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Review of the Hunter 27_89-94 by Mike Doherty

Year built 1990  
Location of boat Elk Rapids Harbour, MI  
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 solo  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2001  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes. My name came up for a 28 foot slip in my home marina after seven years waiting. Rather than buy a 28' I purchased a 27 foot with the intent of sailing it utill i knew what my next size would be. I purchased a 1990 model in 2001. I sail solo quite a bit and it is an easy boat to handle, especially in and out of the marina. It has a powerful 4000 series Autohelm, which is convenient when adjusting sail area. I purchased through a broker and the yard suggested a realignment of the diesel and new shaft. Which I did. I've made several minor upgrades including new main, bemmini, lifelines and stero. I went to a marine diesel school for a day to learn maintenance on the Yanmar. The little diesel is extremenly reliable. As a learning experience I've gotten just what I want; including sailing in heavy air. I've been pleasanty surprised by the sailing characteristics of ths boat. It is light (5000 lb displacement) and will ghost in very light air. If there's a 2-3 knot ripple the boat will move. Remember this is the upper Great lakes and the water is spectular clean, so the bottom stays clean. It would be tight for four adults on an overnight. I've overnighted with my two brothers and that works. It would work well for a small family.  
Gear that's been added New safety lines, new main and beminni (throught this web sight and I'm very pleased.) A fully installed radio/CD player including waterproof speakers on deck. I have a 10 ft inflatable with a 3.5hp motor. I added a powerful vang also. the previous owner had led all lines aft. I use to be a dingy sailer and like to get sail shape with the vang and use the traveler for boom position and smaller adjustments in sail shape. Last spring while the boat was in storage I added an additional halyard and plan to add a cruising spinny if I keep the boat. Also added a depth finder myself.  
Structural or complex improvements  
The boat's best features Ease of handling, ability to point. Movemnent in light air. Good mateing of auxilary and prop.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The basic boat, rig, sail plan, and engine are truly well cordinated. Its perfect for Great lake and bay sailing. I was able to pull an almost new shine up on the boat this spring with one of the new 3M compounds. I'm continually trying to get the mast lights to work !  
Sailing characterisitcs Rapid acceleration in a whisper. Ability to point. Overpowering in anything above 13-14 knots. I have two reefs in the main. and start reefing down when the winds come up to keep the boat flater in the water.Whn we get to the upper end of Force 4 its two reefs and quite a short Genny.  
Motoring characterisitcs This past summer I had to motor 35 miles in a driving no wind rain. The little engine brings the boat up close to hull speed at its designed most efficient engine speed. My crew sat in the compainionway due to the noise. But on deck it wasn't bad. I highly recommend the Max Boreing diesel school. ( I think there's a link on the site)  
Liveability Good for two or three compatible adults or small family. One or two peole its fine. for an overnight or short vacation. It does have most of the amminities of the next larger boat at 25% less purchase price in the used market. I'm 6'3" and only need to bend slightly in the cabin.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) NA  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any It was a good experience. The work I had done in the yard was somewhat expensive, but the results were good. (email if you want the names of dealer in Chicago.)  
Other comments More sailable than I though. Very tight boat. We love the walk through transom which is good for swimming and boarding the dingy.  

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