This might as well be a gun thread as the opinions are bound to get as polarized
. I generally don't participate in these 'Hunter yes or no' debates as they seem to bring out the worst in people, but since the OP seems minded to give
Hunter a fair chance, I thought I would chip in.
Having owned my
Hunter 45CC since 2008, I can only tell you that both myself and my wife absolutely love it.
We are about to kick off on a 12 month
cruise from
Newport, RI to the
carribean and back. I'll resurect this thread when I get back and let you know if I'm still in love.
I've crawled over every inch of the
boat running wires and generally making it a little more 'blue water' and I can tell you that I haven't discovered a
single nasty yet.
Sure it's not an IP or a Halberg Rassy where time served carpenters have sweated for days over a
single piece of internal cabinetry, but frankly I bought the
boat to use, not to admire the beauty of the
teak fiddles.
The lamination looks sound and plenty thick on the
hull with kevlar re-inforcement at the bow. The
keel is a huge hunk of solid lead. All the
hardware comes from
Lewmar and Selden (relatively new to the US, but in
Europe considered to be probably THE best spars, but pricey).
I have no problems running
cables despite the 'glued in' grid, there are plenty conduits with spare space.
Performance is average to good for a heavy, beamy cruising yacht with a ton of extra creature comforts. That's fine with me, I'd rather have ice for the G&T than beat someone around the cans.
As for downwind, I do agree it's kinda annoying when the main presses against the spreaders, but I have a cunning plan involving Spinakers to solve that.
Only negative so far (on this particular design) is the lack of
storage, as most every locker already has something installed in it (2 x A/C units /
inverter / Bose system ...)
If it weren't for the B&R rig, I wouldn't be able to use my favourite yard as I couldn't otherwise get on the travelift without dropping the
mast, which I'm not prepared to do each
lift out.
If it weren't for the
furling main, there's no way I could enjoy such a large boat with only two of us
crewing.
If it weren't for the walk round Queen
bed , I wouldn't be doing this at all as the wife wouldn't have a) sanctioned the
purchase and b) agreed to come with me. [ yes, yes, yes .... I know it will be hell in a seaway, but I'll live with that for the rather more days I will spend comfortably at anchor]
The
price was right and I got what I consider to be one hell of a boat for the
money.
I am prepared to concede that the 45CC is one of the newer Hunter designs from Glen Henderson (like the 49/50) and I have little experience with the smaller or older designs. I do have a snaking suspicion that Hunter went all out to prove the naysayers wrong on these designs.
So in the end you pays your
money and you takes your choice, but so far mine's holding up good. So far I agree with the OP - what's not to like ?
Duncan & Joan
S/Y TALISA
Newport, RI