Do Hunters Make Good Bluewater / Liveaboard Boats ?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Never noticed it on a hunter ,but I have seen lots and lots on Tiawan boats and a few from Europe...

Builders adopting a "what the punter can't see won't harm" approach is not a modern invention. Not to say that "can't see" has been designed in nowadays with hull linings, but always nice to see the bones of a boat..

[topfish]

Originally Posted by Chrisgo

A lot of pages and not many answers.

I have a fraction share of a 2005 Hunter 33. What concerns me most about it's rough water capability is it's hull shape. It does appear to pound much more than older narrower boats. I would be worried about the stresses this would put on the rig after awhile.

Other than that, it appears to be well built. This particular boat is in the water for 6 months each season and get's sailed pretty much every day. It's probably the busiest sailboat on Lake Ontario. In and out of it's slip twice a day when the weather is good, (fraction time is broken up into 2 slots per day). It's been out in gales. Crossed the lake more than anyone knows, been run aground by yours truly and, generally seen more use than a charter boat. To this day, it looks almost new. It has had things break, but most of the issues have been related to parts unrelated to Hunter.

No ports leak, no rigging has broken, no rudders have fallen off. The doors to the cabins all shut properly.

And chicks dig it.

Next year it will be put up for sale for about $100,000. That's a pretty good retention of value in my eyes.

But I don't think I would want to sail it on an ocean passage, strictly because of damage the hull shape may cause in sustained rough condition of 2 or 3 days.

Great Point Chrisgo!!!

I have enjoyed reading this thread.. Really enjoy sailing the Dana 24 which many think is to small. I can not express to those who never been on one how sturdy the little BIG boat feels. Also sailing on families H33 for 7 years (also a great boat). It just feels real tender to me- I had to get used to that feeling. That Hunter was a great Boat even for a 3 week passage up the NW coast WA/BC.. Great defined as (plenty of room for 3 adults- we all had our space and All Personal Gear was stowed, lots of comfort, sailed well in the light winds, easy to sail and adapt to changing conditions). I recall the boats motion when the wind was over 20 knots with two reefs- my First Thought, this is OK for a short duration, but would not want to be like this for 2 or more days. *** That was a good point Chrisgo about the constant pounding on long cruises.***

That Hunter is rated A/6 I believe.. I understand the ratings meaning A = open ocean- **(not sure what factors are used to determine a "A" rating)??

Chrisgo, that Hunter 33 was a 2004 bought new and just sold prior to Christmas 2011 (3 months on market in Seattle).. Sold for 85K (new was 100K in 2004). Not bad for a Hunter in the Pacific North West Economy. That 100K did not include all the additional upgrades (they were for personal use but did help set it apart from other boats on market). I think that sailtime boat probably has upgrades above that 100K price Chrisgo.

Great Thread... Thanks

[topfish]

Oh, I only mentioned the sale issue because I hear so many people speaking against buying a new boat and also so many saying you will lose to much money (especially if it is Hunter). I certianly think this is a good example of not losing much money on a new boat. 100K in 2004, used 7 seasons sold for 85K.. Put on market Fall of 2011 and sells in a few months. BTW, that buyer did get a very clean and very out fitted boat for half the replacement cost of a new Hunter 33 equipped the same. Personaly I was pleasently suprised it sold so fast (only because of economy). I have watched the new Dana 24 sit failing to sell for over two years. I recall when it was listed at 155K boat show special- it is now still listed at 89K. Wish we could do a Dana swap- a brand new boat for only 89K. Sorry to change from topic- still think cost of used and refit is as much an issue to many buying a boat regadless of intended usage.

[belizesailor]

I agree, your choice of boat ultimately depends upon which boat best fits your intended use. Clearly there are members of the cruising community who are living-aboard and cruising Hunters. So, empirically, the answer is "yes".

Also, the term "bluewater" is frequently over used. Realistically, the majority of cruisers are coastal cruisers. They do relatively short runs from one coastal port to another. The USCG definition of "coastal" is 250 miles or less from land. I think it infrequent that most cruisers exceed this limit (actually physically not easy to do in the Caribbean). Most cruisers don't really need a true "bluewater" boat. If you plan to spend a lot of time doing long trans-atlantic or trans-pacific crossings then a very heavy built "bluewater" boat might be advisable, but for typical cruising it is overkill.

My first cruising boat was a Hunter 37 Cutter. I'm not a big fan of many of the newer Hunters, but the owners of the Hunter 37 Cutter (H37C) almost universally love this boat (me included) -- just read the owners forums for this boat. John Chrubini drew these up for Hunter.

Great boat. Cutter rig. Sails beautifully. Very well behaved in heavy weather. I used to use her for teaching a hands-on heavy weather class. We got caught in especially entertaining un-forecast weather once: 65 knots gusting to 85 for 24 hours. She handled it quite well. First we ran with it under reefed stay-sail (storm jib size) only and then hove-to to ride out the rest of the storm (the H37C heaves-to quite nicely). With 65 knots of breeze behind you, you can get almost 11 knots out of a very deeply reefed moderate displacement 37 foot boat! Yeehaa!

Note there are two under body versions of this boat, a shoal draft and a full draft. Mine was a full draft (just under 6') and I could not have been more pleased with the sailing performance. I've often heard less than favorable reports about the sailing characteristics of the shoal draft version (shoal draft monohulls are abominations in my book anyway).

Below decks layout is pretty traditional so you don't have the voluminous interior like many of the newer Hunters (and Catalinas). However, it does have a nice v-berth/vanity/head area forward that is separated from the rest of the cabin space by a sliding door. Makes for a nice owner's cabin.

I have run across quite a few H37C's out cruising. There were a several here on the Rio Dulce (Guatemala) this past hurricane season.

[smackdaddy]

In answer to the original question...

Yes. They are awesome.

I think Belize did a good job of summarizing. I'd personally add, the newer and more lightly used the better.