I am willing to bet you will greatly appreciate the system design and installation aboard your 460! Also, the non corrosive keel of the 460. Not to mention the additional space and livability.
Acceleration of the First in light air might be superior, but we have fairly loaded our 460 for extended sailing and still enjoy spirited performance. Few, if any, comparably sized sailboats leave us astern. We chuckle lightly when we out sail other boats because of this sailing story. You are going along neck and neck but we are usually pulling ahead. There comes a moment...the crew on the other boat realizes we are leaving them behind, stops looking at us, and look up at their sails and start adjusting sheets. You can only think they are wondering how to make it go faster--as we used to do when we owned a slower boat. We know that pain.
On our 460 we like to unfurl the main to the upper spreader and unroll about 75 to 90 percent of the jib in 12/14 or more knots. At 6 to 10 knots, full sail. It is not that the boat is tender, it is that the 460 is easily driven and inducing heel and weather helm is counter productive on this design. 15 degrees of heel with the rudder to leward about 5 degrees gets our greatest speeds. Auto pilot hardly working. We have been over 9 knots and always get low 6s to high 8s in 12/14 or more. 3 to 4 knots of boat speed in 6 to 8 knots wind. Except down wind...we do running reaches.
Hunter gave us the steel posted rudder in an unusual deal. They sent a letter to all original owners discussing some breakages, but stated rudder was outside hull warranty. I installed it at my cost which was folded in with a bottom job so I cannot really say how much it cost. Had to heat and beat the quadrant off the top of the composite rudder post and Hunter sent us a new one of those as well.
A friend of mine (Tom) bought a 460 last year. He came aboard ours and asked many questions before buying the one he has now put some 2,000 miles on only having experienced only some minor equipment problems not of the boat. He did replace the rudder on purchase though. I just called him for info. He could not recall exactly what it cost, he had a yard (Sailors Wharf Yacht Yard in St Pete, Fl) do the work for him. So, the bottom job and some other things he had done came to thirteen grand as he recalled. Foss Foam is the manufacturer of the rudder for direct pricing. Tom bought it through the yard so certainly there was probably retail mark up. Ironically, Tom mentioned he met Yopi (sp?) Helstrom who managed the work on his boat for Sailors Wharf. Tom stated Mr Helstrom was an avid 460 racer and has been involved with Hunter in 460 design. Tom also stated they used bushings that did not require dry ice to install but now does include a thrust bearing between top of rudder and hull.
I'm curious though, what are some of the reasons you decided to move from a First to a 460?