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Review of the Hunter 33 by John Cavedo

Year built 2004  
Location of boat Annapolis  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
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 2004  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? HMMMM... NO...However, that is primarily because my sailing desires have changed. From just weekend/day cruising to cruising and PHRF racing.  
Gear that's been added Northsails Dodger, Bimini w/ connector, & asymmetrical spin, forespar line control whiskerpole mounted on adjustable mast track, upgraded 3YM30 engine, #30 lewmar aft winches, traveler on arch, ST 60 wind, log, depth and ST 4000+ auto pilot, blah, blah, blah..  
Structural or complex improvements No  
The boat's best features Ease of two people to handle in almost all wind conditions. My wife and I (with 9 yr old daughter) had no problem doing the DELMARVA circumnavigation (450nm of which 172 was continuous coastal) Ease of the roller furling main to get in and out (most of the time)  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The roller furling main continuous line has jumped off the furling drum twice. Both times induced by operator mistake (trying to wind in without opening the opposing rope clutch put too much torque).... however you then try to use the winch on the mast below the boom but you can't get a winch handle in and turn it with all the other lines in the way... all this when the wind is blowing 25 knts ugg. The cotter pins in ALL the turnbuckles are ineffective. All my standing rigging has loosened over the last year to the point being at the maximum extension. Issue is the cotter-pins are the wrong kind... too soft and too short which allows the turnbuckles to back out under load and unloading. I didn't notice this until seeing one of my windward upper shrouds loose. Tank indicator has failed, but replaced. Fuel system was plumbed wrong at factory... went directly from fuel tank to secondary filter, by passing the primary, then the overflow went from the secondary filter backwards through primary filter back to the tank. I didn't figure this out until my fuel hose came loose from the secondary filter spitting fuel all over the place and when the engine didn't quit i realized it was the overflow then realize the entire thing was plumbed wrong. Hunter fixed.  
Sailing characterisitcs Originally I thought the boat sailed ok... and truly it does sail just OK But since I've begun racing it in PHRF races I realize how slow it is in lighter winds. The headsail is an AWFUL cut. The high clew is great for cruising but terrible for upwind sailing in anything less than 10knts. It is supposed to be compensated by the huge mainsail, but the roller furling main gives up 83sq feet of area (14%)on the standard large roach main. With this B&R rig there is no way to adjust the mainsail draft at the upper two thirds. You can use the outhaul to flatten the lower 1/3 but with no adjustable backstay there is no way to adjust the upper two thirds which is why so many of us end up reefing early than we would expect to. The vang not being led to the cockpit is a real pain... in order to easily trim twist down wind, you need it led to the cockpit. That combined that the purchase on the Seldon rod kicker boom is not sufficient. When the vang is under load and locked into the clam cleet on the purchase, I have to use both hands and my foot pushing on the line to get it unlocked  
Motoring characterisitcs The 3YM30 is great so far... get the service done that you are supposed to and it seems to be great. However, I've read some of the other posts saying the boat gets to hull speed easily. I don't find that to be true at about 3400 rpm I can get to about 7.1 almost hull speed... but the transom starts digging in so much it is very inefficient. Fuel consumption is great... meaning low.  
Liveability Great for a weekend with two couples or a couple with a couple kids. Did Labor day with another couple and a total of three kids... It was tight but we mananage. A great plus for this mid size cruiser is the LARGE holding tank at 25 gallons all 7 of us didn't fillit over the weekend. We did a 9 day DELMARVA with wife, me and 9yr old. it was just fine We did, however, lower the salon table and I rigged a lee cloth and used that for our offshore portion  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Marginal... sometimes they have been very responsive, at other times slow... Biggest issue so far has been the fuel system plumbing...fixed quickly and now the cotter pins in the rig failing... they have known for over 2 months now and now fix... although they have passed it on to my dealer to fix. I encourage all H33 owners to check your turnbuckles and cotter pins regularly  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Good service....but I think I expected too much. after you buy a car from a dealer you never go back to the salesman that sold you the car, but I did in this case. my salesman helped out a lot with little issues but I should have dealt more with the service dept up front and early.  
Other comments A decent boat. Definitely built for the masses. My PHRF is a 159.... I think it should be more like a 168 or 171...but since none of you are out there racing the new Hunter 33 they don't have any good stats yet to develop the PHRF.  

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