I have made the decision to take 3 years off and sail around the world, single-handed. I will be purchasing a Hunter to do this and I kindly ask for advice from all of you owners as to which model you think is the best for this type of sailing. I have 20 years of sailing experience and I am considering the Hunter 410, 466 or Passage 420 or 456. Do any of you have experience with sailing Hunter's on very long open ocean cruises in all kinds of weather? Do any of you have any experience with sailing a Hunter alone? I would appreciate any feedback you can give me with regard to your experiences with Hunter or information on the aforementioned model's stability, ease of sail, systems RELIABILITY, maintenance problems, SAFETY, speed at sea, specific options or upgrades that are 'must haves', or anything else you can possibly think of as it relates to the Hunter brand. Feel free to email me if you wish: CaptainBrian2001@yahoo.com Thanks in advance to all that can help!
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Tom Wootton
Hunter
I'm way behind you in experience, and may be misinformed, but I've always thought of Hunters as coastal cruisers, not ocean crossers. That seems to be the thrust of their marketing, with some exceptions. But I'm just beginning to move from daysailing to short-hop coastal cruising, so I'll defer to others with oceangoing experience.
I'm way behind you in experience, and may be misinformed, but I've always thought of Hunters as coastal cruisers, not ocean crossers. That seems to be the thrust of their marketing, with some exceptions. But I'm just beginning to move from daysailing to short-hop coastal cruising, so I'll defer to others with oceangoing experience.
Take a look at this forum.
http://www.hunterowners.com/cruise/ I think if I was considering a voyage like this I would keep my options open on the brand of boat that I was going to purchase. There are a lot of options when you are ready to drop $300k on a cruiser.
http://www.hunterowners.com/cruise/ I think if I was considering a voyage like this I would keep my options open on the brand of boat that I was going to purchase. There are a lot of options when you are ready to drop $300k on a cruiser.
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Ray Bowles
Is your trip idea stronger than the boat selected?
We also will depart this fall upon the same trip over a period of 10 years. We have studied for over a year all the requirements needed for our boat to be strong enough to meet this challange. My wife has spent over 3 hours a day researching requirements, equipment needed vs. luxury equipment, boats for sale with such items and reports from owners of boats that have done this. This is in addition to the reading of any and all journals about this subject. I therefore feel very strongly about our ability to weigh in on boat type and brands that will reasonabily complete this trip. The basic fact, as mentioned earlier, is that Hunters for the most part are very good coastal cruisers. You can sail any boat around the world, and you can loose your life in almost any boat anywhere around the world. Do notice the word "almost" when applied to "boat". Since the cost of failure related to poor boat selection is so high, I would also strongly suggest that you research more. As I was thinking about what was required for such a trip I came to the conclusion that if I had to ask advice as the basic requirements then I was "WAY TOO UNKNOWLEDGEABLE AND UNDER PREPARED TO EVEN THINK ABOUT STARTING!" While we lack experence we felt that when we could sit and talk to a returning couple, with ourselves having a basically strong background about most requirements we then would be ready to buy the boat required. After this year of research we both feel comfortable with our understanding of equipment needed, boat strenghts and features needed, training we lack and must gather together and a reasonable time frame to learn about the items we lack. I do appologize for the strength of my wording in this reply but I really want to read about your successes in this adventure in 5 years. Heck, Reba and I would love to meet you sometime over a cold brew somewhere in the Pacific. I'm sure there will be many that think this letter is too harsh, and those that won't agree about my thoughts on the larger Hunters. I can't even think about the amount of money required to buy one of those. Yet if they have sailed their boat around all the ponds then I'd darn sure listen. Make your dream happen and then let's meet. Ray & Reba S/V Speedy PS. All our boats will be named "Speedy". The grandkids rule on that one. Our H26 carries that name and she steps out very proudly.
