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Review of the Hunter 18.5 by Dan DeDeker

Year built 1989  
Location of boat Appleton, Wisconsin  
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 2002  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? We've only had the boat a short time, however I can't imagine another boat that I would be more pleased with.  
Gear that's been added Tiller Tamer, boom vang, replaced mainsheet blocks with Harken (mainly for heavy weather piece of mind),Boomkicker.  
Structural or complex improvements none so far  
The boat's best features The design maximizes the cabin space, the shoal draft keel takes the worry out of grounding for us beginners. The fully battened mainsail makes it easy to manage and provides a lot of power. The responsiveness overall is phenominal.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. I'm not impressed with the OEM hardware, seemed flimsy compared to some of the newer products. Also, there are quite a few small stress fractures near the deck plates, this may just be indicative of over tensioning of the shrouds, but there are only backing plates on the shrouds and none on the stanchions or the jib sheet blocks.  
Sailing characterisitcs Like another owner reported, there is a dubious lack of performance when sailing directly into the wind, everything else is fantastic. Seriously, many previous owners report "excessive heeling at low speeds" I found the 18.5 to respond very well to mainsheet trim and proper positioning of crew.  
Motoring characterisitcs A previous owner replaced the motor with a Johnson 5 hp that moves the boat quite nicely up to 6+ kts in any weather condition.  
Liveability It has all the comforts of home, but when given a choice between the cabin and a hotel room.......  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Not good, it took quite a while to get a hold of them in the first place and then I was handed off to a part manufacturer (US Spars who were great to deal with). They didn't seem to care too much about me as an owner.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any  
Other comments It really was a great choice for a beginner, it handles very well and is still forgiving. The absence of a backstay is a bummer though, I will most likely retrofit one in the spring  

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