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Review of the Hunter 340 by John Tesoriero

Year built 2000  
Location of boat Forked River, New Jersey  
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? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2004  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? We bought this boat about a year ago and thus have a full season of use and maintenance experience to share. This boat was an "upgrade" for us from an older 1980 Hunter 30 that we sailed for over ten years. The 340 is more than just a larger boat to us. It has the size but also more creature comforts such as refrigeration, reverse cycle heat and cooling, a propane stove/oven, anchor windlass and a larger head with shower. After a season of sailing, we are happy with the boat and are looking forward to many more years of enjoyment aboard.  
Gear that's been added I added a three blade Campbell Sailor prop and enjoy better motoring performance. A Garmin GPS Chart plotter is our main navigation tool along with our compass. The main sail is huge and there is a lot of friction from the reefing lines making the sail difficult to raise. I am adding blocks to the reef cringles on the fore and aft ends of the sail to reduce the friction. I am also adding a Condensator device to stop the water from the A/C unit from draining into the bilge where it generates some smell. I also packed the shaft stuffing box with GFO Teflon packing to almost stop the dripping water - also smell related. I increased the battery capacity to two Group 27 Deep cycle batteries and also carry a spare battery in the starboard lazarette compartment, in case I ever run the house batteries down. Battery monitoring gauges make it easier to keep track of our daily electrical use. I added a solar powered ventilator to one of the Durade box vents. I have a soft vang and find it absolutely necessary for reasonable sail shape on this boat. A rigid vang would be a nice upgrade but not critical. The topping lift vibrates under tension. We added DC fans to the aft berth and main cabin for ventilation when away from the dock. A wooden top for the stove was necessary to increase counter space in the galley.  
Structural or complex improvements Nothing major. I had to raise the heat/AC vent in the aft berth because it was easily and frequently blocked by bedding. The hanging locker in the main salon is almost useless because the AC vent hose prevents the use of a closet rod to hang any clothes. I am going to install a shelf to make the locker more usable.  
The boat's best features The boat has a huge cockpit and is great for sailing or dockside socialization. There are however, no comfortable vertical surfaces to lean against when you try to stretch out in the cockpit. You can feel that this is a big boat with enough weight to make its way through the water. It is, or can be, a fast boat when the sails are trimmed properly. The lazy jacks make taking the main sail down easy but also make it difficult to raise since the battens can foul on the lines. The aft berth is a huge queen size, but can be somewhat claustrophobic for the one sleeping in the inside. Some gymnastics are required to exit gracefully in the night. The forward v-berth is a little tight for larger adults. The main cabin is large but the passage ways seem narrow and my wife and I have to make way for one another as we try to move about the boat. The headroom is good. The refrigeration works great and the small freezer will keep a bag of ice cubes frozen over a week. I had to replace one of the cooling fans on the refrigerator compressor as it was installed improperly. The stainless steel arch is a nice feature and an absolute necessity in order to climb to reach the aft end of the boom. The swing down stern helm seat is clever and makes it easy to exit the boat from the transom. The stern rail seats are everyone's favorites. The anchor compartment is of good size and the Lewmar windlass seems to work well. The stern shower is a nice feature but its lines can leak inside the lazarette compartment. There are five panels that allow very good access to most of the parts on each side and top of the engine. Access to the rear of the engine, primary fuel filter, shaft, stuffing box and raw water intake valve and filter is great once you remove some of the aft cabin bedding.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Most of the following problems are relatively minor but real nonetheless. I mentioned the difficulty raising the main. The standard self tailing winches are on the port and starboard cabin top with lines leading through rope clutches. These winches are impossible to reach from the helm so solo sailing can be difficult to impossible. I am considering adding either sheet winches or jam/cam cleats on the cockpit coaming to handle the jib and main sheets. The boat came with cabin top jam cleats for the jib sheets but I don't use them because they have damaged the braided jib sheet line. The original bimini and dodger provide good coverage and lots of protection from the sun but make it almost impossible to see the main. There is a small plastic window in the bimini but you can't