We are about to buy a 1997 Hunter 430. What can present owners tell us to look for? What is best about the boat? What do they dislike about the boat?
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check owner reviews
there's t ab at the top of the home page called 'Boats." click there, then on the 430. You'll seea link for owner reviews which should tell much of what you want. good luck1 I've sailed a couple 430's and found them to be excellent boats.
there's t ab at the top of the home page called 'Boats." click there, then on the 430. You'll seea link for owner reviews which should tell much of what you want. good luck1 I've sailed a couple 430's and found them to be excellent boats.
THE 430
We purchased a 1995 430 about 2 months ago. We love her. In 1995 Hunter used aluminum holding tanks in the 430. Our surveyer missed a badly corroded aft holding tank. I'de check them very carefully..The aft tank can be seen from the floor access to the rear of the sink on the port side. Grab ahold of the tank fittings and shake them. If the owner will let you, remove the cabin sole, about 10 screws, and look at the entire tank. Ours was a mess. You can see all of the forward tank by removing the forward access cover under the forward bunk. Our dealer C and H Yachts out of San Diego felt so bad about the screwup of the surveyor that they are providing the labor for free and spliting the cost of the $250 tank with me. Other than that the she has been great and fairly fast on the water...hope this helps
We purchased a 1995 430 about 2 months ago. We love her. In 1995 Hunter used aluminum holding tanks in the 430. Our surveyer missed a badly corroded aft holding tank. I'de check them very carefully..The aft tank can be seen from the floor access to the rear of the sink on the port side. Grab ahold of the tank fittings and shake them. If the owner will let you, remove the cabin sole, about 10 screws, and look at the entire tank. Ours was a mess. You can see all of the forward tank by removing the forward access cover under the forward bunk. Our dealer C and H Yachts out of San Diego felt so bad about the screwup of the surveyor that they are providing the labor for free and spliting the cost of the $250 tank with me. Other than that the she has been great and fairly fast on the water...hope this helps
Love ours
Hi, Stephen, We also have a 1997 430, and are in love with her. I must tell you that Hunter's quality control at the factory was sloppy and that it took us 2 years to complete the corrections, with excellent support from Hunter, by the way. There were problems in all systems, almost universally due to poor factory assembly or installation, but the boat had been in dealer inventory on the hard for 18 months, which didn't help either. Anyway, hopefully by buying "used" you'll get a better boat, due to the owner's sweat and toil. Hunter made a change in the genset they used on the later boats. When they went to the Kohler 9KV (it cost them less) it wouldn't fit in the compartment that makes up the buffet/seat in the salon, so they put it under the front berth, and placed a newly designed water tank there. Bottom line, you get only 120 gallons of water between the two tanks, (not advertised, but Hunter gave me those figures). The fuel filter (Raycor) is too small, but possibly this has already bee upgraded. The standard house batteries are truck cranking batteries, OK for local use, but need to be upgraded when you start extended cruising (which we haven't done yet) Get a GOOD survey, DON'T use the surveyor that the selling broker or owner recommends if possible (too many conflict of interest cases), and make sure he is INSURED. Not car and fire insurance, but ERRORS AND OMMISIONS liability insurance, and be sure to get a "Certificate of Insurance." from him. (I know this from sad personal experience that my brother encountered, having had a bad survey from "the best surveyor in the area"). Check for plumbing leaks, water leaks from the deck and mast, electrical wiring problems. Make sure all pumps and mascerators work. All that should be routine in a GOOD survey. Take her out for a sea-trial. Be sure the steering is smooth (I had a binding rudder-shaft bearing) and that there is not too much weather helm (I'm still troubled with that, but close to a fix, I think). The refrigerator and freezer will probably sweat due to poor seal design, but if you buy the boat I'll be happy to share my fixes with you ("it ain't perfect but it's better"). It's a fast, well behaved boat (except for the weather helm issue). Due to the B&R rig, you can't ease the main out as far as you might like, and sailing dead downwind with the standard sailplan is out of the question. I have a friend that added an optional inner staysail, and sails them wing and wing to run. But Hunter and others advise that you should tack the boat downwind, not over 135-140 degrees off the apparant wind, which is faster anyway. And that's fine in unrestricted water, but there are times that this might not make you happy, such as in an entrance channel, etc. But MOVE she will! Storage is comprimised by lots of machinery where storage should be, depending on how the boat is configured. Particularly, if you have two air conditioners like we do, and a genset, you'll be looking for places to store your stuff. It's amazing, though, how much room you can discover under the sole, but some is not easy to access. The room in the aft cabin in HUGE, and it's quite comfortable, once you learn to duck and not wack your