Do Hunters Make Good Bluewater / Liveaboard Boats ?

[zeta]

---no!

[zeta]

---maybe!

[dandrews]

LOL Vasco.....

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

I don't feel any of these type threads benefit anyone by trashing the orginal asked about boat, or for that matter any boat.

In the end all boats can do 95+% of any sailing one would what it to do and we know it's the boat fitout for it's use and the decision made by the owners. Low quality in today's market would ave been considered very high quality 20 years ago (pretty much hold true for any product made). Everyone wants something diferent in "their" boat which is normally beyound what they "need" to do the job.

In the end you should find a boat model you like and research it with most credit given to people who have or have had the model. Arm chair opinions about boats that that a person has never been on is worth less than what you paid for it.

Whatever boat a person has; they came up with some basis to themselves as to why they choose it.

"Arm chair opinions about boats that a person has never been on is worth less than what you paid for it."

So true Don, boats always seem to attract so much so called "expert opinion".
Every boatyard, marina and creek bank is so full of advice and a lot of it accumulated by people who would love to/but never have, around here we call them "Gonna's" or "Shoulda's"...

As in I'm 'gonna' go there or you 'shoulda' done it this way!!!!

Agree totally we make our own decision to have the boat we do and to make me feel more comfortable about my choice i don't need the world to choose the same boat, "Viva la difference"

[Polux]

Originally Posted by colemj

Wimp. It's not like you own a catamaran - now there's real insecurity...

Mark

Even if there are boats more adequate for bluewater it seems ridiculous to me that someone can think that a Hunter 45 would have any significant problem going out there in the ocean. Now, a 22ft Hunter does not seem a very aprpriated boat to go offshore and I would not call it a bluewater boat

I don't think that it is a significant difference between a same sized Benetau Oceanis, Jeanneau, Hanse or Bavaria in what regards bluewater capacity. On other hand I know a guy that solo circumnavigated two times on a Bavaria 36. I would call that bluewater sailing.

I would say that after a certain size (that depends of the type of boat) the way the boat is equipped and the experience of the skipper is more important than the brand.

For right equipment I would say a third reef on the main (I personally would not use a furling main) a removable stay sail or a cutter configuration, storm sails, floating anchor, harnesses and Jack lines, adequate running rigging (minimizing the need to go out of cockpit), radar mounted on a pole and not on the mast, and a way of receiving updated meteorological information are the main requisites. I would add an epirb and an offshore liferaft for safety.

[zeta]

Personally I'd rather be on any Hunter in the Bahamas right now than sitting here in Colorado, on my ass watching a football game, surfing the interwebs, and dreaming of going sailing.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Polux

Even if there are boats more adequate for bluewater it seems ridiculous to me that someone can think that a Hunter 45 would have any significant problem going out there in the ocean. Now, a 22ft Hunter does not seem a very aprpriated boat to go offshore and I would not call it a bluewater boat

I don't think that it is a significant difference between a same sized Benetau Oceanis, Jeanneau, Hanse or Bavaria in what regards bluewater capacity. On other hand I know a guy that solo circumnavigated two times on a Bavaria 36. I would call that bluewater sailing.

I would say that after a certain size (that depends of the type of boat) the way the boat is equipped and the experience of the skipper is more important than the brand.

For right equipment I would say a third reef on the main (I personally would not use a furling main) a removable stay sail or a cutter configuration, storm sails, floating anchor, harnesses and Jack lines, adequate running rigging (minimizing the need to go out of cockpit), radar mounted on a pole and not on the mast, and a way of receiving updated meteorological information are the main requisites. I would add an epirb and an offshore liferaft for safety.

Agree with most of your reply, are you suggesting mounting the radar on a pole to save it in a dismasting? Cheers Frank

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by zeta

Personally I'd rather be on any Hunter in the Bahamas right now than sitting here in Colorado, on my ass watching a football game, surfing the interwebs, and dreaming of going sailing.

Good point :-)

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

I think Estar's point, and it is a valid one, that outside of the USA, Hunters are very rare indeed. That the marque is vertually unknown outside of the USA doesn't make them bad Water boats">blue water boats nor bad liveaboards, but it does mean that statements as to their "worldwide" popularity must be taken with a pinch of salt.

That is not true, I have seen Hunters on European boat shows (Paris, Dusseldorf). That is true that the Hunters sell few boats in Europe but that's not because they are not well known but because the concurrence is very strong and it seems Europeans prefer other boats to Hunter. In England the Hunter twin keel is relatively popular, I mean not comparable in sales with any of the big companies (Bavaria, Benetau, Jeanneau, Dufour, Hanse) but they sell more there than probably in all other European countries put together.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Polux

I don't think that it is a significant difference between a same sized Benetau Oceanis, Jeanneau, Hanse or Bavaria in what regards bluewater capacity. On other hand I know a guy that solo circumnavigated two times on a Bavaria 36. I would call that bluewater sailing.

