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Review of the Hunter 38 by Gordon Taylor

Year built 2005  
Location of boat Georgian Bay, Lake Huron  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Multi-week coastal cruising  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2006  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes.  
Gear that's been added Added an extra cleat in the anchor locker so rode can be secured off the windlass. Added Hunter Marine davits. House bank consists of 4x 6v Trojan golf cart batteries which fit nicely into the battery compartment. Usual Raymarine electronics with C80 plotter in Navpod. Below deck Raymarine autohelm. Variprop.  
Structural or complex improvements  
The boat's best features Excellent sailing performance under most sailing conditions. Very comfortable, spacious and open accomodation for a 38' boat. Really like the walk through aft cabin, great for ventilation. Good access to engine for service, stuffing box could not have better access! Well laid out through-hulls. Windlass location is well thought out with rode dropping freely into the anchor locker. Very usable navstation. Far better build quality of design and build than I would have expected.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. We bought the boat second hand, 1 year old from local Hunter dealer. There were many little problems that should have been easily resolved by the dealer. Windlass needed shimming. We had problems with Isolation transformers that were improperly wired. Battery switches incorrecly wired..etc. All were relatively easily corrected when identified and diagnosed.  
Sailing characterisitcs We love the way this boat sails. We have the Doyle furling main with vertical battens and shoal wing keel. Windward performance is good in all but the lightest wind. Boat makes very useful progress to windward even in 20kts and lumpy conditions. Doesn't seem to need to be sailed as flat as some designs for good windward progress, just digs in and goes. Have seen consistant 8kts on GPS reaching which is exhilliarating! Very managable with little tendancy to round-up or spin-out in gusts. Can be more of a handful downwind in waves, requiring attention and work on the helm to keep a straight course as waves roll under the wide stern. Furling main works well.  
Motoring characterisitcs No problems here. Yanmar 3JH4E is very smooth and quite. Considerable propwalk from the Variprop in reverse required a bit of a learning curve. Now find this very helpful for turning and docking..but have to plan for clockwise turns and portside tie-up.  
Liveability Very comfortable for 2 adults and 2 teenagers for our 3 weeks summer trip. Have been pleasnatly surprised by good performance of the front opening fridge.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Hunter have been excellent to deal with for advice and parts.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any  
Other comments  

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