Hunter Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997
Hunter OEM Parts
General Marine Parts
 
 

Review of the Hunter 31_83-87 by David Nantais

Year built 1985  
Location of boat Windsor Ontario Canada  
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 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2000  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes - My wife  
Gear that's been added We put a new bottom on. Stripped the old bottom and put the new west system on. Then we bought a new Main  
Structural or complex improvements Just the bottom and only because the boat had been damaged before and the repair work was poorly done.  
The boat's best features The interior is the best feature. Lots of space for living for 4 people. Love the wheel steering and the freeboard. The boat also handles very well in moderate wind. I can find the balance easily.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The traveler and main sheet. The way this boat is setup is that the mainsheet goes through a finger block and the traveler sheets use a cleat. the whole main set up is difficult to work with. May be due to the fact that I am use to being able to reach from the helm all the controls. Also the absents of a vang - Undersize winches. The winches seem to strain under the load when going head to wind. The lead from the Mid ship blocks to the aft.tune blocks may have something to do with this. I am looking to change the Main set up and I'm looking for suggestions.  
Sailing characterisitcs Brought the boat 400 miles home from Lake Michiagan to Lake Erie. The wind was between 15 to 35 on Lake Huron. The boat handled well even with poor sails and running riging. Seems to want to slide along real well in air 8 knots to 15 knots with out reefing. Lighter air the boat is hard to keep trimmed. Reaching and Pointing the boat feels good. Broad reaching and running with out a spinnaker is not fun.  
Motoring characterisitcs No problem, the boat has lots of power.  
Liveability For one week with 4 of us aboard we were very comfortable. Cooking aboard was a real treat. The non-pressured alcohol stove cooked fast and safely. The galley is set up to be real handy. Love the table with the couch across from it. The aisle clear from having to squeese pass a table set up. All the Storage space and the sliding smoked glass cupboards.Tons of lights. and sreens on the windows- great cross ventilation.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any We got along real well. We felt we made a friend in the process of buying a boat.  
Other comments We are very happy with the boat. People in our sail club had never been aboard a hunter before and all are quite taken by the size and comfort and the good looks. Complement come our way all the time. The boat was in generaly good shape and only need a good clean up, minor repair other than the bottom. We chose to do more only to bring the boat up to what we wanted to enjoy from it. I find my self steering other's to a Hunter who are looking to buy.Every weekend we look forward to sailing. Thanks!