not on it. Any suggestions, thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

[duncan_ellison]

Three suggestions :

1) Since this is a 'why not a Hunter' thread, if you choose a 2006+ Hunter in the 45ft range, you'll get a lot of boat for your money that the Admiral will like too. If you are going to spend serious time on the boat as opposed to weekending, this is more important than you can imagine.

2) Get lessons (both of you)

3) Make sure you find a boat with a bow thruster already installed.

Duncan
S/V TALISA

[Bash]

The base price of a Hunter 49 is $310,000 (although you can easily run that up another 100k with options, especially if you're interested in such things as air conditioning and a generator.) The base price of an Oyster 49 is $1,015,000. Is the Oyster a nicer boat? Definitely. Is it worth three times the Hunter? You'd have to be pretty wealthy to think so.

Lets look at this differently. Let's say you're in the market for a new boat in the range of 1/3 of a million dollars. Boats such as a Hinkley or an Oyster are automatically out of your budget because they don't make anything that small. You could look at a boat like a Tartan, Waquiez, or Sabre but at that point you'll be purchasing a much smaller boat than the same budget would buy in a Beneteau, Hunter or Catalina.

One of the things you'll discover about that latter group, is that the quality of the materials, workmanship, et cetera goes way up when you get to the top boats in their lines. My wife and I spent a week last summer cruising a friend's Tartan 43 in the San Juan Islands. It was a nice boat, but we didn't feel that it was significantly nicer than our H46LE, which in its day was the top boat in Hunter's line. The Tartan was plagued by problems with its systems, from plumbing to electrical to rigging and even the windlass. We had very few such problems with the Hunter, and had an easier time getting warranty work done. My point here is not to bad-mouth the Tartan. However, the big question was whether we would have traded pink slips straight across. Honestly, we would not have wanted to. We were surprised to discover that we liked our Hunter more than the Tartan, and not just because the accommodations were more comfy. The fact was that we felt our Hunter outsailed the smaller boat. We wish our Hunter had the Tartan's carbon mast, epoxy hull, et cetera, but we're happy with the compromises that have been made to keep our boat affordable. It was clearly the most boat we could get for the amount of money we were able to spend at the time. In the end, we can live with a kevlar-reinforced, vacuum-bagged fiberglass hull that's built like a tank.

[simonmd]

Probably one of the most sensible comments i've read on these forums!

Originally Posted by duncan_ellison

We'd all like an IP, a Sweden Yacht or an Oyster, but I'd rather be sailing in my Hunter than saving forever for something I can't afford.

I'm still primarily a motoryacht person so do not pretend to know a great deal on the subject. However, I am presently on the search for my first 'proper' sailboat and I keep coming up with Hunters on my shortlist.

Prices are a bit more expensive here in Europe but I can still afford a late '90's Hunter 376-410 that are mainly one owner models that seem to have much more to offer than the often older European models.

There does seem to be some 'anti Hunter' feelings about. I'm wondering if it's because these people want to keep them all for themselves!

[bgallinger]

I have been sailing a Hunter 340 for several years and heartily agree with your points Duncan!

[hogfighter]

Where is the OP?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by kingairpilot

Wow, Hunter Love...didn't think it existed. Since I've been researching Hunter's (the 45CC) and really like the layout, this is nice to see. Perhaps one of these days, I'll be joining you guys as a liveaboard cruiser in a Hunter..

ka

I picked a Hunter as a happy compromise for a newer sailor/live-aboard. The head room is remarkable, but there is a cost to that high freeboard. When this boat had a stackpack, the combination resulted in a rigid, unmoveable sail I felt that could be a real risk to a newer sailor, hated the stack pack anyway (very high up, hard to manage, zipper breaks frequently). Took that canvas off and used the remaining lines to created a 'lazy jack,' much happier with that.

But yes, the rudder is exposed. I just replaced mine. The people at Foss Foam are TERRIFIC to work with should you ever share my fate.

[Joli]

Simply put, scantlings.......

There are functional diferences in hull custruction and layup, hull to deck flanges, attachment methodology, rudders, gear, rigging, bulkhead attachments... those differences cost money. A Hunter 49 is not comparable to a Hinkly 52 in cost or quality. The scantlings of a Hinkley SW 52 are better then a Hunter 49.

Do people sail all manner of boats around the world? Sure but the recent news of Bene off Bermuda shows you the limits of a boat built to lighter scantlings.

Flame away..........

Originally Posted by Patric

I have been looking at used boats and have seen a large # of used Hunters on the market at relatively cheap prices. I have been told not to buy one if I plan on cruising off shore alot. Are they unsafe or do they handle poorly? What's the real story behind this good looking boat?

[boatman61]

Heavier... Lighter.... all boats break...
Its just a case of being in the wrong place at the right time...
most manage to avoid it...

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Joli

Do people sail all manner of boats around the world? Sure but the recent news of Bene off Bermuda shows you the limits of a boat built to lighter scantlings.

Flame away..........

Yeah. But I still hadn't read where/what on that Bene broke as far as where the water coming in was from. Did the hull/deck fail?

Some recent insurance stuff I read about the older "solid" hull boats is that they aren't really stronger just because they are thicker. It comes domw more to the type of hull lay-up than the "solid thickness".