yukonbob wrote:Having to re-caulk the keel joint every year or completely re-structure the keel joint on Cat's is the main concern I'm referring too. I've heard the same thing about Hunters and pretty much every other production boat out there. Looking at your photos really begs the question of how much is quality and how much is user error
ALL the boats above sunk because of structure failure - The first boat caught it's keel on the bottom at high tide, and then the tide went out and the boat lay on it's side. When the tide came back in the waves made the boat go up and down on the sand bar and pounded a hole in the side.
The second boat sunk off Catalina when it's bow cleat tore right off on a mooring.
The third boat also went aground because it's mooring cleats tore right out of the boat taking chunks of the boat with it. Hunter uses high grade hardware on low grade structure - that's why I keep telling you guys to not upgrade your cleats - the cleats on the MAC were mated with the structure of the boat so the cleats fail before the boat fails. The opposite is catastrophic.
Just lousy engineering all around. My brother had one - he said the same thing. People are impressed with the hardware on the Hunter and they think that because there is good hardware it must be a good boat. If your going to use cleats and winches that can take thousands of pounds you need to make a deck that can handle it too.
Yacht Survey Online:
“Sail boats utilize grid/liners more frequently. Fortunately, a sailboat hull is considerable more amenable to this design, both by its shape and the fact that they are not subjected to the forces of high speed. Even so, one of the largest boats built with a full grid/liner was a Hunter 60 that experienced total liner disbonding and failure. Yet even their smaller models were widely known for liner failures.”
You get posts like this all over the blogs:
"One-piece grids are being used to virtually eliminate the traditional framing system, replacing it with a liner system that is literally glued into the hull. Glued, you say? Well, they call it bonding putty but an adhesive by any other name is still a glue.
Those of you experienced with Hunter sail boats will know what I mean. They were one of the first to use full interior grids, albeit not necessarily a liner, and much of their product line suffered massive bonding failures, including their large 60 footer.one of the largest boats built with a full grid/liner was a Hunter 60 that experienced total liner disbonding and failure. Yet even their smaller models were widely known for liner failures....."
That quote was from: Marine Surveys : Surveying Boats with Molded Integral Grid Systems
The below is from Marine Surveying : Hull Design Defects - Hull Failure Part II - Boats and Yachts Surveys:
First impressions are often lasting ones, especially when they are negative impressions like my first experience with Hunter in the early 1980's. Back then I had been hired by an unfortunate Hunter owner who had a forty footer with a grid liner that all came apart, causing some serious structural problems. At the time, Hunter had just converted to the use of grid liners (one of, if not the first to do so) and were far from perfecting the method, once again proving my point that far too many boat builders perform their experimentation in their product line, at the expense of their customers.
BOATUS, whom most of us are members including me had a pretty bad review of the structure of the Hunter by Jack Horner:
http://www.boatus.com/boatreviews/sail/ ... gend35.asp
And don’t even get me started on the rudder failures! You can go online and find all the incidence of rudder failure that you want.
My first knowledge of Hunter rudder failures happened about 10 years ago when I saw a Legend being towed into the Oceanside Harbor. A guy in a ski boat found the Hunter and its skipper offshore drifting towards the breakers. The owner said the rudder failed.
I don't know, maybe they really are good boats, I don't know I guess because I do not own one - but based on what the boat survey people say I would stear clear of them.
Yet another survey of the Hunter 28 By David Pascoe:
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. A winged keel made of cast lead? Wow, what a great idea! Oh, well, maybe you'll have fun hammering it back in shape every time you run aground. Does that oddly shaped hunk of lead reduce resistance and makes it go faster, too? Not likely. But it certainly had the effect of making her unusually tender. You notice that the moment you step aboard.
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/boatreviews/hunter28.htm
) they do have a really nice layout with all the amenities (read: lack of bulkheads). I was looking at a Peterson as well but can't get over the cabin being totally geared towards a crew and not cruisers.
