Tell me about the Hunter 410

[feudalkaos]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Unlike those making guesses with no experience or knowledge of a Hunter 410:

I have had my 410 for 10 years, the last 5 years as full time cruiser. It has had ZERO problems with hull, deck, rudder, rigging. It is an easy to sail fast cruiser. Sails upright mostly with low weather helm. I once spend 3 days in gale conditions and the boat was way better with it than I was. You know what the biggest owner complain is about Hunter 410s? It is the refrigeration system before they changed from the water cooled ones to the AB air cooled one in 2001.

Hunter bashers like to feel they know all about each model because they heard a story at the bar, being said by a drunk who heard it in the marina parking lot, by a guy who part of a story while in the head. Or ................. read it on the internet.

This is my experience as well. Ours has been great. Everyone I know who has had a 410 has had nothing but positive things to say.

My biggest complaints are the refrigerator, which can be dealt with fairly easily, and the downwind ability. The B&R rig makes downwind less favorable because the main sail will rub on the spreaders. Ours has extra thickness at those points but it still bothers me.

[feudalkaos]

Originally Posted by Goodboatguy

I owned a hunter 40.5 legend. It had a large rudder, which made steering in reverse the easiest of any boat I’ve ever been on. The interior is decent and comfortable but the V birth is very small.

It had a very heavy shoal draft keel to compensate for the oversized rig. It’s sailed OK, nothing to write home about. I found the cockpit to be challenging to move around in. The wheel was in the way and the aft lockers that opened from inboard to outboard were very heavy and cumbersome. The open swim step was great, but surprisingly hard to access from a dinghy. Stepping out of the cockpit to go forward meant stepping on an outward sloping combing risking falling. The boom is very high and challenging to access for putting on the sail cover.

Mine was originally set up with CNG and was challenging to retrofit with propane because there was no place for a dedicated propane locker. CNG is very hard to find these days.

Working on the boat was a real challenge due to all the pan liners. Many parts of the plumbing and electrical system were completely inaccessible. Other parts were accessible but only by removing an insane amount of the interior. For example to access the holding tank under the floor required removing the settee and nav station furniture that were built over the top of the floorboards. The hoses from the forward head ran over 20 feet to this holding tank. We replaced the forward head with the composting head to eliminate the stink. The original holding tank was galvanized steel! Water tanks in the bilge were constructed by putting lids on the pan liner structural grid, but they flexed ever so slightly and the seals would loosen and leak and damage the floor boards because there was no clearance between the top of the tank and the floorboards. And to get to the tanks you have to remove the settee furniture. It was virtually impossible to run any new wiring from the helm to the electrical panel due lack of access.

Of course a lot of production boats have these problems. I think for long-term cruising you’d be better off getting a higher quality boat that minimizes use a pan liners so you have access to all the systems.

I have been on a few of the Legends and the 410 is truly a completely different boat. From what I can tell the 410 corrected many of the difficulties on your list for the Legend series.

We also have Pan liners but nearly everything is easily accessible. In fact, my experience working on our 410 has been easier than any other boat I have been on. I am also grateful that all of our tanks are Poly tanks.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Goodboatguy

I owned a hunter 40.5 legend. It had a large rudder, which made steering in reverse the easiest of any boat I’ve ever been on. The interior is decent and comfortable but the V birth is very small.

It had a very heavy shoal draft keel to compensate for the oversized rig. It’s sailed OK, nothing to write home about. I found the cockpit to be challenging to move around in. The wheel was in the way and the aft lockers that opened from inboard to outboard were very heavy and cumbersome. The open swim step was great, but surprisingly hard to access from a dinghy. Stepping out of the cockpit to go forward meant stepping on an outward sloping combing risking falling. The boom is very high and challenging to access for putting on the sail cover.

Mine was originally set up with CNG and was challenging to retrofit with propane because there was no place for a dedicated propane locker. CNG is very hard to find these days.

