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Review of the Hunter 450 by Shawn Severn

Year built 1997  
Location of boat Seattle  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
How the boat is used Multi-week coastal cruising  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard?  
Owner bought the boat in 1997  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes!The Hunter P450 has been an excellent purchase. We are lookig forward to doingsome extended sailing this summer. So farwe have also been very impressed with Hunter and Marine Servicenter (Seattle) in the efficiently thatthey used to address the few problems thatoccur during the commissioning of a new boat.  
Gear that's been added Yes!We added to additional 6 volt batteries.They are deep cycle batteries with a ratingof 230 amps. This essentialy doubles the battery power on the boat. We also addeda bilge pump in the stern lazerette locker.The locker tends to fill with water duringrain storms, something we get quite a lot ofin Seattle. The boat comes standard with a lot of gear.A number of option were included because this was a boat show boat. The boat came with most ofthe electronics (GPS, Knot meter, windex,depth sound, and auto pilot). It is alsoequiped with a generator to run all of theelectronic toys.  
Structural or complex improvements No!Highly recommend that potential purchasersconsider adding the bilge pump in the stern storage locker and additional batteries in the bilge.  
The boat's best features My wife and I bought this boat with touse for the next ten years as a live-aboard and coastal cruiser. So far weare very impressed with the way Hunter has designed the living space. The boatfeels much larger inside than expected in a45 ft boat. The new living space is veryfunctional. For example, I am wrting thisat the desk in the master state room. Wehave falllen in love with the separate shower/bath tub.I don't think I could talk my wife into another boat that did not come similarly equiped. What has surprised us the most is that wewere prepared to sacrifice consideable sailing capabiliies to have a comfortablehome. However, this does not appear to be thecase. Under power the boat handles wellin small spaces, like getting in and out ofmarinas and jocking for position to go through the locks or waiting for bridgesto be opened. Although we have not had theboat up to cruising speed yet, we're stillbreaking in the engine, at 2000 rpm the boatmoves along between 4.5 and 5 knots (Ithink the cruising RPM should be closer to 3,000 RPM). Which means that she will probably cruise under power at about 7.5 to 8kn. We have the model with the79 hp Volvo-penta engine. Even betterthe engine is almost silent on deck at 2,000 rpm. In fact the first time outwe hadn't realised the engine was onuntil some went below check. We forgotto check the RPM guage (We were excitedso not thinking as well as we could. Alsothe engine panel is to the starboard sideand not as obvious until you get use to itslocation). We have only sailed the boat under extreme(20 to 30 kn winds) and light winds (5 to 10 kn)and have been remarkedly surprised how easy the boat is to sail under both conditions. Under the extreme conditionsshe was very quick and responsive. She gavethe crew a feeling of stability (none of ushad been aboard her for a sail to that point)I light air she was responsive but appeared alittle slow. Although my wife suggestedthat I was being a little demanding in thoseconditions.The 3 bladed fixed prop isa bit of an anchor. I think a 3 bladed feathering prop would be a nice additionand would signficantly improve the light air performance.She is also very easy to sail. Themain sail in raised by a power winch and the jib is cut small and is thereforevery easy to handle. In short, lots of funand easy to handle a very good combination ina cruising boat.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The main caution we have with the boat other thanthose mentioned earlier is the amount offreeboard. The deck is a long way up (about 4.5 ft off a typical marine dockin the Puget Sound area). The boat handlesso well that jumping on to a dock should notbe required. We have learned to backinto our slip which allows me to step of the back.Corinne like this to as she can just shift into forward to get out of a jam.  
Sailing characterisitcs See above:I will write more on this later, after we put some miles under the keel.  
Motoring characterisitcs See above  
Liveability see above  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) Hunter, so far has been great to dealwith. They have answered our questionsand been willing to commit to correct some of the little problems that occur during commissioning.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any We bought the boat through MarineServicenter in Seattle. The broker wasHarrison Jones (623-9500). We were verypleased with the process. Harrison and Ray were very interested in making surethat we were sure that this was the rightboat for us. They were willing to take trade which was important and potentialdeal breaker. As usual, they got a little more money out of us than we hoped but even with some hard negotiations at the end have stayed friends.I should also mention that Mark Lindemanand his guys over at the commissioningyard were excellent. In order to accomodate us they let us move aboard before they had finished commissioningthe boat. They were very helpful in findingand fixing problems frequently beforeI knew the problem existed. They alsotook the time to show me all of the systems andhow they worked, arranged for the boat to bereexamined next summer and again in thefall. Work that was requested outside thecommissioning was done quickly andprofessionally. I believe that I couldhave got the work done less expensivelyusing an independent. However, I feelthe extra was worth the excellent serviceand care they took meeting our needs.If your buying a new Hunter I highly recommend that you check out thecommissioning yard. Marine Servicenterdid a very good job and it is greatly appreciated.  
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