Hunter legend 37 or 40.

[riversloth]

Im looking at buying a Hunter and have narrowed it down to these two boats. I've read the post on this forum with a similar title, but it seemed to deal only with the second head. I agree the second head would be nice but for my purposes I could get by with one. My questions refer to the walk through transom. Likes, dislikes, pros, and cons. im refering to boats from the late 80s arra. The centerline queen berth is a must.
I will be keeping the boat on the gulf near gulfport, MS. rarely will I be spending more than a long weekend on the boat, and most of the sailing will be out to and around the islands, up and down the coast, and the ICW. Anything more like the bahamas is not currently in my foreseeable future,
Thanks for any feed back.

 

[kloudie1]

Lots of reviews on site..
Click on "Boat Info" , then select the model, then click on "Owner reviews".. good info..
Make sure you have air conditioning

 

[riversloth]

Ive read many of the reviews, However none talk about the walk through transom.

 

[Rick D]

I'm not sure what your question is relating to the walk-through transom. I have had one on both my current 40.5 (18 years) and my 32 Vision (9 years). I have been in 8-12 foot sloppy seas (and bigger swells) without any seas boarding if that is your question. These boats have a fairly broad stern that rises quickly. I did put a removable plexiglass panel on my current one because I had a small dog and felt better with it. However, it also keeps your ankles dry from an occasional splash. Harbor seals are known, but rarely, to climb in. (The plexiglass panel might help in that regard). Is that what you were looking for?

 

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[John Nantz]

There is no disadvantage to the walk-through transom that I can think of. The plus is for easier boarding from the dingy although it is a wee bit of a challenge to keep the dingy against the drop-down step ladder while someone who is not agile tries to climb out if they push out on the dingy rather than step up.
Another real plus is, if one has a generator, this is a good place to run it. Some people put it on the coach roof or at the bow but this is my preference. Different strokes ....
Hunter was an early adopter of the walk through transom on a pleasure boat patterned after the ocean racers and now just about all manufacturers have them, and some of them are really wide.
When docking stern-in it is a huge plus.

 

[riversloth]

Rick D: You did help answer. The hunter 40's i'm looking at do not have the walk through. So The answer i'm trying to give myself is, do i want a couple extra feet and a second head (the 40), or the walk through transom (legend 37) for the purposes I listed earlier.
Also Thanks for your input John.

 

[Rick D]

Well, the 32 Hunter did everything the 40.5 does. The second head is handy for storing the cockpit cushions and when you have guests. There is more tankage for both water and fuel. The open transom is very handy, but the lack of one wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. I love my 40.5 but so did I the 32. One thing to consider is that the lack of an open transom may reduce resale value. However, if you get that discount up front, it's a wash.

 

[geek_guy]

RI,

We have the 37. Looked at a 40. I liked it better, but my wife fell in love with the 37. If the aft berth is important you may want to lean toward the 40. Only because the space above the berth on the 37 is really small. I can't imagine actually having your head aft in that berth. I am mostly OK with my head forward. But there is a lot more space on the 40. I was sold on the 40, but my wife much preferred the 37.

The transom is nice though as with many things there is a trade off. The piece that you take out to open the walk through has some heft and is a pain to put somewhere. I did see that others have shown a hook built into the back or they added it.....not sure. But that allowed them to hang it on the rail. I forgot to check to see if mine has that.

Not sure if you have been on board. But frankly that would be the only way we could select between boats. At least for us there is some mystery factor that only comes from being on and in.

Good luck, I suspect that neither choice would be horrible.

 

[riversloth]

Thanks for the info.
I have seen a hunter 37 on the hard, really thought about buying it until I seen that most 40's are about the same price or cheaper than that 37. Have not been on a 40. All the ones I see for sale are too far away to just look.
I think i'm leaning more for the 40, of course once ready to buy, I'll look at a few and of course have a survey done when I find the one.