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Review of the Hunter 340 by Mal Trotter

Year built 1997  
Location of boat Mooloolaba, Qld. Australia  
The boat is sailed on Open ocean  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2000  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? No. While the boat sails very well and the accommodation is 1st class, it turns out my wife is very frightened when the boat heels and this boat is quite tender. Many other boats of similar size and design are far less prone to heel and when racing with our local yacht club, most of the other boats have less heel at similar speeds. This is not a criticism of the boat. We simply should have bought a catamaran for the type of flat sailing my wife enjoys.  
Gear that's been added We have added a GPS chart plotter and an extension speaker for the VHF radio mounted on the steering console beside the tacho. The boat needs a spray dodger and we will get round to that eventually.  
Structural or complex improvements No.  
The boat's best features Comfort, ease of sailing short handed. The boat has the feel of a larger boat - say a 38 or 40 footer. It feels safe, secure and well founded.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Our boat has the fibreglass arch and it develops hairline cracks in the gelcoat from the flexing it does when gybing. This would have been overcome in the new models with the stainless steel arch. In our boat, this is a real pain because it cannot be repaired without major expense and it looks really bad although it is not a structural problem.  
Sailing characterisitcs The boat performs at a mediocre in light winds (less than 10 knots) and the standard 110% genoa needs to be larger for light conditions. In winds above 15kts and up to 30 knots the performance is good and the feel is still one of solid control.  
Motoring characterisitcs Motoring is fine although our boat with the 27hp yanmar is underpropped with the standard propellor. It takes 3400 rpm (the motors rated maximum) to reach 6.7kts and there is no real load on the motor. A larger prop would correct this.  
Liveability We have only overnighted a couple of times because we are very short on overnight, sheltered anchorages on this part of the Queensland coast.The boat was very comfortable but it was in our summer and the lack of airflow to the main cabin meant we had to sleep in the forepeak. It was so cramped, I slept in the saloon while my wife stayed on the V berth in the nose. If we were going to spend much time overnighting, we would have to improve the ventilation.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) We have only dealt with Hunter a couple of times to buy parts or get advice and they were very good and returned calls/emails promptly.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any The local broker was fine although they are not agents for new Hunter boats. The boat had one previous owner when we purchased it.  
Other comments  

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