Several
friends have bought them, and ALL have had numerous problems, both with
the
engineering and the execution of the designs. To be fair, Hunter has
been
reasonable and fair in repairing the problems.


We have three new hunters at the yard and I'm not aware of any service
issues. I'm also selling a 1997 Hunter 43 and have access to it's
service history, which shows very little in the way of trouble. What
type of problems have you seen?

I'll still take the Swan. Or the Wauquiez, or the J. Most other
sailors
would, too, especially if the condition and price were in the same
range as
your boat.

I'd take the Swan, but not the Wauquez or J. We could have had either,
but the designs were not comparable to the 35s5. In the case of the
Wauquez we looked at one in CT in very good shape. Bunks were too
short, head was tiny, no swim platform. Teak decks may be nearing the
end of their life cycle on boats so fitted. Look at the prices on
Yachtworld...pretty much the same as the 35s5. The J 34C was in the
running for a while. We really liked sailing it, just as much as the
35s5 in fact. But the fit and finish below was inferior. No aft cabin,
no swim platform and another head designed for short people. J-boat
does seem to understand that people over 6 feet also need to sleep. We
could have bought the beautiful 34C, but the cabin was not even as well
done as our C&C 32.
The features we wanted are important to us as we'd tried them on other
boats and could see their practicality. Because of the failings of the
Wauqiez and Jboat, they can't compete with the 35s5 from a design
standpoint. I'd take the Swan I suppose, but are you so certain that
lofty build quality would still make a boat the right fit for everyone?

RB
35s5
NY