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Review of the Hunter 40 by Phyllis Stendebach

Year built 1986  
Location of boat Houston TX  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 16-22 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 1998  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? If I purchased an aft cockpit sloop, yes.  
Gear that's been added Yes. larger size toilet bowl in the aft head; extensive liveaboard/bluewater cruising equpment was added 2-3 yrs prior to our purchase of boat.  
Structural or complex improvements She has a stainless steel arch that was added at the extreme aft of the cockpit to hold radar, dinghy davits, antennae, etc.;replaced all thru hulls 2 years ago and upgraded from gate valves to ball valves; upgraded sanitary hoses to the Sea-Land version that does not absorb odors 2 yrs ago; added "full tank" warning gauges to both holding tanks 2 yrs ago; ice chest in galley converted to elec refrig/freezer prior to our purchase.  
The boat's best features The Yanmar 40 HP marine diesel engine is a gem!Boat is not underpowered when the iron sail is needed. she's stiff and dry in winds approaching 35 knots and still easy to sail; main traveler in cockpit is in pretty good position for overall use of cockpit w/o gettting in the way toooo much;lots of headroom (captain is 6' tall) in main cabin, forward cabin, forward head, aft head; enough room to move about on deck along the sides of the cabin;she's DRY in side---hardly ever a leak which is unheard of (this is my 5th sailboat)dry bilges, dry cabin are normal in her; she was built in 1986 and her deck is still good and solid---no delamination detected by surveyor; continues to be a well-built boat relative to being in a medium price range; i.e., good value for $  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Builders should not be allowed to install holding tanks for heads w/o something to signal when tank is full. There was not a way to get into the holding tank for the aft head to check it, repair it or to install a guage. Overflow vent is so small it plugged easily and then the holding tank burst its seam at the top and overflowed into the bilge. TERRIBLE and VERY UNNECESSARY design/cost shortcut. Transmission is difficult to shift into reverse. Have tried to get fixed, even installed teflon coated cables; poor design. Have spent considerable $ trying to fix.  
Sailing characterisitcs Tracks easily under sail, easy to steer, quick response to tacking, answers helm readily on any tack, stiff and dry in up to 32 knot winds and chop, goooood sailing vessel! And even with all of our gear on board, she's pretty fast.  
Motoring characterisitcs Handles easily with the 40 HP Yanmar marine diesel--gives it plenty of power. See earlier complaints about transmission. Once transmission goes into reverse, boat handles easily in reverse.  
Liveability Hunter Legend 40:Good headroom except for aft cabin. Is one of the reasons we bought her. I like the sliding panels/doors over the storage areas instead of them being open. Open shelving is completely impractical in boat. Acess to engine from all 4 sides is excellent---can actually get to it to maintain.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Asked for assistance with operating manuals, design drawings, etc. after we purchased 10/98. Hunter personnel were extremely helpful. Can't say enough positive things about their efforts to assist us after we purchased our '86 Legend 40. We have told other sailors how helpful personnel were. That kind of backup at the factory helps us overlook some things that we have not been so pleased with (see some of above).  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any We bought from a broker. Did not ever get to talk to owner. Broker did a good job. would use them again.  
Other comments Overall I like our Hunter. I have heard that there are quality control problems with the newer Hunters coming off of the assembly line. Makes me sad. Hope Hunter gets things back under control. Would love to have had a Legend 40 in a center cockpit model.  

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