We also will depart this fall upon the same trip over a period of 10 years. We have studied for over a year all the requirements needed for our boat to be strong enough to meet this challange. My wife has spent over 3 hours a day researching requirements, equipment needed vs. luxury equipment, boats for sale with such items and reports from owners of boats that have done this. This is in addition to the reading of any and all journals about this subject. I therefore feel very strongly about our ability to weigh in on boat type and brands that will reasonabily complete this trip. The basic fact, as mentioned earlier, is that Hunters for the most part are very good coastal cruisers. You can sail any boat around the world, and you can loose your life in almost any boat anywhere around the world. Do notice the word "almost" when applied to "boat". Since the cost of failure related to poor boat selection is so high, I would also strongly suggest that you research more. As I was thinking about what was required for such a trip I came to the conclusion that if I had to ask advice as the basic requirements then I was "WAY TOO UNKNOWLEDGEABLE AND UNDER PREPARED TO EVEN THINK ABOUT STARTING!" While we lack experence we felt that when we could sit and talk to a returning couple, with ourselves having a basically strong background about most requirements we then would be ready to buy the boat required. After this year of research we both feel comfortable with our understanding of equipment needed, boat strenghts and features needed, training we lack and must gather together and a reasonable time frame to learn about the items we lack. I do appologize for the strength of my wording in this reply but I really want to read about your successes in this adventure in 5 years. Heck, Reba and I would love to meet you sometime over a cold brew somewhere in the Pacific. I'm sure there will be many that think this letter is too harsh, and those that won't agree about my thoughts on the larger Hunters. I can't even think about the amount of money required to buy one of those. Yet if they have sailed their boat around all the ponds then I'd darn sure listen. Make your dream happen and then let's meet. Ray & Reba S/V Speedy PS. All our boats will be named "Speedy". The grandkids rule on that one. Our H26 carries that name and she steps out very proudly.
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Doug T.
Boat
There are some extremely good books on this subject. The one by Nigel Calder (link below) is an excellent place to start. After walking through the characteristics of a good offshore boat that are described in this book, you will find that Hunter doesn't make a boat that qualifies. This isn't to say that a Hunter won't make it around the world, but if you're going to do it single-handed, you simply can NOT compromise with a less than ideal boat -- there's no room for error or compromise. If single handed, don't get a 40' boat. It's far bigger than you need and the sail area involved with a large boat is more than one person can easily handle singlehanded. I'd strongly recommend a cutter or ketch rig to help balance the sail plan.
There are some extremely good books on this subject. The one by Nigel Calder (link below) is an excellent place to start. After walking through the characteristics of a good offshore boat that are described in this book, you will find that Hunter doesn't make a boat that qualifies. This isn't to say that a Hunter won't make it around the world, but if you're going to do it single-handed, you simply can NOT compromise with a less than ideal boat -- there's no room for error or compromise. If single handed, don't get a 40' boat. It's far bigger than you need and the sail area involved with a large boat is more than one person can easily handle singlehanded. I'd strongly recommend a cutter or ketch rig to help balance the sail plan.
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Ed Schenck
Some add'l thoughts.
I shouldn't even be in here having so little experience offshore(except on aircraft carriers). But I have been preparing my H37C over the past four winters, have spent a bundle, have read everything written, and still have about $16000. of refit left to install. My favorite sources are by John Vigor, go to www.amazon.com and search books for "john vigor". I picked the H37C because I could afford to outfit it after the purchase price, many have gone around the world, and it is a cutter. With deep pockets would that have been my choice? Not even close. But the H37C fares very well by comparison, see Related Link. Do the newer Hunters make the list? No comment. My first offshore venture should be with a group so I studied the Carribean Rally(http://www.carib1500.com/) requirements as a start to outfitting. That became a major part of my refit spreadsheet. My only concern is my own ability.
I shouldn't even be in here having so little experience offshore(except on aircraft carriers). But I have been preparing my H37C over the past four winters, have spent a bundle, have read everything written, and still have about $16000. of refit left to install. My favorite sources are by John Vigor, go to www.amazon.com and search books for "john vigor". I picked the H37C because I could afford to outfit it after the purchase price, many have gone around the world, and it is a cutter. With deep pockets would that have been my choice? Not even close. But the H37C fares very well by comparison, see Related Link. Do the newer Hunters make the list? No comment. My first offshore venture should be with a group so I studied the Carribean Rally(http://www.carib1500.com/) requirements as a start to outfitting. That became a major part of my refit spreadsheet. My only concern is my own ability.
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