Hunter Yachts ?

[sail2wind]

What is the bad rap on Hunters? We are very close to purchasing a boat and putting her in charter in BVI. Several charter companies have told us they do not want Hunters. We understand they have a light ballist/displacement ratio, and can move a bit on anchor, but......we like the creature comforts.

[Vasco]

Charter companies would prefer one make of boat - simplifies maintenance and spares. Right now that's Beneteau if you're looking at monohulls. Also the companies that did have a few Hunters many years ago complained of more frequent failures. For a private boat I don't think they're any worse than other production boats.

[barefoot life]

Before everyone posts their opinions, follow your heart and buy what you want.

Most boats share similar components/equipment, so not sure why a charter company would turn you away. Probably need to stay away from the major brands like Moorings and Sunsail. My impression of them is "my way or the highway".

[Bash]

Originally Posted by sail2wind

We understand they have a light ballist/displacement ratio, and can move a bit on anchor, but......we like the creature comforts.

You like the creature comforts, an area in which Hunter is hard to beat on a dollar-per-dollar basis, but the charter companies don't make their money in creature comforts, but rather in terms of how many passengers they can squeeze into a given waterline.

By way of example, a charterer doesn't particularly care how big the galley is, but a boat owner does. Compare a Hunter galley with a Beneteau galley, and you'll see which boat is designed to go after which market. You can apply this same principle to such things as tankage, storage space, headroom, and nav stations.

[sail2wind]

All your points are well taken as to what do I want. You think you find your dream boats, inform your charter company and they basically say they are not interested in your Hunter 45, gen/air nice galley, roller furling main, for about 125K. CYOA only takes new boatsso, if I want a boat it will be a Beneteau, Jenneaua, or Dufor. The prices are good, we want a boat, it is what it is. Any comments on how Hunters handle on a hook or a ball?

[nhschneider]

My boat is currently undergoing a refit. In the same yard is a Hunter 41 that has lost it's mast twice. The keel is loose. The owner is besides himself with the lack of responses from the Hunter corporation. From all appearances, this is not a boat that has been abused and the owner is experienced and knowledgeable. Obviously, any boat can have a string of bad luck and these observations are anecdotal at best. However, I was able to see the construction of the boat because when they lost the mast the last time, it ripped four feet of deck off. Personally, I would not take one of these boats off shore.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[barefoot life]

Apparently, they do just fine offshore.

Around the world with Mike Harker

News & Events from Advantage Yacht Sales » Blog Archive » Hunter sailboat circumnavigates the globe

HunterOwners.com - Hunter Q&A

What is not clear from nhschneider just how much of that damage was from the owner making some big sailing blunders.

[svnatasha]

I doubt Mike Harker is sailiing "just another typical Hunter". If he was, Hunter wouldn't have to provide the media support and marketing campaign. To be fair - I've been aboard Wanderlust it wasn't the typical Hunter. Kind of like my the beneteau oceanis owned by friends. it is hull # 00001. It is a special boat and was overseen every step of the way - probably just like Harker's. The difference is noticeable.

If you are considering the boat for your personal future plans of coastal cruising and bumping around island chains (bahamas, etc) then a hunter or beneteau is probably a good boat for you. If you plan to someday regularly cross oceans then a "charter" boat probably isn't the best way to go. When it comes out of charter -it will be worse for wear and not designed for your ultimate goal. It will most likely cost a small fortune in time and money to upgrade for water sailing">blue water sailing. And a former charter boat will be harder to sell vs the same that was never chartered.

If you really want to know about Hunters, Beneteaus, & Jenneaus, talk to some delivery skippers who bring them out of charter to their new owners.

just my .02

[Bash]

Originally Posted by svnatasha

I doubt Mike Harker is sailiing "just another typical Hunter". If he was, Hunter wouldn't have to provide the media support and marketing campaign. T

Mike's first circumnavigation was aboard a Hunter 460, straight off the lot. At that point nobody knew much about him and the only thing close to passagemaking was that he'd done the Baja Ha Ha. After his circimnavigation he hooked up with Hunter to promote a new boat, the 49, which replaced the 46. He took the 49 on a second circumnavigation.

