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Review of the Hunter 410 by john farnsworth

Year built 1998  
Location of boat san francisco bay  
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?  
Owner bought the boat in 1998  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, but I would buy it without any of the canvas work gotten through the dealer. Could have gotten much better for much cheaper on my own. we love the boat, but are amazed at how poor the quality control work at hunter is. our punch list is a mile long, and the boat seems to have been thrown together by troglodytes. worst of all, of course, is the refridgeration system, which hunter seems clueless as to how to fix. sailing-wise, however, this boat is a dream, and a fast one at that. also , if i were to do it over, i would insist on all quality gear, the cheap stuff that came as part of hunter's  
Gear that's been added Radar, chartplotter, asymetrical spinnaker, autohelm 7000, inverter, dodger, wind machine, coaming winches. windlass and a proper anchor. ssss Structural or complex improvements: none; i've been spending all my time trying to get the refridgerator working, not to mention the bilge pump and the electrical system and... tttt The boat's best features: livability. we moved aboard and were amazed at how much empty space we still had in lazarettes and lockers. Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.: fridge, electrical system (hunter never installed the batterey isolator shown on the schematics, which meant that the engine could be started with all the switches off!) seldon furling system, autohelm sea-talk network, guages don't work, warped floorboards, the list goes on and on.......Sailing characterisitcs: fa  
Structural or complex improvements none; i've been spending all my time trying to get the refridgerator working, not to mention the bilge pump and the electrical system and...  
The boat's best features livability. we moved aboard and were amazed at how much empty space we still had in lazarettes and lockers.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. fridge, electrical system (hunter never installed the batterey isolator shown on the schematics, which meant that the engine could be started with all the switches off!) seldon furling system, autohelm sea-talk network, guages don't work, warped floorboards, the list goes on and on.......  
Sailing characterisitcs fasssst! this boat reaches at nine knots in moderate winds. plenty of power, especially considering the negative roach of the furling main. points nice and high, and is easy to balance on most points of sail. the helm has taken some getting used to, but this might be because the owner is used to uldb racers. easy to doublehand, easy to shorten sail. doesn't like to go downwind, however, and the closest i can come to ddw is around 150 degrees. very well-manered otherwise  
Motoring characterisitcs it's noisy, it vibrates and it stinks, but it clips along at eight knots at about 3,400 rpm, and that's with the incredibly cheap two-bladed prop that hunter supplied with the boat. yanmar diesel is a dream, so far  
Liveability fabulous. plenty of head room and storage space. on yacht club cruiseouts, our boat is the one everyone wants to party on. this is clearly our boat's strongest suit.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) icky. way icky. when they sent a replacement pump for the fridge, which loses its prime every time i sail, THEY SENT AN AC PUMP!!! When they replaced a monged-up cabinet door, they replaced it with a door that doesn't fit. I generally have to wait for weeks for them to ship a part that could be easily gotten at the local chandlery, all this so hunter can save a few bucks.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any enjoyed working with the salesman that we bought the boat from. due to a labor shortage in the bay area, the commissioning process was very slow, and not all systems were checked out thoroughly because of the time crunch. the chief engineer/rigger an extremely knowledgable sailer, however, who does impressive work when he can find the time to do it. the canvass guy they had build my dodger, cushions, binnacle cover, etc. was very amateurish. not at all happy with his work.  
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