Kit Boats

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Hi all. I'm new to sailing and thinking about building a Hunter kit. Anybody had experience of this? How did you get on? Was the TOTAL cost worth it? What are the pit falls? How long does it take?
Thank you in anticipation !
 
I'm quite surprised that you haven't received any replies yet.
I have completed 3 Hunter kits to date and can say that it was definitely worth it both with the finshed yachts and financially. I never made any loss completing the first 2 kits and did in fact make a profit. As their literature states, as long as you are a competent diy'er then you can completeakit. The total cost depends on what you buy from hunter. You can save more money by buying equipment, wood and materials direct from chandlers / suppliers but that might now invalidate the rcd certification. The only pitfall that I could find is that once you have built one then you want to build another. The instructions are very comprehensive but you must check everything 2 - 3 times before drilling holes etc. All of the positions for the deck fittings are marked as well as the positions for the windows. It's just a matter of having the bottle to attack a nice shiny hull with an electric drill and a jig saw. Brown paper patterns are supplied for all of the headlinings, carpeting and cabinets but thes are only rough guides and must be checked. I believe that they do a 'sailaway' version now where all the windows / deck fittings and, if ordered, engine installed.
as for the time it takes, the trick is having everything to hand which is easy when you have done it before. The 3 I have completed have been delivered in september / october and launched the following april. I am lucky in that the yachts were built at home so i was never in a situation where i travelled miles to a boat yard only to find that i had left something at home. You'll also need a very understandable wife / assistant. If you get stuck all you have to do is e-mail / telephone hunter.
Go for it, you won't be disappointed.
 
Thanks you very much for your comments. I intend to see if I can find a suitable yard near by that I could use. One of the main reasons, other than cost saving,for doing this is that I would get to know every inch of my boat and have complete confidence in it.
 
I bought a home-completed boat. I have nothing but admiration for the chap who fitted it out, his workmanship was excellent and he didn’t stint on the specification. There are things that aren't quite right (I am talking locker catch level), but you will find that on any boat.
One thing you can do that will aid you and future owners is to make a detailed wiring diagram and maybe run 'spare pairs' down the trunking.
 
This is excellent stuff. Thank you all. Please keep it coming ! Some of the comments I've seen in readers letters for example state the opposite and to keep away from home built kit boats. Its good to see the other side of the story.

I have a problem in that I live in a fairly new house that consequently has the very small back garden that you get these days, so room for dropping the hull into is very limited. Has anybody found a way round this problem. If so, how?
 
When I was fitting out a hull (not a Hunter) and having it delivered I had the same problem.
I did the following.
To 'hide' the hull I hired a mini digger and a lorry and had a hole dug in the garden. This hole was six feet deep (the yacht draft) and was big enough to take the cradle. It involved moving 40 tons of earth. What it did achieve though was the waterline was at ground level and the top of my coachroof was level with the top of the six foot garden fence.

To fit your boat in a tight space. Take a sketch of your garden including position of access road, heights and position of all near buildings, size and position of space available and size of your craft. Take this to your local crane company. They will tell you which crane you need, the price and they may even offer to do a free site survey.

My 33ft yacht was lifted over a semi-bungalow as it it wasn't there and they had much bigger cranes than than the one I required.
A Hunter hull will probably weigh less than five tons which is nothing in relation to the loads which cranes normally carry and the drivers are usually very good.

Iain
 
I have almost finished building a boat from a kit. The boat was delivered in January. I found the instructions somewhat abbreviated. Also, they are illustrated by photographs that are less definitive that engineering drawings would be. I had some difficulty in identifying some of the timber provided for trim, and knowing how it should be cut. Without a completed boat as a model, there are traps that ensure the premium of factory finished boats. Location of deck fittings is a trap for the unwary. I found fitting out the hull to be relatively straightforward, but aligning the engine onto prepared bearers is a continuing problem. If I were to do this again, I would seriously consider the outboard option. Although the builders provide willing support, the availability of a web site for kit finishers to share experience, tips, and to post photographs of details would be invaluable. This is why I am replying to this post.

I have the boat at home. This has been far easier and more efficient than having to travel to work on the boat. One issue was that I decided to buy all parts and fittings together, to ensure coherence, this created problems with storage, much of the material having to be moved around the boat.

I am completing the boat for my own use, not to resell (although the possibility of moving up to a longer hull and benefitting from my experience ius tempting) Secondhand asking prices of newish factory finished boats, with full equipment, appear to be similar to the price of kits. If I was to sell, I would expect to make a loss of about 25% on the boat, plus the cost of transport and of any equipment sold with the boat.

I hope this helps!
 
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