Hunter 34 for long Journey: Advise

[CarlosS]

Hello. I am planning to bring a vessel to from Florida or Annapolis to Uruguay in South America. My budget is 25-35K and am looking at the H34 from 83-87. I know this vessel is not a Hallberg Rassy. .he weaker point is the mast not being keel-stepped, I think. I would appreciate anybody with experience in this vessel to let me know their thouhts on this project or if I should look for something else. Thanks in advance. Best Regards, CarlosS

[sailingdog]

I'd point out that there is nothing wrong with a deck-stepped mast, provided it is properly designed. As for going from the US to Uruguay... I don't think I'd want to do it in a Hunter 34. There are plenty of more seaworthy vessels in that price range that you could pick for the trip.

The Southern Cross 31 is one, and a proven bluewater capable boat that has circumnavigated. The Hallberg Rassy Monsun is another. The Alberg 30 or 35 are probably both in that price range as well.

[PeterSailer]

You could also do this trip with a Contessa 26 wich are not too expensive but very seaworthy. The only thing is that it would be a wet ride.

Or the contessa 32, might be a litle more expensive but it will bring you were ever you want to...

[sailingdog]

I doubt you'd find a Contessa 32 is in that price range, and if it was, it'd be in pretty bad shape IMHO.

[danielgoldberg]

I owned a 1985 Hunter 34 way back when. I wouldn't sail it across an ocean. It has nothing to do with the fact that the mast is deck stepped. There are plenty of high quality bluewater capable boats with deck stepped rigs.

The reason is the quality and robustness of construction. It's just not that well made of a boat. She's also very tender, and on top of that, very ill mannered when heeled. Much of the weight of the ballast is at the top of the keel, which means her center of gravity is higher than it might be. Plus, it's got a very hard chine and flat bottom, and when she heels she'll develop quite a bit of weather helm and will be tiring to control. She also pounds like a beast.

We enjoyed her at the time based on where we were in our sailing life, and it's a fine inexpensive boat for tooling around in protected waters, but I wouldn't take her offshore for a trip such as the one you are contemplating. Are you coming here to get the boat to bring it home, or are you already here and looking for a boat to take home? If the former, I most certainly would not search high and low for a Hunter 34 on the east coast for the purpose of sailing it to South America. Just my opinion.

[PeterSailer]

I completely agree with DanielGoldberg, I think that in general, hunters are not up for off shore passages...

[scottyt]

the cherubini boats are good solid boats, but the 34 is not a cherubini boat. if you found a 36 or a 33 it would so pretty well blue water wise as long as it was in good shape. not they are not survive a hurricane with out a scratch boat.

[CarlosS]

Dear Fellows, just returned from a very nice sailing day in "Rio de la Plata" to many answers from my posting. I really appreciate it a lot. Thanks to all who used their time for this.

Agree, the deck stepped mast is not central matter anymore. In accordance to the answers it seems the 34 is a soft boat for the project. Its a pity as it is an ideal boat for the waters in Rio de la Plata. Well, I will check some of the other boats written.

What about the cherubinis? Are they better constructed?

I am in contact with an owner of a legend 35.5 Hunter. Is it more or less the same construction quality as the 34?

Thanks in advance.

BR
CarlosS

[scottyt]

the cherubinis are very solid boats, john cherubini was the designer. they are solid hull with THICK glass in the hull, i think my 27 footer is about 1.5 inches thick below the water line. they used an in turned hull flang that was thru bolted thru an aluminum toe rail every 4 inches.

they are not blue water boats per say but they are designed to handle pretty much anything the east coast can throw at them up to hurricanes. they may not be the fastest boat on the water, and they are beamy but i cant seem to find another older boar design i like more. they do have a few problems, but they are known problems that are not too bad to fix

if you go to sailboatowners.com they have a hunter section, and a cherubini section too. and yes the vision is not a cherubini boat but they are better than the mid 80's hunters. the cherubinis for the most part are 82 and older except the 27 that went to 83

[danielgoldberg]

Originally Posted by PeterSailer

I completely agree with DanielGoldberg, I think that in general, hunters are not up for off shore passages...

I think that very much depends on the year, model and actual boat. Some of the Hunters are pretty decent boats, and some are junk.