Thinking about buying a bigger boat

[hightide]

I have a 1977 Hunter 25 and I love it. I have had her for 12 yrs. It is a really fun boat to sail. It has a 155 genny, a main with 2 reefs and a symmetric spinnaker. I have had her out in 25 to 30 mph winds and with the reefs and eveything trimed right she handles it quite well. It is a blast . I am now looking at a 1984 Hunter 37 cutter and I have heard good and bad. I would like to hear from owners on how she sails and what to look for. This boat was shipped by truck and now needs a front furler, head sail, stay and halyard, because some people are just careless. This is suppose to be replaced. but the holding tank has been removed and needs to be replaced and one port light needs new dogs. It has no radar or chart plotter, It is pretty much just a plane boat. but not in bad shape at all it has a 44 hp yanmar which is fairly new, refrigeration, dodger and bimmini that connect and cover the whole cockpit.
I have talked to the owner who bought the boat for 35000 and now realizes because of health problems he has to sell and he will give it to me for 15000.Seems like a good deal. Any info and advice would be helpful.

 

[JonnyQuest]

That's a ton of savings to outfit how you would like it. Let us know how it goes if you get serious on it.

 

[Terry411]

That's a great price on a great boat. They sail great very easy motion. I also had a 25 years ago whole new world in sailing performance and comfort with the 37c.

 

[hightide]

Have you done any modification to the holding tank in your boat? I was thinking I could make my own out of fiberglass.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Would an H 37 be too much boat for a couple to handle? What about soloing? I expect that how a boat is outfitted and rigged is important but I also expect that at some size it gets too much for a couple. Where does the H 37 fall?

 

[Johnb]

My wife and I, mid 60's, sail our HC 37 weekly all year round on San Francisco bay. I also sail solo whenever I am alone (wow really?). As long as you have the strength to raise to mainsail the size of the boat does'nt make all that much difference (up to a point of course), it is the climbing around and the motion that wears me down. Grinding those 2 speed jib winches is pretty easy.

Any electronics it does not have is no big deal - you can get new and better and lower consumption cheaper.

Other issues like deck core, or engine, or tankage or structural defects are what will eat your lunch.