reach the protective sunshield flap to open it. I often fold the aft portion of the bimini forward when sailing. Every screw that goes through the deck and cockpit must have caulking applied to it or it will invariably leak. I had screw related leaks at the mast base and aft cabin. The bolts and screws for the arch, stern rails and even the main AC shore power electrical inlet all leaked and had to be rebedded. The lenses on the Lewmar opening deck hatches have all crazed after about five years in the sun in NJ. There are screens for all of the smaller cabin/deck-side opening ports but they don't fit well and interfere with the closing and sealing of the ports. The complex rigging for the reefs and the lazy jacks make it difficult to remove the main sail at the end of the season. The bilge is deep but so narrow that you can only fit a relatively small bilge pump. There are many areas of the bilge, especially under the engine and some floor panels that are inaccessible and thus difficult to keep clean and odor free. There is no way to route the condensate line from the AC into a shower sump box- thus the need for a Condensator. The shower drains into the bilge so I plan to add a shower sump box to drain both the shower and the refrigerator drain line. The table in the main salon is a little too big for the space making it difficult for larger adults to sit comfortably around the table. After five years of use, I had to replace the original battery charger and the pressure switch on the fresh water pump. The 110 volt water heater has no temperature adjustment and can scald if you are not careful. The engine heats the water nicely when out at anchor. Access to the engine raw water supply valve and related filter requires that you remove the bedding and one mattress cushion from the aft cabin and then raise a large panel. This makes it difficult to open or close the valve when you arrive at or leave the boat. The boat's instruments are mounted above the companionway. After about five years, enough water had dripped on the back of each instrument to corrode the electrical contacts - which had to be cleaned or replaced.  
Sailing characterisitcs The boat sails well and is fast and stable. The main sail is huge and has to be reefed early at around 15 knots. The main when reefed and used alone will drive the boat nicely at all reasonable wind speeds. There can be a fair amount of weather helm at times. The 100% fractional jib is just right for this boat and can be used alone. The swept back spreaders do limit the extent that you can swing the boom out for downwind sailing but is something that you can learn to work with. Because all of the sail controls are on the cabin top it is difficult to make small adjustments in the main and jib when under sail. The result is that we end up often sailing with less than optimum shape and set most of the time. The traveler is mounted on the top of the arch and the controls are easy to reach from the helm. On my boat, the fully rolled jib will easily unfurl itself in a strong wind if you don't cleat down the furler line.  
Motoring characterisitcs The 27 hp Yanmar 3GM30F drives the boat at just under 7 knots with the three blade prop at about 3,000 rpm. There was considerable vibration with the original two blade. There is some prop walk to port in reverse but that reduces when the boat starts to move. There is also some prop walk to starboard when the boat is first put into forward gear. Fuel consumption is somewhere less than 3/4 gallons per hour at cruising rpm 2,800 - 3,000. The engine is mostly quiet and produces little to no smoke. Routine service and winterization has been relatively easy. As with all small Yanmar engines, this one has no temperature gauge. The vented loop on the raw water line leaks and has to be cleaned or replaced. I had to add a scoop screen - facing aft - on the raw water intake thru hull to reduce clogging by eel grass in our area.  
Liveability We stay on our boat every weekend and cruise to a nearby spot for two weeks during the summer. We also stay out at anchor whenever possible. The boat is very livable for the short term but I don't think two people could live aboard. The water supply and holding tank capacities are adequate for a few days out. There is only one small opening vent in the aft cabin so we had to add DC fans to the aft berth and main cabin for those hot nights away from the dock. The galley is good but counter space is limited. We added a wooden top to the stove and that helps.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Hunter has been helpful and responsive to gear and parts questions.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any We bought the boat from a knowledgeable dealer/broker and were very satisfied with the process of buying this boat. The dealer also sold our old boat. Sandy Hook Yacht Sales  
Other comments This 2000 boat is of much higher quality that our older 1980 boat. It has a lot of "quality" features including known brand name equipment, Corian counter surfaces, all teak interior with good fit and finish, reflecting overall good design and workmanship.  

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