Attached is what an owner of a 2yr old Bavaria found after noticing his steering had become "squirrely" offshore:

Originally Posted by Polux

For right equipment I would say a third reef on the main (I personally would not use a furling main) a removable stay sail or a cutter configuration, storm sails, floating anchor, harnesses and Jack lines, adequate running rigging (minimizing the need to go out of cockpit), radar mounted on a pole and not on the mast, and a way of receiving updated meteorological information are the main requisites. I would add an epirb and an offshore liferaft for safety.

You forgot the guns. And what the heck is a "floating anchor"?

Mark

[Tim Schaaf]

i bought my 1980 Hunter (Cherubini 33) in early 1982. I spent the next few years feeling bad, listening to all the nay sayers. Then, I realized that they were sitting on their boats in their slips, and I was out thrashing around SF Bay. So, I started enjoying my Hunter. The 33 happens to be an extremely well thought out and laid out boat. Some were built very well, some poorly, and some in between. Mine was in between, but after banging around SF Bay for six years, I had broken what might break and beefed it up. Since then, I put around 20,000 singlehanded offshore miles on my Hunter, and rode out a hurricane. She never let me down. Although she is now laid up ashore, I still own her.

As to Boat of the Year tests (I have been aboard on one that included Beth), they are just snapshots in time. It is the best that can be done, but the results are a distillation of momentary impressions of judges with varying priorities. In the real world, some boats hold up much better, and do better in conditions other than those in which they were tested, and some do worse. I can list several highly touted boats that turned out to be pretty shaky.

Same thing for statistics from events like the ARC. A great many of those events are mostly populated with relative newbies, with boats outfitted by non-experts, and with lots of operator error. Just read the reviews on "equipment tests in the ARC" or some such. Lots of the folks barely know how to operated the stuff they have. The only conclusion that can be reached with validity is that what was carried on the ARC is what was marketed well enough to pursuade a bunch of folks to buy it, not what was the best or longest lasting equipment. And, it tends to be self perpetuating. This should be obvious!

So, ease off on the Hunters. Lots of them are good boats, good for ocean cruising or living aboard. I lived on mine for nineteen years, so maybe my opinion counts for more than someone who never spent a night on one. Some Hunters aren't great boats. Same for any brand. You can find Hunters all over the world. Maybe not lots, everywhere, but quite a few in many places. They go by the name "Legend" in the UK, by the way. Don't know what the number of places you can find Hunters has to do with anything, however. What is relevant is the number of Hunter owners who are fiercely loyal to their boats, boats that have been somewhere. Now, THAT is significant, and THOSE FOLKS are the ones with something relevant to say.

[SVCoolChange]

I spent a couple of months on a Hunter 35, coastal cruising. I didn't run out and buy one. I was fortunate to find and purchase a Fast Passage 39 (the last one of 9 built by Tollycraft), if the design was good enough for Francis Stokes it is good enough for me I have seen quite a few Hunters in the Bahamas they are affordable and comfortable but, for blue water there are better afffordable boats.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by colemj

Attached is what an owner of a 2yr old Bavaria found after noticing his steering had become "squirrely" offshore:

You forgot the guns. And what the heck is a "floating anchor"?

Mark

Yeah but did the mast break off?

There are gazillions of pictures of broken boats on the internet. Each one has a story and each image should be put in context. When zeroing in on a boat type one should do as much research as possible.

Don't ever think that you found something no one has ever heard of and throw petrol on an old topic including the Bavaria rudder. Google it if you are planning to buy one. If it all hasnt already been said then post a question but its unfair to throw an image out there with an implication that all boats of that type are unsuitable for some purpose.

And finally choosing a boat for coastal cruising and 2 day passages to close by islands is different than choosing a boat for an around the world trip that includes multiple north atlantic crossings and cape horn roundings in the winter.

OP jumps in with a typical question and throws in a specific boat and the term "bluewater boat" which we all know is a red flag.

A better question for the OP is, "how do you plan to use your boat?"

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I have a friend that has a Hunter 33(?) never seen blue water and is sailed hard on Lake Norman when the winds co-operate ..it has a twisted mast step support and the deck is cracked all over and it still is a lot of fun to sail..would i sail it to Hawaii? No..Bahamas ?maybe..and they all seem to have some kind of issue or the other..what the hell do I know...

I cant think of a boat that doesn't have an issue- or two- or three - or four. Be they design idiosyncrasies or something that will pop up ten years later.

A twisted mast step support? Wow. Something in the rig has been put right out of shape.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Vasco

The bashing of production boats is snobbery at its worst.

Uh huh. And it's a form of snobbery that I run into far more frequently on the net than on the hook.

In the real world of cruisers getting along with other cruisers, this sort of snobbery really doesn't exist.