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Review of the Hunter 450 by Bob Bass

Year built  
Location of boat Jacksonville, FL  
The boat is sailed on Open ocean  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 16-22 knots  
Average size of crew  
Liveaboard?  
Owner bought the boat in 1977  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, definitely!  
Gear that's been added Aft aluminum tubing arch, outboard motor lift, outriggers, downrigger, many fising pole holders, second VHF (Icom), SSB (Icom 710RT), second GPS (Garmin 48 at helm w/12v supply), radar (16 mile Furuno), forward scan sonar/fishfinder, cell phone, satellite phone (Wavetalk), DSS TV receiver for dock/anchor use, Raycor 500 series fuel filters for engine  
Structural or complex improvements Closed in the open storage areas in the salon and aft cabin with doors. Opened up several nice storage areas beneath sole in salon and forward cabin by cutting out and refacing sections of the flooring and adding handles. Added substantially more sound and heat proofing around generator area. Added oil changing pump that is plumbed to both engine and generator.  
The boat's best features Interior room for living and adding creature comforts, ease of sailing, speed, large aft deck for fishing, and large swim platform for diving, swimming and getting in and out of dinghy.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Need to watch aft bend of mast during tuning when you have roller furling main. If too much bend, then difficult to work sail in and out. Probably main design failure is lack of room on the sides of the engine. I have to remove throttle cable to change oil filter on engine and a raw water pump repair will have to be done totally by braile. Just a couple inches on each side would have been much better.  
Sailing characterisitcs Excellent response and good speed at low wind conditions. When under full sail at winds over 18 there is a lot of weather helm. Easy to sail and wouldn't have the boat without roller furling main.  
Motoring characterisitcs Very fast and backs very well. The bow will swing around in the wind if forward speed is not maintained when docking.  
Liveability Excellent, especially since we added the ice maker. This is a necessity at 1700 hours.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) They have been absolutely fantastic. They really care about their company. You can tell that it is employee owned.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Whitney's has been great in working out all the problems associated with a new boat and in doing the extensive add-ons that we have had.  
Other comments  

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