Hello,
I am from the
east coast United States (NJ) and have spent considerable time in
Europe along the
English Chanel. I recently looked at a
Hunter 356 with the European
bilge keel that is
for sale near me in the US. I believe this
boat may have made it into the number 2 spot on my list for
purchase in a few short weeks, but I am unsure of performance of this particular model. I am familiar with bilge/twin keels having seen the 19.8 ft tides in
Europe and the
marinas filled with
boats on their sides, however, I can't find any
reviews of the
Hunter 356 with the
bilge keel. I am pretty sure there will be an issue with resale in 10 years or so when I plan to move up, but the
price may be good enough to compensate for that now. I do a lot of long weekend, long distance (50-100km) cruises with my
current Catalina and sailing performance is fairly important as 1 or two
lost knots can mean hours difference in travel time. The
boat is lacking AC or
generator, but I plan to install AC myself immediately upon
purchase. I hope the bilge keel and subsequent
hull reinforcements doesn't prevent me from doing that easily. Any info, especially from owners of bilge keels is greatly appreciated. I am looking for sailing performance/characteristics and any issues you may have faced with an AC install.
Thanks,
Paul
