"I think that sailors making negative comments about Hunters just haven't been aboard any recent models or sailed the boats themselves."
IMHO - Such hunters are a 'class unto themselves' .... designed and set up for 'strictly non-performance' / more elderly sailors.
Rig is non-adjustable for changing wind/weather conditions, usually in mast
furling .... VERY bad if one needs to SHAPE a sail for the conditions (remembering that a sail on a
furler can only be reduced by 30% sail area without inducing god-awful shape), HUGE cockpits but with little to NO
line controls convenient for the helmsman to single hand without leaving the cockpit/helm - therefore requiring TWO to sail one. Few ergonometric and easily reached hand holds in the interior - OK for quiet 'inshore' sailing but a potential body injury disaster when 'outside'.
Theyre good for what they are designed for .... dockside entertaining, sailing in moderate fair-weather coastal or inshore conditions. There is BIG market for such and Hunter really fills such a need/niche .... as the demographics of sailing are quickly moving to 'sailors of retirement age'.