I have been looking at a 99 Hunter 310 to replace my Ranger 22. I've read most of the reviews on the sight but I was hoping to gain more opinions regarding these boats?
thoughts on a '99 310
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owner reviews
Have you checked the owner reviews on this site? I found them very helpful when researching my current boat H240.
Have you checked the owner reviews on this site? I found them very helpful when researching my current boat H240.
99H310
I had a 99H310 before my present 05H36, and enjoyed her very much. Like most any production boat, however, if it's stock you'll want to do a few things to enhance seaworthiness for offshore work. The stock Lazy-jacks are 2-line rather than 3-line, and are a little tricky to position on the boom for maximum effectiveness vs upper batten clearance on mainsail hoisting. If you don't have the spinnaker option, adding it only requires swapping-out the dual Spinlock on the port cabintop for a triple, and adding the 2 Lewmar ST30s on the cockpit coming pads near the wheel. Once you do so, you'll have the option of using the spinnaker winches as your jib-sheet winches, which _really_ makes single-handing easy. It's a very responsive little boat and seems to dance beneath your feet. Its relatively long DWL, combined with her sweet buttock lines at the stern, gives a hull speed over 7 knots. I routinely sailed at 7.4 kts on a beam reach in 15kts of wind in 2-4ft seas. However, its cockpit locker lids have no latches or seals to keep any wave boarding your cockpit from flooding right down into the cabin into which they're open. You can easily fix this, and certainly should. McMaster-Carr has the same Southco rubber draw latches used on the (properly sealed) lazarette lids for about $12, ea. One of those plus stick-on weather stripping on the underside of each cockpit lid will do the job. In addition, there are actually _no_ grab rails along the cabintop for anyone going forward. This is really poor, but can be rectified with a couple of 6-ft lengths of 1" SS tubing and a pair of SS power-boat add-on rail end-fittings plus a pair of mid-fittings on each side. (I always tell crew that lifelines are to be considered decoration-only. I did triangular-truss mine with lacing down to SS strap-eyes on the toe rail, which enhances strength in stopping rolling bodies, at least.) These mods (plus whatever electronics you like) will turn a 99H310 into a pretty capable little vessel, in addition to her large inherent fun potential. Her accomodations are snug, but my wife loved her. It's a lot of boat for the money, and just new enough to benefit from Hunter's program to re-establish its (poor) reputation for quality and reliability. (New Hunters vs old HUnters are a night-and-day difference.) Some people will turn up their noses when you say Hunter because of past history, but it's a good little coastal cruiser and I had mine in 30kts and 6-ft seas which she handled well. I once got pooped by a quartering 8-ft breaker coming over the Merrimac entrance bar, and she just skittered sideways until the wave was onlly waist high in the cockpit when it boarded. The open transom drained it all out a lot quicker than many "blue-water" designs would have, and a traditional full-keel design her size would have dug-in and been rolled. After that, my wife thought the world of her and realized that the boat could handle a lot more than we could. (However, I was _very_ glad that I had sealed those cockpit locker lids.) Fair winds.
I had a 99H310 before my present 05H36, and enjoyed her very much. Like most any production boat, however, if it's stock you'll want to do a few things to enhance seaworthiness for offshore work. The stock Lazy-jacks are 2-line rather than 3-line, and are a little tricky to position on the boom for maximum effectiveness vs upper batten clearance on mainsail hoisting. If you don't have the spinnaker option, adding it only requires swapping-out the dual Spinlock on the port cabintop for a triple, and adding the 2 Lewmar ST30s on the cockpit coming pads near the wheel. Once you do so, you'll have the option of using the spinnaker winches as your jib-sheet winches, which _really_ makes single-handing easy. It's a very responsive little boat and seems to dance beneath your feet. Its relatively long DWL, combined with her sweet buttock lines at the stern, gives a hull speed over 7 knots. I routinely sailed at 7.4 kts on a beam reach in 15kts of wind in 2-4ft seas. However, its cockpit locker lids have no latches or seals to keep any wave boarding your cockpit from flooding right down into the cabin into which they're open. You can easily fix this, and certainly should. McMaster-Carr has the same Southco rubber draw latches used on the (properly sealed) lazarette lids for about $12, ea. One of those plus stick-on weather stripping on the underside of each cockpit lid will do the job. In addition, there are actually _no_ grab rails along the cabintop for anyone going forward. This is really poor, but can be rectified with a couple of 6-ft lengths of 1" SS tubing and a pair of SS power-boat add-on rail end-fittings plus a pair of mid-fittings on each side. (I always tell crew that lifelines are to be considered decoration-only. I did triangular-truss mine with lacing down to SS strap-eyes on the toe rail, which enhances strength in stopping rolling bodies, at least.) These mods (plus whatever electronics you like) will turn a 99H310 into a pretty capable little vessel, in addition to her large inherent fun potential. Her accomodations are snug, but my wife loved her. It's a lot of boat for the money, and just new enough to benefit from Hunter's program to re-establish its (poor) reputation for quality and reliability. (New Hunters vs old HUnters are a night-and-day difference.) Some people will turn up their noses when you say Hunter because of past history, but it's a good little coastal cruiser and I had mine in 30kts and 6-ft seas which she handled well. I once got pooped by a quartering 8-ft breaker coming over the Merrimac entrance bar, and she just skittered sideways until the wave was onlly waist high in the cockpit when it boarded. The open transom drained it all out a lot quicker than many "blue-water" designs would have, and a traditional full-keel design her size would have dug-in and been rolled. After that, my wife thought the world of her and realized that the boat could handle a lot more than we could. (However, I was _very_ glad that I had sealed those cockpit locker lids.) Fair winds.
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