Take a closer look at the original Hunter 460 that Harker took around the world, and you'll find it to be CE Class A certified for ocean passages. It has a kevlar reinforced hull that is built like a tank. Was this any different from any of the 350 hulls built in the 460 line? No.

The commonly asserted claim that Hunters are not "bluewater" boats is marketing hype from the sellers of higher end boats that are having a difficult time competing with Hunter. I find it amazing how many people buy into that hype. Even more amazing are the number of people who want to bash Hunter based on anecdotal stories, like the person above who met someone in a boatyard who'd lost two masts. Did this person bother to think about the fact that Hunter equips its boats with Seldon masts, onee of the most reputable sparmakers world-wide?

When the present economic downturn is finally behind us, a good number of the top-end American boat manufacturers will have gone belly up, while Hunter and Catalina will have survived the storm. Perhaps the time has come to ask why some of these companies are surviving despite the bad rap they've been getting from dealers of boats that are no longer being made.

[barefoot life]

sail2wnd, I have never been on a Hunter on the hook or ball. I would guess they behave like any other "lighter" racer/cruiser. I have been on similar boats and never experienced anything uncomfortable (let a lone unsafe), nor has anyone I was with. There are a few products that can reduce swing, etc., never tried them.

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by sail2wind

You think you find your dream boats, inform your charter company and they basically say they are not interested in your Hunter 45, gen/air nice galley, roller furling main, for about 125K.

Just to follow up on Bash's comments, in this size range Beneteau can supply a boat with twin fore and twin aft "staterooms." In the past Hunter and Catalina have tried but abandoned such designs.

[nhschneider]

To clarify some of my comments: The Hunter 41 Deliverance was about 300 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas when her most recent dismasting occurred. The owner reported that at the time the seas were calm and the wind less than 10 knots. A weld broke on the forestay chainplate and while the skipper and crew immediately took action to prevent the complete loss of the mast, they were unable to prevent it from happening.

Of course, many Hunters have successfully completed major passages and may have even earned ratings for such. My personal opinion is that they're built with a high emphasis placed on creature comforts and systems but severely lack in design and manufacture of a deck, rig and hull with an adequate degree of integrity.

I still wouldn't go offshore on one. Just for the record, neither I nor any of my family members nor anyone in my circles of friends are involved in the sale of boats, new or used.

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by sail2wind

Any comments on how Hunters handle on a hook or a ball?

Heavier boats are more resistant to transient events like boat wakes. But my experience is that in a rolly anchorage everyone's mast eventually winds up swinging through the same arc.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sail2wind

All your points are well taken as to what do I want. You think you find your dream boats, inform your charter company and they basically say they are not interested

You are looking at an INVESTMENT. Dreams have nothing to do with it.

If you want to make money follow the lead of the smart people = the biggies in the charter business. Morings/Sunsail will tell you which model makes the best return.

If you want to go cruising you can dream as its NOT an investment. It costs you money.


You don't buy shares on the sharemarket because the President wears cute pink clothes. You buy the shares because the company is making money.


Mark

[skipmac]

This is assuming that Hunter rigs all their boats the same, ie without a back stay. If that has changed then ignore all comments below.

I have sailed a couple of Hunters, including a 10 day charter to the Bahamas and do not like the rig. Hunter claims that running the upper shrouds aft gives adequate support to the mast. Even if that is 100% correct there is still the problem of the main and boom chafing on the shrouds when running downwind. Maybe I just don't get it, but even after I rigged a vang and tried to pull the boom down and flatten the sail I couldn't ease the mainsheet as far as I would have liked.

Plus the rig results in a really large main and a small jib, at least the one I chartered. Just didn't seem very balanced to me.

And that's my $0.02.