Working on the boat was a real challenge due to all the pan liners. Many parts of the plumbing and electrical system were completely inaccessible. Other parts were accessible but only by removing an insane amount of the interior. For example to access the holding tank under the floor required removing the settee and nav station furniture that were built over the top of the floorboards. The hoses from the forward head ran over 20 feet to this holding tank. We replaced the forward head with the composting head to eliminate the stink. The original holding tank was galvanized steel! Water tanks in the bilge were constructed by putting lids on the pan liner structural grid, but they flexed ever so slightly and the seals would loosen and leak and damage the floor boards because there was no clearance between the top of the tank and the floorboards. And to get to the tanks you have to remove the settee furniture. It was virtually impossible to run any new wiring from the helm to the electrical panel due lack of access.

Of course a lot of production boats have these problems. I think for long-term cruising you’d be better off getting a higher quality boat that minimizes use a pan liners so you have access to all the systems.

I too once owned a 40.5 which is why I’m commenting.

The tanks were not galvanized steel but rather all were/are aluminum. Not a great material choice for a holding tank but that is true of many boat brands who use them. I found it easy to access and remove without doing anything other than removing the two adjacent floor deck plates. Same with water tank access although ours never leaked.

Never had any problem with access for plumbing or electrical work. In all, I found it to be an easy boat to work on when the need arose.

Sailing and handling characteristics are too subjective to compare and frankly, most people don’t have sufficient experience with enough different designs to make an objective judgment.

[Gerrycooper56]

Currently in Fiji with a US registered Hunter 41.

[Hamish_ct]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I too once owned a 40.5 which is why I’m commenting.

The tanks were not galvanized steel but rather all were/are aluminum. Not a great material choice for a holding tank but that is true of many boat brands who use them. I found it easy to access and remove without doing anything other than removing the two adjacent floor deck plates. Same with water tank access although ours never leaked.

Never had any problem with access for plumbing or electrical work. In all, I found it to be an easy boat to work on when the need arose.

Sailing and handling characteristics are too subjective to compare and frankly, most people don’t have sufficient experience with enough different designs to make an objective judgment.

The Cockpit is silly. winch placement is not functional, Jib tacks are not long enough, no traveler. Sailing characteristics, subjective? 5ft keel on a 40+, stable yes, pointing, sorry. I do race my boat as well as cruise it. Functionality in the cockpit is very important to me. The boats are very nice, interior is spacious and functional. For many of my sailing friends that is important and they love their boat. Ocean sailing, I want to have a functional cockpit to raise the spinnaker, Code 0 in light air, change Jibs, J1, J2, J3 - manage the boat. When bad weather comes, I want to be able to change sails and manage my speed.

This boats functional sailing arrangement is, well not functional for long sailing trips. A sailors boat is one where you want the boat to be able to handle in all conditions. Having sailed offshore, I would not be comfortable or confident in this boat.

Nice boat for general cruising, if you want to do some offshore sailing, there are much better boats in this price range.

[feudalkaos]

Originally Posted by Hamish_ct

The Cockpit is silly. winch placement is not functional, Jib tacks are not long enough, no traveler. Sailing characteristics, subjective? 5ft keel on a 40+, stable yes, pointing, sorry. I do race my boat as well as cruise it. Functionality in the cockpit is very important to me. The boats are very nice, interior is spacious and functional. For many of my sailing friends that is important and they love their boat. Ocean sailing, I want to have a functional cockpit to raise the spinnaker, Code 0 in light air, change Jibs, J1, J2, J3 - manage the boat. When bad weather comes, I want to be able to change sails and manage my speed.

This boats functional sailing arrangement is, well not functional for long sailing trips. A sailors boat is one where you want the boat to be able to handle in all conditions. Having sailed offshore, I would not be comfortable or confident in this boat.

Nice boat for general cruising, if you want to do some offshore sailing, there are much better boats in this price range.

To be clear, you are talking about the Legend 40.5 correct?

Since the OP was asking about the 410 I wanted to comment on the differences between the 410 and 40.5. The 410 has a much easier cockpit layout. The winches seem well placed to me and others that have sailed with us, the Jib tracks are decent but not perfect, and we have a main traveler on top of our arch which keeps it well out of the way in the cockpit. We have never felt we we had to do anything special in the 410 cockpit to work the boat. Everything is easy to reach and work with. All of our lines except our spare halyard and the Jib halyard come back to the cockpit and make for pretty easy single handing. We rarely have to go on deck for any sailing work.

