Hunter advice

[tomcourtney55]

Motor to sail...
Hi all, hoping for advice..
Been on the Thames with occasional jaunts across the Channel to France and Belgium on our Twin Engine Pedro 36 (Dutch Steel Cruiser) for the last 6 years.
Moving over to retire at our house in Crete, Greece in 12 to 18 months and we are looking to have a Sailboat for Island hopping in our retirement.
Who knows we may even do something more adventurous if we and the boat are up to it.
We are looking at older 40’ ish yachts and really like the layout of the Hunter Passage 42 and maybe we could afford a late 90’s model.
Seems to be some debate as to whether they’re Water boats">Blue Water boats, from our research so far people either love them or hate them....
Anyone crossed the Atlantic or done some serious sailing in one?

Would appreciate any advice.

[sailorboy1]

well if you really have researched you will know how this question will go

have you been to the Hunter owner site yet?

https://forums.sailboatowners.com//i.../big-boats.40/

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by tomcourtney55

Motor to sail...
Hi all, hoping for advice..
Been on the Thames with occasional jaunts across the Channel to France and Belgium on our Twin Engine Pedro 36 (Dutch Steel Cruiser) for the last 6 years.
Moving over to retire at our house in Crete, Greece in 12 to 18 months and we are looking to have a Sailboat for Island hopping in our retirement.
Who knows we may even do something more adventurous if we and the boat are up to it.
We are looking at older 40’ ish yachts and really like the layout of the Hunter Passage 42 and maybe we could afford a late 90’s model.
Seems to be some debate as to whether they’re Blue Water boats, from our research so far people either love them or hate them....
Anyone crossed the Atlantic or done some serious sailing in one?

Would appreciate any advice.

Better built than Beneteau, Hanse, Jeanneau, Bavaria, Dufour et al.

[tomcourtney55]

sailorboy1
Owners forums tend to be full of posted problems, rarely a positive post, kinda scares me off
I have scoured it but I will go back and register if the will accept a prospective owner, and ask my question there.

boatpoker
Sounds good, is that true, in your opinion, for 90’s Hunters? What boat do you have?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by tomcourtney55

sailorboy1
Owners forums tend to be full of posted problems, rarely a positive post, kinda scares me off
I have scoured it but I will go back and register if the will accept a prospective owner, and ask my question there.

boatpoker
Sounds good, is that true, in your opinion, for 90’s Hunters? What boat do you have?

Read his signature..

[skipmac]

Hunters have sailed around the world. A Hunter broke the sailing record from New York to San Francisco around the Horn that had been set by Flying Cloud, a 235' Clipper over 100 years prior.

Like any boat, go out in an extreme storm you might not survive. It's more a matter of the captain than the boat.

The only thing I would consider in a Hunter is whether or not you like the B&R rig. Some do, some don't.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by tomcourtney55

sailorboy1
Owners forums tend to be full of posted problems, rarely a positive post, kinda scares me off
I have scoured it but I will go back and register if the will accept a prospective owner, and ask my question there.

boatpoker
Sounds good, is that true, in your opinion, for 90’s Hunters? What boat do you have?

I have a Benford Fantail 38'. I have never owned a Hunter or any of the others I mentioned. I have however, performed 4,689 surveys and that is what my opinion is based on.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by tomcourtney55

Motor to sail...
Hi all, hoping for advice..
Been on the Thames with occasional jaunts across the Channel to France and Belgium on our Twin Engine Pedro 36 (Dutch Steel Cruiser) for the last 6 years.
Moving over to retire at our house in Crete, Greece in 12 to 18 months and we are looking to have a Sailboat for Island hopping in our retirement.
Who knows we may even do something more adventurous if we and the boat are up to it.
We are looking at older 40’ ish yachts and really like the layout of the Hunter Passage 42 and maybe we could afford a late 90’s model.
Seems to be some debate as to whether they’re Blue Water boats, from our research so far people either love them or hate them....
Anyone crossed the Atlantic or done some serious sailing in one?

Would appreciate any advice.

We owned a 1998 Hunter 450 Passage for two years and sailed the coast of California from San Fransico down to Southern California. For island hopping in the Med, the Hunters will work out fine, offering you a lot of boat for the money and a good platform for anchoring out or staying in marinas. Weather forecasts are good in the Med and you should be able to stay out of trouble with some due diligence by checking the weather daily.

Regarding your wish to cross oceans on a Hunter... I wouldn’t do it, which is why we upgraded to an Oyster 53 and now an Oyster 62. There’s way too much hull flex on the Hunter and the rigging just isn’t nearly as heavily constructed as what you should expect on a good all rounder type boat. Many will argue “it’s the sailor not the boat” type balogna on this forum, but our experience was... the Hunter is excellent for what it was intended to do, which is coastal cruising and island hopping. It sucked big time in anything above 20 knots.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by tomcourtney55

sailorboy1
Owners forums tend to be full of posted problems, rarely a positive post, kinda scares me off
I have scoured it but I will go back and register if the will accept a prospective owner, and ask my question there.

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.

[scuba0_1]

Owned a hunter 41 ds east coast. Had no issues. Had more since than. Owners forums tell you what it’s like owning a boat. It’s not all bikinis sunrises sunsets and islands. If you want real information Then go to the people that owned and sailed them.

[Ndavies]

We have a 1997 Hunter Passage 42. We are originally from the UK, but now live on the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. We have owned our Hunter since 2012. Since 2014, we have made extended trips on the boat, cruising to the Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, and many spots along the Gulf Coast. I believe the Passage is a great boat - and yes, I would, and I have crossed oceans in it in a variety of conditions. In my opinion, Hunter makes great use of space available. We particularly like the rear cabin on this center cockpit boat. We also like the fact that it is ICW friendly (mast under 65 ft), and shallow draft (4' 11" wing keek), making it a great boat for island hopping in places like the Bahamas where the water is skinny. We are likely selling the boat next year as we are (as I write this) in France about to take delivery of a new Lagoon Cat and sail it back. Not because we don't like the Hunter - its simply time for us to go over to the dark side and have a Cat! 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.

I have a lot of info on our trips and the boat on my blog (referenced below) and on the videos we have made (see website). If you have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me

[VanIslandGuy]

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.

[tomcourtney55]

Thx Ndavies, I like to be told what I want to hear
I’ve sent you a message via your website and sat phone...

[tomcourtney55]

Thx VanIslandGuy, great info especially liked the astern steering comments, great to know for med mooring, you’ve whetted my appetite or a Hunter