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Review of the Hunter 25_73-83 by John Goacher

Year built 1979  
Location of boat Bay City, Michigan  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew  
Liveaboard?  
Owner bought the boat in 1996  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Absolutely. We've been very happy with her during our first season and spent every weekend plus a week's cruising on her. Can't wait to chip the ice off and launch her again.The price was right and the previous owner threw in all kinds of extras.  
Gear that's been added We've not had to do much so far. A new Mercury 9.9 was installed by the previous owner's insurance after the original engine was stolen. We added a new stereo, GPS, compass and gas barbeque.This year we have plans to upgrade the halyards, replace Windex and add a cabin heater and a fan to aid with ventilation. Will also add a boom-vang this year.  
Structural or complex improvements Not yet - and we don't envision needing to. She's great the way she is.  
The boat's best features Lots of room below for a 25'. She draws lots of compliments both sitting at the dock and out on the Bay. She handles great in light air and leaves some larger boats in her wake. In a good breeze, she heels to 15 or so and stays there, feeling solid and enjoying the ride.The interior is cozy with lots of woodwork and she's comfortable for the 2 of us. On our cruise week, we had 2 others with us and were able to avoid embarassing each other. (She's a bit tight for 4 adults for a week though, especially in a thunder-storm).There's lots of storage below. She's responsive in all conditions and easy to handle.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. She's a fairly light boat and with 2 or more people in the cockpit, she's stern down on her lines. For the same reason, we're careful about how much extra gear we have on board to keep her up on her waterline.Our major problem is that the smell of fuel can permeate the whole boat when she's closed up and we are careful to give her a good airing out when we get on board. The fuel cell area is open to the rest of the boat and makes me nervous at times. Thinking of a way to better vent that area or seal it off from the rest of the vessel.We had good advice from other members of this forum before we purchased Windbreaker, and so we knew where to look for leaks and troublespots. The leaks were all found and fixed in a weekend and she stayed dry the rest of the Summer.  
Sailing characterisitcs Gets up and goes in the lightest of breezes with a 180 lapper. Also sailed with full main and working jib in up to 20 knots and had a ball. As others have noted, there's a tendency to weather helm, which I kind of like. My previous boat had lee helm and was a pain to handle at times. Difficult to fly wing and wing, so you're better off on a broad reach. Needs attention at the tiller when running.  
Motoring characterisitcs Reversing out of the slip is an experience to be missed. She's practically unresponsive and we always breathe a sigh of relief when we're away from the dock and heading to the bay. She motors well with a Mercury 9.9 and does a comfortable 5 knots. Seems like we use about a gallon an hour. This year I'll try to rig the engine so I can stear directly with the engine rather than relying on the tiller for reversing. Does fine on the bay when heading home.  
Liveability Cozy and comfortable for 2 for a weekend or a week - but then we're fairly small. I'm 5'7" and the first mate is 5'4". The headroom in the main cabin is just above 5'7" so in bare feet I can stand up fine, but hit the ceiling if I wear a baseball cap. We use the built-in cooler for food stuffs and have another Coleman under the table for drinks and such. When cruising with 4, the porta-potty barely suffices. We spend a lot of visits to the pump-out then. When the weather's good, we live in the cockpit, but have been kept below in storms for a full day and done OK.This model 25 doesn't have the opening ports like Steve's Pegasus. This would help a lot with interior ventilation. Up here, mosquito screens are a must for some night air.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Haven't had the pleasure yet.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any The broker was more familiar with power vessels and deals in some pretty large ones. While they were pleased to sell an older 25' sailboat, we got the impression this was small change to them and they messed us about a bit. Pre-sales help was great, but when it came time to prep the boat for the test sail, they dragged their feet and we had a few "misunderstandings". It took them a while to find and install the engine but eventually came out OK.I'd be more careful who I dealt with in future, and be more definite about expectations. The broker performed only when we put pressure on them. (Like cancelling the deal).  
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