Really great to see a thread started of MH40 owners. I agree with
@Bob R. (who is awesome to sail the bay with) that it's a great boat,
@BourbonSailor.
@Bob R. owned an H-356 before his MH40, and I owned an H36 before buying my 2015 MH40, so both of us can agree that the H356/36 were great boats, but I think both of us are even happier with our MH-40s and wouldn't go back.
The boat is MORE than capable of SW Florida to Bahamas. Heck, my H36 is in New England now with her new owners and headed to the Bahamas this winter, and the MH-40 is more capable than that boat. When we held the Hunter 50th anniversary rendezvous in Baltimore this past summer we were lucky to get Rob Mazza and Glen Henderson (designer of the H356/36 and MH40) to speak. They directly addressed the "is Hunter a bluewater boat" question. The answer is yes - but. They're structurally designed for the worst 5% of sailing offshore (
@Bob R. can correct me if I misstated this slightly), so they're capable, BUT they don't have the tankage to cross oceans (water and fuel), and they are built with a compromise biased toward being comfortable at anchor vs in a heavy sea. For example, there's really only one possible true sea berth on both of those boats where you could rig a lee cloth and that's on the port settee. Handholds below are OK, but not what you'd expect on a boat biased toward bluewater sailing. So, pick your weather, and go!
As for MH40 issues, the most common I'm picking up is leaking fixed ports in the salon from the large lexan(?) tinted glass that runs much of the length of the main cabin on the outside.
@Bob R. can give you chapter and verse on this and just had it addressed. Different year MH40s have slightly different, but meaningful changes. For example, my 2015 doesn't have the big lounge seat in the aft cabin, but the 2013s do. My 2015 has an anchor locker that has a low and high drain and a rode slope that allows chain to pile up and jam the windless if you don't manually push the chain deeper. Pulling the anchor up is a rather slow, deliberate process. Other years have a bilge pump at the bottom of the anchor locker and no drains but have a steeper drop or hawse that doesn't pile up the chain. The boats don't come with an anchor washdown in the anchor locker - which is an absolute must have in the muddy Chesapeake - so it has to be added later. I personally haven't seen any crazing on the primary or secondary winches - or anywhere else. I had a leak in the aft cabin and discovered Marlow Hunter drilled an arch mount hole in the wrong place on the starboard side and didn't seal the wrong hole, which was only partially hidden by the arch. I could look up and see a small bit of blue sky from inside the cabin after taking off the inspection plate in the overhead. Generator installs seem to differ significantly between boats.
@Bob R. has something completely different than mine because his was done at the factory; mine looks conventional, like a Panda in a box with a cover that says its a NextGen, but the engine inside is clearly a Paguro modified Farymann which the NextGen dealer says they've never used in any model of NextGen generators. Am guessing mine was a dealer installation, not from the factory. I've talked to other MH40 owners whose fuel gauge has NEVER worked, including mine. The holding tank indicators aren't straightforward. The way they're designed the pickup for the gauge doesn't go to the bottom of the tank, to avoid getting sludged up. So you won't see any indication that either of your holding tanks has anything in it until they're roughly 1/3 full. And then, 1/2 on the gauge doesn't mean they're 1/2 full. You just need to calibrate it by filling with water and making yourself a table, but if you don't know that idiosyncrasy you'll be scratching your head. The MH40 has two water tanks, but to switch between them you'll need to pull up a deckplate in front of the galley sink and dive into that space to find the valves that let you select the appropriate tank. And they're not labeled, you just have to figure it out and label it yourself if a previous owner hasn't. The MH40, like most (maybe all) Hunters does sail at anchor. You can substantially reduce it by using a good quality riding sail (I recommend the FinDelta from Banner Bay marine) which i've found reduces the sailing at anchor by 60-80% on my H36, an H41DS and my MH40. In terms of sailing, it's a decently fast boat under sail (and motor) and well behaved if you reef conservatively (start at 15 kts) and keep the boat balanced. She sails faster flatter, so keep that in mind. She does have to be hand steered with heavy aft winds and seas. I can't get my Raymarine autopilot to steer well in those conditions and not risk a broach, even if set on the highest sensitivity setting. I find a competent human much better under those conditions with that boat. Storage in the cockpit is adequate, but not great. Maybe I got spoiled by the H36's cavernous port cockpit locker. The locker under the stern tailgate isn't easily accessible at sea from the cockpit (though you can get to it through the aft stateroom by taking the headboard off the bed), so while it's great at anchor or in the marina (huge amount of storage there) you need to plan for underway items you'll need to be somewhere else.
Sorry for the huge paragraph. I'm sure I'll think of other things, and will edit below if I do. Others have had their MH40 longer than I have, so I'm looking forward to their comments as well.