Capt. Rob wrote:
Hunters aren't built for long term hard sailing. Stuff
starts coming apart.

Utter nonsense....the kind of crap you hear from old dock farts. I
don't care for Hunters one bit, but we've had plenty come through our
yard as transients. Quite a few had been sailed long distances and were
just fine along with their happy owners. In fact I'm selling a Hunter
43 now that has cruised the entire coast and also made a crossing in
the late 90's. She's in A-1 shape. We have a Beneteau 38 here that has
done several crossings and a little Catalina 34 that just came back
from St. Pete's.

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/boatreviews/hunter28.htm

Pascoe normally reviews powerboats, but he does a few sailboats. I
love comments like:

"A winged, bulbous keel? Ought to be fun trying to get unstuck when
you run aground in this one. Especially in mud. The bottom of the
thing is shaped like a giant suction cup...Fads are cool, until you
find out that's all it is."

"Some people don't think that a weak hull on a boat is much to be
concerned about. The attitude is that as long as it doesn't fail under
normal conditions, then its okay. My view on that is that people who
hold that attitude have never been out to sea in a storm. I've sail
raced all over North American, and I've seen my share of hull
failures, including some that have cost lives. In one case, a knock
down with the spinnaker up resulted in the deck pulling right off the
hull. In another, the hull side caved in when hit by a wave broadside.
And these boats were built far better than the Hunter 28. Of course,
many people rationalize by saying that they only go sailing on nice
days. Okay, its you're life. But add to this the fact that this very
thin bottom was badly blistered and you have plenty of reasons to take
a pass on the Hunter 28."

"The fiberglass content of the hull is about as little as it could be
without falling apart. The hull bottom was so thin that it frightened
me. In just about any place there wasn't a frame, you could push in
the bottom with your thumb. Tapping on it with a hammer, it would
vibrate. In the unsupported aft quarters, it dimpled as easily as an
oil can."


MOST production boats can go anywhere with a little prep and the owners
will come apart long before the boat will. Note that Doug is a
powerboater now. Nuff said.

http://www.beneteau235.com/f235_rudder.htm
nuff said.



RB - used boat salesman
nuff said
NY