head on the overhang. Lots of clothing lockers, and great heads/showers. Be careful, though, taking a shower... the hot-water temp is very high, to allow use of a relatively small water heater. You'll get used to that, and that is typical on many similar boats. As she come, "out of the box,", she is not a true heavy-weather blue water boat, but is an excellent coastal cruiser, and can be modified and beefed up, depending on your requirements, to handle it all. The anchor wells are a bit flaky. there is a "hidden" aft anchor well behind the one you see on the forepeak, and if the Simpson Lawrence power windlass is installed, it will feed the chain into that compartment thru a hole cut for that purpose. Handling two anchors gets more interesting and I am still working out those details. Stay tuned! Fell free to call me (281 497-2853) or email me with any questions you might have, as I love to talk about this stuff. I'd also be happy to review your survey report with you if you'd like. Hope the above is helpful. Good luck! George
Hi, Stephen, We also have a 1997 430, and are in love with her. I must tell you that Hunter's quality control at the factory was sloppy and that it took us 2 years to complete the corrections, with excellent support from Hunter, by the way. There were problems in all systems, almost universally due to poor factory assembly or installation, but the boat had been in dealer inventory on the hard for 18 months, which didn't help either. Anyway, hopefully by buying "used" you'll get a better boat, due to the owner's sweat and toil. Hunter made a change in the genset they used on the later boats. When they went to the Kohler 9KV (it cost them less) it wouldn't fit in the compartment that makes up the buffet/seat in the salon, so they put it under the front berth, and placed a newly designed water tank there. Bottom line, you get only 120 gallons of water between the two tanks, (not advertised, but Hunter gave me those figures). The fuel filter (Raycor) is too small, but possibly this has already bee upgraded. The standard house batteries are truck cranking batteries, OK for local use, but need to be upgraded when you start extended cruising (which we haven't done yet) Get a GOOD survey, DON'T use the surveyor that the selling broker or owner recommends if possible (too many conflict of interest cases), and make sure he is INSURED. Not car and fire insurance, but ERRORS AND OMMISIONS liability insurance, and be sure to get a "Certificate of Insurance." from him. (I know this from sad personal experience that my brother encountered, having had a bad survey from "the best surveyor in the area"). Check for plumbing leaks, water leaks from the deck and mast, electrical wiring problems. Make sure all pumps and mascerators work. All that should be routine in a GOOD survey. Take her out for a sea-trial. Be sure the steering is smooth (I had a binding rudder-shaft bearing) and that there is not too much weather helm (I'm still troubled with that, but close to a fix, I think). The refrigerator and freezer will probably sweat due to poor seal design, but if you buy the boat I'll be happy to share my fixes with you ("it ain't perfect but it's better"). It's a fast, well behaved boat (except for the weather helm issue). Due to the B&R rig, you can't ease the main out as far as you might like, and sailing dead downwind with the standard sailplan is out of the question. I have a friend that added an optional inner staysail, and sails them wing and wing to run. But Hunter and others advise that you should tack the boat downwind, not over 135-140 degrees off the apparant wind, which is faster anyway. And that's fine in unrestricted water, but there are times that this might not make you happy, such as in an entrance channel, etc. But MOVE she will! Storage is comprimised by lots of machinery where storage should be, depending on how the boat is configured. Particularly, if you have two air conditioners like we do, and a genset, you'll be looking for places to store your stuff. It's amazing, though, how much room you can discover under the sole, but some is not easy to access. The room in the aft cabin in HUGE, and it's quite comfortable, once you learn to duck and not wack your head on the overhang. Lots of clothing lockers, and great heads/showers. Be careful, though, taking a shower... the hot-water temp is very high, to allow use of a relatively small water heater. You'll get used to that, and that is typical on many similar boats. As she come, "out of the box,", she is not a true heavy-weather blue water boat, but is an excellent coastal cruiser, and can be modified and beefed up, depending on your requirements, to handle it all. The anchor wells are a bit flaky. there is a "hidden" aft anchor well behind the one you see on the forepeak, and if the Simpson Lawrence power windlass is installed, it will feed the chain into that compartment thru a hole cut for that purpose. Handling two anchors gets more interesting and I am still working out those details. Stay tuned! Fell free to call me (281 497-2853) or email me with any questions you might have, as I love to talk about this stuff. I'd also be happy to review your survey report with you if you'd like. Hope the above is helpful. Good luck! George
Not that fast .. PHRF even with Catalina 380
Sometimes people moving up from smaller boats think their new boat is fast, when it is only fast compared to a smaller boat. The 430 rates even with the Catalina 380. That's OK. But not fast, for a boat her size.
