2008 VS 2011 Hunter 33

Juice6576 · Jan 18, 2015

The basic design is the same from 2004 to 2011. The difference will be in the equipment and things like engine hours. The other difference would be age of the equipment on board the boat. Sails will be three years older, engine will have more hours. If the 2011 is in Manitowoc, I know the boat well as I just traded it in for a new MH 37. It has red and tan interior, 3D chart plotter, spinnaker gear and spinnaker. Compare the equipment and options. Racine Riverside owns the boat now.

Jake N Eggs · Jan 19, 2015

Welcome to the Forum.

I think the interior of the 08 may still be teak. I think that the change to cherry was in 09. A friend had an 09 and the cabin doors were rectangle. (square across the top) I have an 06 and the cabin doors are arched at the top. I am not sure when they changed but my friends wished they had the arched doors.

The boats are essentially the same as Juice has pointed out. There was a 29 HP engine option so compare the equipment. The spinnaker option has tracks on the deck and winches at the back by the arch. Do both boats have furling mains?

I am pretty sure that you will enjoy either boat but I am a little biased. Good luck. Lots of help here.

Juice6576 · Jan 19, 2015

The spinnaker package includes the extra halyard run back to the cockpit with an extra line stopper, blocks for the bow tack line and two blocks aft. There are two sets of jib tracks. Cabin top was standard and helm sheeting package adds second set on deck. 2011 has cherry interior and sqare topped doors.

Jake N Eggs · Jan 20, 2015

Carbon,

The aft bunk is probably close to full size. The Admiral uses Queen sheets. The aft side of the bunk is limited height wise by the plastic cover for the helm area. Lots of room at the head of the bunk. Downside is the admiral has to sit up if I want out. We have always used the aft cabin and don't have a problem with it.

The fridge is small but not to bad. We had a freezer in place of the ice box. The fridge holds 12 beer cans plus the food stuff or 24 beers when it is not contaminated with the food.

Water is 50 USG - 189 Liters. Fuel and holding is 25 USG - 95 Liters. I use less than 2 liters per hour. Have no problem going 10 days with a full water tank.

I am pretty sure that the 356 has the rounded cockpit. This will make the 33 look much smaller. It is harder to get out of the cockpit to go forward in the rounded cockpit but it is nice. My buddy has a 336. The 33 is the more conventional straight cockpit. Still no problem to get 6 comfortably.

The volume is a factor of the boat size. The 33 is actually very good.

It is just my wife and I and the 33 is the perfect size for us. (Hope I don't sound like a salesman here)

Best of luck in your decision.

seadaddler · Jan 20, 2015

Bigger

I did that comparing the 33 to the 356 and now have 07 H-36
because the 356/36 is bigger for sure and the bathroom or head
is small compared to the 356.
Nick

Scott B · Jan 20, 2015

carbonrobot said:
My holdups on the H33 are:

- Is the aft bunk full size/length? I'm not tall, but don't want to scrunch up.
- I hear lots of complaints about the 'dorm fridge'
- Smaller fresh water and fuel tanks (VS the H356)
- Smaller cockpit size (It appears to be, but I haven't been on both side by side to compare)
- Smaller interior volume (although, I have yet to step on board one, so it may not even be an issue)

I'm 6'-2, aft bunk is more than comfortable. The hatch overhead is great for letting in light and air flow, we rarely are too hot sleeping. Only drawback is disrupting the partner in the middle of the night.

Beer fridge is same size I've seen on all other size boats, small, but we survive for a week onboard. We also turn down (up) the freezer to fridge temp to use for some items at times, but still draws a lot of power.

Fresh water tank is huge, fuel is not bad, holding tank is usually our limitation for how long we stay out, 4-5 days, sometimes push to 6 and full.

Cockpit is good for 2, and gets crowded with 4-6. Biggest issue I have is getting to the Main sheet or to the main furling lines with more than the 2 of us on board.

We were at the Toronto Boat show this past weekend and friends with us and all commented that our boat felt more spacious inside than the bigger boats we were looking at ( Bene & Jenneau )

Overall, we're more than happy with the boat and has been great for the past 8 seasons. Looking back, it was our first boat so bought based on what I was used to handling ( CS33 ) so went that size. Now, I wish we had gone bigger, only because I could have handled a bigger boat and the extra space everywhere would have been nice. If we'd bought the 36, I'm sure we'd be content right now ( yes Nick you're correct

) but now we're looking either 38 or 41 in the '04 - '08 range.

Downside I've seen on the 356 is not having the jib sheets back to the helm, which would be a problem for me with several people on board.

Also, I wouldn't be too worried about the earlier models ( 04 - on ) in this area ( Great Lakes) It will be more dependent on how much the boat has been used and/or taken care of vs. newer. A well taken care of older boat will be better than a newer neglected boat.

Juice6576 · Jan 22, 2015

answers and recollections

carbonrobot said:
Greatedback, thanks. I might have a bit of "sizeitis" when comparing the two. Really wish I could jump on a 356 side by side a 33 to compare the size. I'm mostly concerned about the cockpit size, as the Admiral and I like to sail with friends and family. Having previously sailed a Hunter 29 I always felt like I was tripping over people when working the sheets.

We never had an issue with tank capacity. Used less than 10 gallons to cross Lake Michigan. No wind that day. Aft bunk is a queen size. Small fridge but there is a drop in ice box to the left of the stove. Cockpit is large, seats 4-6. With sheets back to the helm not much of an issue. Typically I used the deck mounted tracks. I used the port cabin track to lead tge spinnaker tack line to the cockpit.

Scott B · Apr 7, 2015

carbonrobot said:
Thanks for everyone's help. Just closed on a 2009 Hunter 33 this week and will be sailing "Venti" to her new home at Manitowoc Marina in May.

Let's get this season started!

That's great... congratulations. Lots of pics when you get her.

Jake N Eggs · Apr 7, 2015

carbonrobot said:
Thanks for everyone's help. Just closed on a 2009 Hunter 33 this week and will be sailing "Venti" to her new home at Manitowoc Marina in May.

Let's get this season started!

Congratulations. I am sure that you will enjoy it. I may be a little biased though.

Dannotti · Apr 7, 2015

Congrats, you will like it. We have had our 2010 hunter 33 for 6 months and love it.

Juice6576 · Apr 7, 2015

Great news and a great boat. See you this summer, we're on B dock.