Thoughts on late 90s, early 2000s Hunters?

[arbeitslos]

Thanks all for the informative responses on my previous post. As I alluded to, I have been looking at the Catalina 320/310/309 range - big enough to have one door (for when a kid needs to be alone), and one hot shower (wet head acceptable)


It's my (possibly unfounded) belief that sailboat complexity goes up with the square of length. Older 30 foot boats seem much smaller than say a 320, and the mid-30 foot boats seem to have more in common with the 40+ footers I've been on than a 30 footer. Bigger/more systems, greater rigging loads, greater consequences for failure, etc.


As such, I'm mostly looking at the shorter end of the 30 footers, although I'm not set on them.


Most of my search results are the Catalinas above, because of past familiarity with the brand, and their reputation for good resale. (I don't expect to own the boat long term. Either my family loves cruising and we buy a bigger boat, or they hate it, and we sell the boat)


A good number of my results are late 90s Hunters. They seem to have variable reviews - some people love them, some people hate them.


I'm interested in reliability and build quality of safety-critical systems. I'll tolerate a misaligned cabinet door, but not a misaligned chainplate.


How appropriate are the Hunter 340 etc. for coastal cruising and the ICW?

[Hughesfamily]

I won’t be much help, I have little experience but we did just buy a 1999 Hunter 240. We’re enjoying learning all ‘bout her and look forward to sailing her. There is a fair amount of discussion and a lot of resources for Hunter at another site, sailboat owners.
We’re thrilled with ours.
Cheers

[VanIslandGuy]

Dealing with any vessel over 20+ years old first and foremost is how was it maintained? Has it been refitted once or twice? What age are the sails, the rigging, etc.



We've had our 1998 Hunter 410 now since 2016. Zero complaints on construction/accessibility for maintenance. It's been a great boat.



You're coastal cruising, not sailing to Iceland. Most of what's out there will be fine. Find a well found boat that you and your significant other both like that won't kill you to refit, doesn't smell bad inside, and won't intimidate you when docking short handed with your partner in a breeze. A well found Hunter 340 would do that, as would most other other production boats of that era if they survey well.

[letsgetsailing3]

You said yourself it's not your "forever" boat.


If you find one that meets your needs, get it. The angst over boat acquisition dissipates quickly after purchase.

[wpatch]

We have a 04 36 Hunter and love her. The boat was well maintained prior to our purchasing. We keep her on the Chesapeake Bay and have added a spinnaker. It's cozy, but we regularly have 3 couples overnight.

I read somewhere before I bought her that all boats are compromises, and that really purchasing an older boat = 1/3 Her original design, 1/3 how she was maintained and 1/3 the experiences/misadventures. I think we got very lucky, but there are a lot of good boats out there.

[arbeitslos]

Originally Posted by VanIslandGuy

You're coastal cruising, not sailing to Iceland. Most of what's out there will be fine. Find a well found boat that you and your significant other both like that won't kill you to refit, doesn't smell bad inside, and won't intimidate you when docking short handed with your partner in a breeze. A well found Hunter 340 would do that, as would most other other production boats of that era if they survey well.

That's my suspicion. They sold well, they're still floating, they must do the job. There's much less in the way of reviews/owner associations though.

Do you know of an owner's forum for the 340 or the 33-2?

Originally Posted by wpatch

We have a 04 36 Hunter and love her. The boat was well maintained prior to our purchasing. We keep her on the Chesapeake Bay and have added a spinnaker. It's cozy, but we regularly have 3 couples overnight.

Thanks, that leads me into my next questions:

How's the B&R rig downwind? I assume the inability to let the main out is why you bought the spinnaker?

1. If I was to have a boat with a B&R rig, I'd think want a downwind sail, preferably something on a furler simply for ease of use.
2. I love the idea of the arch. It keeps the mainsheet away from kids. How hard is it to use the traveler?
3. How is it to dock? Looks like Hunters have a little more freeboard than most.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by arbeitslos

Do you know of an owner's forum for the 340 or the 33-2?

These skippers seems to have the Hunter info corralled:


https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/recent-fx.php



Ask there, they have tons of Hunter documentation, whereas for Catalinas we have Owners Associations for almost every individual model.