Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Looking at a boat not a reputation...

Not exactly a surprise, just the same old same security theater, and there seems to be a lot of disappointment going round...

Of late in the neighborhood there seems to be a plethora of Hunter 33 & 34's for sale at fairly reasonable ($10-15K) prices...



Now, I'll go out on a limb here and mention that while all the hip folk would never be seen dead in a Hunter that, by and large, they really are not a bad boat at all.

Which is not to say that I don't think Hunter made some bad or iffy decisions design-wise over the years but, then again, I could say that about just about any company building boats over the last few decades has had more than their fair share of "Seemed like a good idea at the time" episodes.

I know that my saying Hunters are a boat you might want to consider will unleash a lot of mail recounting horror stories about poorly built sailboats coming to grief and dire warnings that Hunter's are just not "Blue Water capable"  mostly from folks who'd never actually sailed a Hunter but did have a friend who once talked to a guy who had a friend who met a guy with some problems...

The thing to keep in mind is that while Hunter's somewhat negative reputation is not really deserved, neither are some of the wonderful reputations of some boats because they're based on the same sort of misinformation, hearsay, and opinion little of which has any resemblance to the truth.

Which brings us to the bottom line where in the current used market a truly trashed, beat to hell, and cosmetically challenged Hallberg-Rassy fixer upper will sell for more than a Hunter in excellent condition.

Listening to Twin Brother

So it goes...