I just bought a 2000 Hunter 460. I have looked at sailboats for the last 3 years and was convinced that I would buy an older, heavier sailboat like a Hudson or a Vagabond but there are always compromises when one is looking for a sailboat and this is what we could afford and what we can afford to keep up in the short and long run. We know it, we’re ok with it.
To the Hunter Haters: Have you ever owned a Hunter or sailed on a Hunter? I have friends who are experienced sailors and both fear and hate Hunters. But, none of these people have ever owned a Hunter or sailed on a Hunter or maybe even known anyone personally who owned a Hunter, they’ve all just heard the same horror stories that have gone around the Internet and the Coconut Telegraph that I have. My wife read all she could about both the positives and negatives of Hunter on the Internet, but still asked what I have been thinking,,,,if all these things happened to Hunters,,,,why are they still in business and why do people still buy them?
Bottom line (my opinion) is that: Hunters are not as bad as they may have been at one time, Hunters are not as bad as people think, Hunters are affordable and if you’re really that worried about it, don’t buy one or don’t sail on one. We bought the best boat we thought we could afford and think we have a great boat at a really, really good used price. Now we’re putting some of that money back into it, as the radar is old, the instruments are old, she needs new chain and I want a different kind of anchor.
So, Hunter Haters,,,if you don’t like it, don’t sail on it!
