Quote:
Originally Posted by sailorboy1
If you follow that link you can read owner reviews. In my opinion they pretty much tell it want like it is. My 410 has the same hull as the 420 you are asking about. I've it 7 years and have pounded the hell out of in conditions that I thought would break the boat in half. Yet it didn't have any issues and I have never had 1 single issue with part of the part that Hunter was responsible for.
BTW - I've seen 420s pretty much everywhere and every owner I've spoken likes it. |
One more happy Hunter 410 owner here coming on three years with the boat. Previous boat was a
full keel cutter.
The construction on the H410/420 (same hull, just different
deck AC/CC) has an Euro Commission A Ocean rating. The
keel is all lead. There is woven Kevlar in the glass at the bow in the event of hitting something. The owners manual is super detailed, and the systems are all well laid out and pretty easy to access. The engine can be accessed from all sides in a matter of seconds. The boat has rack and pinion
steering and is very responsive to
helm changes.
A negative is the B&R rig sucks dead downwind. To get the best VMG, one should sail 15'-20' off DDW and gybe to course. (Similar to a cruising
catamaran.) Sailing downwind this way also means less rolling and less risk of an accidental gybe. From a broad reach through to close hauled I really like this rig a lot. Fast and easy to trim. We love the
cockpit arch. It gets the traveller up high with end boom sheeting which is ideal. It also keeps all the lines in the
cockpit tidy and easy to manage with guests onboard. Having a big main and a smaller headsail also makes tacking easier.
The cockpit
storage could be better as they maximize aft
cabin space by reducing lazarette space. The aft cabin has a queen size
bed and five opening hatches (2 above, 1 each side, 1 from the cockpit.) Personally I would have traded cabin space here for a big deep cockpit locker, but it wasn't a deal breaker.
The traditional main/deep
draft models sail the best. The
furling mainsail models are the easiest to put to
bed once done sailing as the boom sits quite high and covering the
mainsail at the end of the day is cumbersome. A stackpack can solve this issue though. The boom is 21' long and air
draft is just under 60'.
The boat is very easy to steer in reverse and behaves well in close quarters. When anchored the high freeboard can make the boat skate around a bit more than a low freeboard
full keel vessel and some owners use an
anchor sail. (I haven't yet.)
There is nothing we haven't loved about the
interior. Great use of space, lots of light, real
teak, no squeaks, awesome
galley.
When we were
shopping we decided against looking at only one brand of boat to avoid getting any sort bias good or bad against what the second hand market had to offer. In the used market it really comes down to previous
ownership. We looked at a number of
Catalina 42s,
Beneteau 423s and several Bavarias from the late 90's early 2000's. We bought the boat that looked to be best maintained. The
survey confirmed this. We have no regrets with our
purchase. We haven't owned a Hunter before this, but I would consider another one if we ever
sold our H410. We haven't ventured south of
Seattle or north of
Vancouver Island yet, but we hope to circumnavigate
Vancouver Island in the future, and would consider this a good boat to take to
Mexico. Working full time limits our travels more than the boat itself.
Re: Hunter advice
Re: Hunter advice
That said, my son would like to buy the boat, and if he can come up with a financial plan I would have no hesitation in passing the boat along to him. 
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