Also, the 410 has a 5.5ft shoal keel and handles pretty well in my experience. There is also a deep keel at 6ft but I have no experience with it.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Hamish_ct

Having sailed offshore, I would not be comfortable or confident in this boat.

.

I sailed across the Pacific from Long Beach To Auckland.



Funny that along the way meeting other cruisers, we all complained about the same things. And we all made it. No boat is ideal.



I don't know what boat you are actually talking about but all 40.5 and the 410s have travelers and the winch location is within easy reach of the wheel.


Criticisms are fine but only if based on actual design and construction issues

[Sandy Frank]

Originally Posted by Goodboatguy

I owned a hunter 40.5 legend. It had a large rudder, which made steering in reverse the easiest of any boat I’ve ever been on. The interior is decent and comfortable but the V birth is very small.

It had a very heavy shoal draft keel to compensate for the oversized rig. It’s sailed OK, nothing to write home about. I found the cockpit to be challenging to move around in. The wheel was in the way and the aft lockers that opened from inboard to outboard were very heavy and cumbersome. The open swim step was great, but surprisingly hard to access from a dinghy. Stepping out of the cockpit to go forward meant stepping on an outward sloping combing risking falling. The boom is very high and challenging to access for putting on the sail cover.

Mine was originally set up with CNG and was challenging to retrofit with propane because there was no place for a dedicated propane locker. CNG is very hard to find these days.

Working on the boat was a real challenge due to all the pan liners. Many parts of the plumbing and electrical system were completely inaccessible. Other parts were accessible but only by removing an insane amount of the interior. For example to access the holding tank under the floor required removing the settee and nav station furniture that were built over the top of the floorboards. The hoses from the forward head ran over 20 feet to this holding tank. We replaced the forward head with the composting head to eliminate the stink. The original holding tank was galvanized steel! Water tanks in the bilge were constructed by putting lids on the pan liner structural grid, but they flexed ever so slightly and the seals would loosen and leak and damage the floor boards because there was no clearance between the top of the tank and the floorboards. And to get to the tanks you have to remove the settee furniture. It was virtually impossible to run any new wiring from the helm to the electrical panel due lack of access.

Of course a lot of production boats have these problems. I think for long-term cruising you’d be better off getting a higher quality boat that minimizes use a pan liners so you have access to all the systems.

LoL I know exactly what you mean about:
-steal holding tank (replaced!)
-stupidly long distance to forward (do not use) head. I am thinking of making that a underway only head (overboard).
-the port and strb water tanks are easy to leak, impossible to remove. I am currently in the process of destroy the stbd cover.

[Wckoek]

Originally Posted by Hamish_ct

The Cockpit is silly. winch placement is not functional, Jib tacks are not long enough, no traveler. Sailing characteristics, subjective? 5ft keel on a 40+, stable yes, pointing, sorry. I do race my boat as well as cruise it. Functionality in the cockpit is very important to me. The boats are very nice, interior is spacious and functional. For many of my sailing friends that is important and they love their boat. Ocean sailing, I want to have a functional cockpit to raise the spinnaker, Code 0 in light air, change Jibs, J1, J2, J3 - manage the boat. When bad weather comes, I want to be able to change sails and manage my speed.

This boats functional sailing arrangement is, well not functional for long sailing trips. A sailors boat is one where you want the boat to be able to handle in all conditions. Having sailed offshore, I would not be comfortable or confident in this boat.

Nice boat for general cruising, if you want to do some offshore sailing, there are much better boats in this price range.

There isn't much choice around me, boats at this price range that do not need further work:
- Dufour 43 Classic (too little ballast ratio and too much sail area for singlehandling)
- Mason 43 (Too large a boat for shorthandling)
- Perry 41 (Essentially a Valiant with transom stern, I like this one, but I need to do quite a bit of traveling to see/pickup the boat)
- Hunter 410 (nice condition and refitted 6 years ago)


Do you think the 410 is less suitable for offshore compared to the other choices?

