Hunter Owner Reviews

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Review of the Hunter 170 by Paul Depperschmidt

Year built 2002  
Location of boat Lake Lanier, GA  
The boat is sailed on Lakes  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength less than 10 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2004  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? So far, so good. I bought it about two weeks ago. Just got it in the water yesterday. There was almost no wind. There was a regatta going on and they had to abandon the race due to low winds. As it turns out we picked up some breezes later in the day. Previously my girls were bored with sailing. The bigger boats (23-30') are not as in tune with the water. This boat let my little girl hang her feet in the water and get a better feel for the boat. She and my wife had a good time. The cockpit is very roomy. Better than a lot of 30 footers I have been in. The boom was well above our heads which made my wife happy. I bought a little Honda 4 stroke and it worked great. All in all I am happy with the boat and would buy it again.  
Gear that's been added Changed a couple of connections from the clevis pins. Added a rams horn for reefing. Need to add reefing tie downs but other than that it has everything you need. I really like the fact that you have all of the big boat controls. Great for practice and to teach my little girl.  
Structural or complex improvements  
The boat's best features The really spacious cockpit. Everyone had plenty of space to move and lay around. It is very wide giving it a feeling of a much larger boat. The open transom is also a big plus. The water is too cold now, but we will definitely be swimming off the back when things warm up. It really give you a feeling of being close to the water. Most larger boats I have sailed seem to keep you away from the water. It is relatively easy to set up and get moving, and seems to trailer well.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The only question is the jib reefing system. It seems to stick when trying to pull out the last wrap. Had to really manhandle it to get it fully open. And don't pull out the roller furling line if you can possible help it. Threading it through the conduit again is not much fun. Even after one outing we are considering cushions for the seats. Kind of tough on the butt and the back if you stay out for long. Maybe we are just getting old.  
Sailing characterisitcs It is very sensitive to weight shift. More like a sunfish than a keelboat. It definitely makes you pay attention. It seemed to hold heading fairly well. The breeze was very slight but we were clipping along. Other larger sailboats had sails flapping while we were full and moving. The battens help there a lot. I might have some additional info once I get some wind really moving past her, but so far no surprises.  
Motoring characterisitcs Locked the motor down and used the rudder. No real surprises. The Honda motor seemed to have a tough time coming back to life after I had tilted it up for a while. Had to choke it for some time to get it to run.  
Liveability Day sailer.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) None yet.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any The dealer, Select Yachts, did a good job of getting us set up and running. Even though we asked them to do it on a day they were having a boat show. I know they would have rather been working the people on the docks but they stuck with us. It would have been a short session but apparently the boat had been stripped of a lot of it's parts over time and they had to strip them off of other boats.  
Other comments So far so good. I am happy, my wife is happy and my little girl enjoys it.  

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