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Review of the Hunter 212 by Rick Moynahan

Year built 2001  
Location of boat Visalia CA  
The boat is sailed on Lakes  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength less than 10 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2007  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? YES! I bought a boat that had been used by a sailing school in Southern CA. It had the keel missing, the mast was broken and the rigging needed to be replaced. So I didn't pay top dollar for it. But it did require work. Dennis at Sailing Obsessions jumped in and helped get the boat going again. It is now sailing and I will probably let go over my Catalina 22 and just keep the Hunter 212 as my day sailor. I'm very pleased with the boat.  
Gear that's been added New Mast, new spreaders, new keel, new rigging lines, new sheeting, new blocks, small battery and a motor.  
Structural or complex improvements The boat had a fixed keel in it when it was used at the school. The swing keel was added and that was a chore. It required a fork lift and a bunch of work to get the swing keel installed for the first time.  
The boat's best features I like the open transom as it makes it much easier to get in and out of the boat. The wide beam is a major plus in that you do not feel crowded and there is plenty of room to move around in the cockpit. The cabin is comfortable and has plenty of room too.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Nothing has broken. The mast was broken before I purchased the boat but that was a backhoe accident on land, nothing to do with the structural issues of the boat. We used a mast from a Hunter 216 and cut it down to replace the mast for the 212. We took 3' off the bottom of the mast and about a foot off the top to make everything line up right.  
Sailing characterisitcs The boat has a hair of weather helm in the under 8mph range which I appreciate. When the winds go in the 25mph range I found a lot of weather helm but then striking the jib reduced it back to something you can deal with.  
Motoring characterisitcs I have an old 3.5 Nissan 2 stoke on the boat and it moves very easily with the motor 1/4 open.  
Liveability I would take it on weekends or short stays. There is room for a 4 but I'm thinking 2 is a better number, unless the other 2 were kids.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) I bought the boat from a distributor of Hunter in Visalia CA, Sailing Obsessions.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any I dealt with Dennis McLeroy at Sailing Obsessions in Visalia CA. I would highly recommend Dennis as a person that did business the way you would wish everyone did. He went above and beyond to help, and was very fair and honest.  
Other comments I have read the other comments and peoples major complaint seamed to be the tiller being a weak component. The tiller is made out of boxed aluminum and is very rugged and very light. It may be deceptive and something they were concerned about. My boat was used with the same tiller at a sailing school before I bought the boat and it with stood that. I have sailed in 25mph gust and it wasn't a problem for me. This is a great boat. No maintenance of wood work, a strong hull and a roomy open cockpit, all that and a comfortable cabin. I think it is a great boat. The folks at Hunter did a bunch of thinking on this boat and things are well laided out.  

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