[feudalkaos]

Originally Posted by Wckoek

There isn't much choice around me, boats at this price range that do not need further work:
- Dufour 43 Classic (too little ballast ratio and too much sail area for singlehandling)
- Mason 43 (Too large a boat for shorthandling)
- Perry 41 (Essentially a Valiant with transom stern, I like this one, but I need to do quite a bit of traveling to see/pickup the boat)
- Hunter 410 (nice condition and refitted 6 years ago)


Do you think the 410 is less suitable for offshore compared to the other choices?

I just want to note that this person was talking about the Hunter Legend 40.5. It has a completely different design. There are some similarities but the Legend 40.5 stopped production in 1997. The 410 didn't start until 1998. The 410 is essentially the next generation from the 40.5 with many things much improved.

I, and everyone else I have known that owns or owned a 410, have said they feel comfortable in it both coastal cruising and offshore. Ultimately, experience is the most important factor for offshore.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/hunter-410

VS.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/hunter-405-legend

[sail sfbay]

Ditto feudalkaos about the well layed out and spacious cockpit, winches well placed with built-in running rigging pockets on the cabin top avoids control lines in the cockpit to me and others that have sailed with us, decent jib tracks, main traveler on top of the arch which keeps it well out of the way in the cockpit, everything is easy to reach and work with and all the lines, all the lines can come back to the cockpit, which makes it easy single handing, and rarely have to go on deck for any sailing work. With a top down furler and continuous line to the cockpit for asymmetrical furler you never have to leave the cock to deploy or douse it. My Hunter 386 and now 46 were/are set up exactly like this (same as the Hunter 410).

[Sofa King Fishy]

I put an offer on one about 3 years ago when I was shopping for a live aboard. I really like the cabin layout & the overall feel- it’s a solid vessel. I ended up buying a Catalina 42 because it just felt more homey & as a big DIY’er the parts & support are better. I do miss the HUGE aft cabin- even with its somewhat confined headroom & wish I had one (I’ve got a forward Queen-ish Pullman, not as big, but way more headroom)…people bash Hunters because of their B&R rig- no backstay…instead you get a beefy radar arch & a traveler mounted above the cockpit. I work for a rigging company & think it’s a brilliant design personally. Another excellent idea is a helm seat that folds down into steps for the swim platform. One detail I’m not so crazy about is the deck to hull joint which essentially insures a 5200 seam is always submerged…I know 5200 is incredible stuff, but relying on what is essentially a bead of caulk to keep the ocean out of your boat is another point of contention with some…overall, I am a Hunter fan- and if you’re shopping, see if you can find a 45 or 44DS- they share the same hull & are absolutely proven cruisers!

[Wckoek]

Originally Posted by feudalkaos

We have lived aboard our Hunter 410 for 3 years now and have been happy. We are only doing costal cruising now so we cannot speak from experience on cross ocean travel.

The 410 is very comfortable and easy to sail in our experience. We find that we can get pointed and trimmed quickly then just relax.

I saw someone had suggested they are not CE rated but that is not correct. The 410 is CE class A rated and we have the placard indicating so.

She is very light weight which has upsides and downsides. She is pretty quick and very nimble but also can get pushed around a little bit in rougher seas.

The hull below the waterline is solid and is Kevlar reinforced to add strength and stability without a lot of weight. Above the waterline is cored with balsa which I'm not a fan of.

The deck is also cored with balsa. All deck hardware has backing plates embedded in the fiberglass.

All of the 410s were built in Florida but many were solid out of South Africa. All of those hulls were sailed to South Africa and not shipped so they can handle ocean crossing.

I also read a story about someone who took his 410 around Cape Horn in poor conditions with no noticeable issues.

The design seems to have a lot of thought put into it. Yes they went cheap in some areas but they all seem like areas that aren't such and issue. They made some more expensive choices that are surprising for a production boat.

Ultimately, the 410 is pretty comfortable and for a decent sailor van easily be taken across oceans. I wouldn't sail her into a hurricane but I wouldn't sail anything into one.

Also, if you want to ask any specific questions let me know. I am on-board ours pretty much every day!

How do you find the boat motion, does it hobbyhorse or is it comfortable enough under weather?