to purchase, or not to purchase, a 2001 Hunter 320-

[david mendel]

I am a day sailor currently renting Cats and Hunters 29-36 ". Am considering boat ownership and found a well priced 2001 Hunter 320. Live in SoCal and Catalina is calling.
I have looked at a variety of other boats, but keep coming back to this one vessel.
Would appreciate input from those who purchased/resisted.
Thank you. DAvid

 

[timangiel]

Sounds like you already kind of made up your mind. This is my first year with a Hunter and I have really been enjoying it. I'm not sure if you are hesitant about the make/model or the commitment of boat ownership in general. Life is short, enjoy yourself.

 

[Mity]

I just bought the same type and year about 2 weeks ago! I enjoy it a lot. Lots of room and easy to get out alone.... Enjoy it!

 

[kjretlaw]

The family thoughly enjoys our 326, she handles well and is easy to sail. The wife and I enjoy going on overnights and long weekends, there's pleanty of room.

 

[Benny17441]

Have sailed same boat, same model year and find it a very capable boat in many levels. It is light and fairly fast and has taken all we have provided in offshore conditions from 50 knot winds to 7 ft seas. It has huge cabin for its length very well distributed. The inside shower is useless but the one in the swim platform is a delight. The cockpit is roomy and unobstructed which is great for relaxing at anchor. The boat came with an undersized furler, the Furlex 100 was rated by the manufacturer for boats up to 30 ft but Hunter decided that because the boat was light and the headsail small that they could save some costs and use it. Well on a real windy day be broke the tack ring. Apparently there were a few failures as Furlex sent us a replacement part where the tack ring was redesigned and strengthened. They did respond quickly and sent the part free of charge but nothing was mentioned about the riggin costs. We have the shallow draft version with a wing keel and even though it is a bit tender it points and sails very well. With the Yanmar 2GM20F it will feel underpowered and in certain conditions it will need assistance from the sails to get to where you may want to go. It is a bigger boat that its size would tend to indicate.

 

[Wallrat]

My parents just bought a 97 340 in Socal about a month ago. In fact I think I might have called on the boat you're looking at but we'd made our decision before the owner replied. So far I'm pretty impressed with the boat. Its forgiving, easy to sail, and has a great cockpit/cabin layout. Only complaints I have so far:

-I'm not a fan of the swept back spreaders. Pretty much means that you have to do a series of broad reaches to go downwind. Plus our main is pretty soiled from contact with the rigging.
-With only 6 clutches, 2 winches, and a single cleat on the arch for the furling line, there's not a whole lot of places to secure a line in the cockpit. If yours was bought with the spinnaker option you might have 2 more winches aft, which would alleviate the issue.
-Our mainsheet was 2:1, which put a lot of strain on the arms if you wanted to leave the clutch open in variable winds. I changed it to a 6:1 and now its fantastic.