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Review of the Hunter 30_88-94 by Mark Noble

Year built 1995  
Location of boat Lake Erie  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
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 1998  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes. It was clean and modern, most everything worked, and it was a lot of boat for the money.  
Gear that's been added 1) Autoprop feathering prop 2002 2) New headsail furler (Harken) 2003 3) 152% Genoa (2001) 4) 110% Genoa (2002) 5) New Mainsail, 3 reefs, Dutchman system (2003) 6) Rigid Vang (Gerhauer) 2004 7) 8:1 Main sheeting system (Gerhauer) 2004 8) 2nd cabintop winch (moved existing Lewmar 16 to port of cabintop and added new-in-box Barient (equivalent to 44) to starboard of cabintop for main halyard. 9) Racor filter (external) for Diesel 10) Backstay adjuster 11) Adjustable genoa cars (Gerhauer) 2004 12) Upgraded anchors to Delta 22 lb primary (3/8 chain and 300' of 5/8" nylon rode, Fortress FX-16 spare with 1/2" chain and 250' of 1/2" nylon rode 13) 8D house battery, Group 27 starting battery  
Structural or complex improvements  
The boat's best features Pretty fast for a cruising boat. Very dry boat. Excellent accomadations for a boat only 30 feet long. Fairly easy to sail and forgiving. Shoal draft of 4'8" permits flexible docking options. The little Yanmar 2GM-20 engine always starts like a top and gives the boat good speed and handling under power, even better with the autoprop I've added. Can be sailed under mainsail alone, if desired.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The plastic clasps on the cabinet/shelf doors have broken several times (needing replacement). The single line reefing system should exit the boom at the gooseneck heading upwards, like the Catalina models rather than downwards to the mast plate. Running it back up to the reef on the luff and then down again creates too much friction. The original 6:1 mid-boom sheeting system was very difficult to work in heavy air even with the main reefed, and I'm pretty strong. The stock winches were all borderline in size -- the Lewmar 32 primaries are hard to work in heavy air, even in low gear, and the single speed cabintop main halyard winch was inadequate and required too much effort, necessitating an upgrade. The anchor locker design does not permit adding a windlass. The anchor locker drain hole frequently clogs up. The head is really small and tight.  
Sailing characterisitcs Because the waves tend to be steep and close together on Lake Erie (in the Cleveland area the water is pretty shallow, only about 30-40 feet deep), when the wind pipes up it can get rough quickly. Have been out in 26-28 knots with gusts into the 30's (2 reefs in main, 1/3 of jub rolled up); although the boat pounds a bit into the waves when it's rough, it's pretty steady on the wind (although it can broach off the wind if you are not careful).  
Motoring characterisitcs  
Liveability Have only day sailed. Cannot comment on liveability.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) N/A  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any A bit trying, but everything worked out well.  
Other comments  

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