hunter 54 know it alls

[wetcorvette]

I own a hunter 54 and have been reading everything i can about thalmost em. all of what ive read is by people that have never even been on one let alone owned one. I have read there too big to handle, built poorly, expensive to operate, rigging is poorly designed and so forth.

Only one person addressed most of these issues and did a thorough job proving most of these accusations to be incorrect. Alot of people were talking about Hunters in general and some were talking of bad rig designs. on the Hunter 54,that were implemented 20 years after the Hunter 54 was in production.

After owning a Hunter 54, I can tell you that while not being a swan, its a reasonably well built boat for a very affordable price. It looks great, has a great interior, sails nicely and is easlily handeled by two.

I have owned two race boats and two crusing boats and currently race on a Farr 52. I have been racing for 17 years and have been on a lot of boats. I am writing this just to give the boat a fair shake. Listen to people that have sailed on the boat rather than armchair sailors.

The drawbacks I have seen with this boat are the look from the bow(very narrow), the dingy garage takes up too much room(might be worth it for cruising), but for everyday its unnessary,the lack of beam makes the interior less roomy, but is nice when your underway(you wont get launched), and as people said you pay by the foot for haulouts and dock fees. Sails arent any more than a 40 footer.Its a fast cruiser and dacron sails last years.

The transom is awesom,the speed is great,the build is fine, and the price is right. Iam happy with my purchase, and would recommend this boat to anyone wanting a fast capable cruiser. Havent raced mine yet(busy racing on race boats) but it should do very well double handed. Email me if your thinking about purchasing one.

[CharlieCobra]

I like the H54, always have. I wasn't sure about the dinghy garage and the fact that the rudder got moved 8' or so forward to make room for it. I've heard that this makes the boat a bit squirrely offwind but drive any IOR boat offwind under a chute if ya want squirrely. What I like is the speed, narrow easily driven hull and the fact that two can crew it easily.

[smackdaddy]

I can absolutely guarantee that I know nothing. I'll take a look.