Hunter - Blue-water or not?

[Ndavies]

There are many Hunter-bashers out there.....and most have never owned one! Don't be dissuaded from Hunter. Do your research and find the boat that is best for you. And yes, I love my Hunter 42 Passage - writing this from the Bahamas. We have sailed this boat to the Bahamas (x2), Cuba (x3), Mexico.......and pretty much every weekend when not cruising.


Neil

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Ndavies

There are many Hunter-bashers out there.....and most have never owned one! Don't be dissuaded from Hunter. Do your research and find the boat that is best for you. And yes, I love my Hunter 42 Passage - writing this from the Bahamas. We have sailed this boat to the Bahamas (x2), Cuba (x3), Mexico.......and pretty much every weekend when not cruising.
Neil

No Hunter basher here..
Solo'd my H37c 2400nm to the Azores then another 1400nm to Poole in the UK.
Yes I did get a bulkhead punched out and another had some tabs fail but loved her to bits and she was a joy to sail.. another great one of theirs is the Legend.
Yes there are bashers out there.. I was assured I was as good as committing suicide taking on the trip by folks in Oriental and Beaufort NC.

[gulfcoastsailor]

With the exception of the early Cherubini’s, I would not leave side of land on a Hunter.

[MerryBee]

WOW!!! this turned out nicely, huh? I guess want2cruz didn't think so, but I for one enjoyed this thread...

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by Akapeterc

Our Hunter traveled from Canada to the Bahamas through the Pacific all the way to Australia over two years and survived

I’ve had malaria three times and survived. But not everyone does and there seems to be a correlation with constitution. The question is how many severe storms your boat weathered not miles of sunshine.

[goat]

Are Fords good for off road use? Hate to pile on but, 'depends' comes up. Paris to Dakar? Pipe line right of way? Moab rocks? Unpaved forest road?

F150? Bronco? Pinto? Windstar?

You can see some frustration on the participants.

Here's a link to some Hunters;
http://sailboatdata.com/view_builder.asp?builder_id=52

Too start I'd look to see how many gallons of water they can carry; thinking if it's less than about 40 gallons they weren't expected to be used offshore.

There are boats made to cruise open water for years without breaking apart, there are boats made to cruise the Caribbean, there are expedition boats made for anywhere, any time, there are boats made to sail from marina to marina and there are boats that fudge those lines. Hunter makes many boats.

The answers you seek aren't here, you'll know your boat when you buy it, then you'll really know your boat when you seek to buy your second one.

Good luck and lighten up, someone will be asking you these questions one day and you'll definitely have an "a-ha" moment.

Put me in the group that isn't helping.

goat

[Cyrus Safdari]

it isn't about the boat, it is about the captain. people have crossed oceans on logs. not comfortably or safely.

[DumnMad]

Originally Posted by goat

To start I'd look to see how many gallons of water they can carry; thinking if it's less than about 40 gallons they weren't expected to be used offshore.

There are boats made to cruise open water for years without breaking apart, there are boats made to cruise the Caribbean, there are expedition boats made for anywhere, any time, there are boats made to sail from marina to marina and there are boats that fudge those lines. Hunter makes many boats.
goat

Good distinctions. The OP probably doesn't know that most boats vaguely promoted as 'bluewater boats' are definitely not F10 to F12 heavy weather boats.

[JPA Cate]

Here's another link: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-111115.html

For whatever boat you think you would be interested to investigate, try a CF Google Custom search (under the Search menu), and enter the brand name and repairs. This will give you an idea of issues to address prior to taking the boat offshore. (This is in the category of Boatie's warning about the Hunter bulkhead tabbing. It is an issue than can be addressed before it breaks, as is the rudder.)

It is true that the vast ocean is different from cruising. The good part is that you are mostly away from the hard bits.

Jim and I took his Yankee 30 round trip from SF to HI, in 1983. This was after 5 seasons of ocean racing for us, and 4 trips coastally from SF to the Channel Islands. Before I went south with him the first time, he had beefed up the forward sections of the boat to prevent oil-canning going to weather. This is merely an opinion, but I think the way we did it, building up to crossing oceans by gathering months of experience, is a prudent way to approach the task. The type of conservatism Jim has displayed is a good example to me, for sure.

Ann

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

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This is merely an opinion, but I think the way we did it, building up to crossing oceans by gathering months of experience, is a prudent way to approach the task. The type of conservatism Jim has displayed is a good example to me, for sure.

Not necessarily conservative. Certainly prudent. Learn to walk before you learn to run. Good advice and an excellent example.

In many of our prior discussions about sailing around SF, we talked about "getting one's feet wet" in the ocean by first daysailing outside to get a taste of conditions, and learning, step-by-step, as your experiences grow.

Seems to me that this applies for most endeavors. For security, knowledge and safety.

I would never have attempted my 2016 trip to Vancouver Island from SF had I not sailed outside The Gate many, many times, from calms to heavy weather.

[sailorcherry]

I think this paragraph belongs in a lot of threads.....so many sage words here....what a nice example of a cruising partnership.

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

This is merely an opinion, but I think the way we did it, building up to crossing oceans by gathering months of experience, is a prudent way to approach the task. The type of conservatism Jim has displayed is a good example to me, for sure.

Ann

[frozenhawaiian]

frankly I wouldn't trust one blue water. it's not that the hulls aren't strong enough, they're not the strongest sure but at least personally I've never heard of one breaking up offshore because hull or deck structure failed. the issue is that hunter is a budget builder and you have to cut corners somewhere to keep costs down and at least my observation has been that where hunter cuts a corner is that everything on deck seems under spec'd. winches too small for the tasks it's expected to do. blocks to small. chintzy deck cleats, lower quality port lights and hatches. that sort of thing. I did see a deck cleat rip out of a hunter at my marina and the washers on the backings looked terribly small, little things can make a big difference. all that being said there are a lot of people who have sailed blue water on hunters for thousands and thousands of miles without issue. you make the call.

as an aside I've always believed that a big reason hunters have a reputation of being bad boats is user error. because they're a budget boat a lot of novice (read: clueless) sailors trying to get on the water on the biggest boat they can afford often end up in hunters and get themselves into trouble and break themselves/boats due to inexperience/ineptitude but the brand takes the rap for it.

again all of this is just my 2 cents.

[john61ct]

Most of that stuff needs replacing anyway getting a cheap old boat ready for a long passage no?

Question wasn't "is it the best?", nor is any low-cost boat ready to go off-shore without spending lots on prep.

[bensolomon]

My experience having grown up on hunters, and own one, now, is the pre 1990 boats were very solid with good hardware. Post 1990 the company was in financial trouble and that's when some issues started. I have sailed two 2010 and above and thought the build quality was good.