Sometimes people moving up from smaller boats think their new boat is fast, when it is only fast compared to a smaller boat. The 430 rates even with the Catalina 380. That's OK. But not fast, for a boat her size.
I love her!
I read comments from George and Dick and fully agree with their advice. I just love my 430 and wish you all the best. Wim
I read comments from George and Dick and fully agree with their advice. I just love my 430 and wish you all the best. Wim
Had my 430 for a year now...
We have had our 430 for almost a year now and have had some issues with some of the systems -- especially the gauges. But from what I have learned, the gauges Hunter used are problematic to begin with. Still haven't found a good fix for them yet. We are considering the Accugage system but not ready to make the plunge yet. We also had some problems with the batteries and the Perko switches -- not wired correctly from the factory. We had to get a third party to rewire so we could recharge the batteries properly -- our delaership in Marina del Rey sucks big time! (Voyager Marine). Plus we put a new upgraded Heart Interface that actually tells you something about the batteries as they discharge and charge up. The boat came with only a system with a few LED lights. We are currently chasing down a very unpleasant smell from coming from the head system. It seems the hoses that Hunter used were the old black sanitation hoses and they permeate pretty easily. We are in the process of replacing the hoses with the new white sanitation hoses to eliminate this problem. Yes, the refridgerator does over chill and sometimes freeze things up, but stretched out the temperature coil and leave it on the warmest setting and things seem to be fine. It only happens when we do not access the refridgerator for a week or more at dock and the temp gets too low since you are not opening the door often. But, she handles heavy weather very well. I wrote an article in late January or early February on this forum about our trip back from Catalina in some pretty good weather (Surfing with a Hunter 430). The boat handled it like dream. I felt very safe in this boat. We love the main salon and galley layout. It works for us and our guests very well. We especially like the small cocktail table under the main dining table -- nice touch for enteraining. For coastal passagemaking, this a great boat. We have taken it to Ensenada twice and it moves pretty quickly through the water. We went with a flotilla of other Hunter boats over Memorial Day weekend and we were by far one of the fastest boats and most efficient boat fuelwise. So, I don't think you will be too dissapointed with the 430 in the long run. It seems to be a pretty nice boat.
We have had our 430 for almost a year now and have had some issues with some of the systems -- especially the gauges. But from what I have learned, the gauges Hunter used are problematic to begin with. Still haven't found a good fix for them yet. We are considering the Accugage system but not ready to make the plunge yet. We also had some problems with the batteries and the Perko switches -- not wired correctly from the factory. We had to get a third party to rewire so we could recharge the batteries properly -- our delaership in Marina del Rey sucks big time! (Voyager Marine). Plus we put a new upgraded Heart Interface that actually tells you something about the batteries as they discharge and charge up. The boat came with only a system with a few LED lights. We are currently chasing down a very unpleasant smell from coming from the head system. It seems the hoses that Hunter used were the old black sanitation hoses and they permeate pretty easily. We are in the process of replacing the hoses with the new white sanitation hoses to eliminate this problem. Yes, the refridgerator does over chill and sometimes freeze things up, but stretched out the temperature coil and leave it on the warmest setting and things seem to be fine. It only happens when we do not access the refridgerator for a week or more at dock and the temp gets too low since you are not opening the door often. But, she handles heavy weather very well. I wrote an article in late January or early February on this forum about our trip back from Catalina in some pretty good weather (Surfing with a Hunter 430). The boat handled it like dream. I felt very safe in this boat. We love the main salon and galley layout. It works for us and our guests very well. We especially like the small cocktail table under the main dining table -- nice touch for enteraining. For coastal passagemaking, this a great boat. We have taken it to Ensenada twice and it moves pretty quickly through the water. We went with a flotilla of other Hunter boats over Memorial Day weekend and we were by far one of the fastest boats and most efficient boat fuelwise. So, I don't think you will be too dissapointed with the 430 in the long run. It seems to be a pretty nice boat.
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