Hunter boat kits

[Guest]

Experiences good or bad of building a Hunter boat from a kit would appreciated, I' m looking at a Channel 31 but any feedback would be great. Three Hunters in my local yards are being treated for Osmosis is this a problem or a coincidence?

 

[moondancer]

I also have been tempted to buy a Hunter kit, and have come close to it a couple of times. They seem to have all the right qualities for UK coastal waters.

Both times, though, I plumped for a secondhand boat, as the kits still seem to me to be too expensive given the amount of personal labour involved, and then the additional fitting out cost for electronics etc. I looked again at this years's boat show and thought the prices stood out even more given the current price of the some of the European boats.

 

[Guest]

I have owned two older Hunters. The first, a Hunter 490 from 1971 was factory finished and was treated for mild fresh-water osmosis (tiny gel bubbles) in 1995. The second which I own now, is a kit-built Medina from 1981 and has no sign of osmosis. I have surveyed other Medinas and they are in a similar condition - but these are trailer-sailers that come out of the water for long periods during the year. It would be possible to build a boat using vinylester resins that would theoretically resist osmosis for much longer than a polyester resin boat, but it would cost more - hardly what is wanted by the kit builder.

SR