What I liked about the Boat

Making Decisions: Part 1

There are so many things to like about our Hunter 460 that I've broken it down into 3 parts.  If nothing else, it will help when deciding what is important to you and your style of cruising. 

Price.  Let’s not mince around here, it largely comes down to cost in the end notwithstanding the importance of the boat being strong enough to cross oceans, etc.  I haven’t heard of any Hunters falling apart.  The Hunters, I think, provide very good value for money and they have a modern fitout.  At the end of the day, a cruising yacht is a bunch of systems and the actual hull is only part of it eg on this boat mast and furlers are Selden/Furlex, hatches Lewmar, Edson steering, sheet/halyard winches Lewmar, anchor winch Lewmar, engine Yanmar, generator Northern Lights, and so on – all good quality.  We wanted a vessel that was comfortable to live on/cruise in for six month at a time. 

Size.  It’s a good size for both of us with plenty of space for family or friends that might like to join us.  Below decks we don’t trip over each other and can have a choice of bathrooms and toilets.  Good privacy.  My crew said she wanted a cruising boat that would be large enough to get away from me (when she needed to) and so around 45’ seemed about right.  Our boat back home, WJ2, was 38’ long with an 11’ beam; WJ3 has twice the volume inside.  You do have to get used to the size though – it’s a big boat (for me anyway).

Accommodation.  In a word - roomy.  Two bedrooms and a third bedroom converted to a store room make it comfortable and uncrowded (relative to smaller boats).  Beds are queen sized and there is sufficient head room in the aft cabins not to feel squeezy.  Plenty of lockers and drawers; life is still fairly minimalist though, even on a 6 month cruise.  Three showers – one per bathroom and one on the stern for when you get out of the water after a swim.  The stern shower gets much more use than the other two showers.  Air conditioned, hot and cold pressure water.... quite luxurious really.

Interior Woodwork.  There’s plenty of it, it’s not varnished and it gives the interior a nice woody look, offsetting the plastic hull/coach house liner.  Very nicely done.

Sailing Performance.  WJ3 sails well although not so well in light airs – needs a bigger head sail at times.  The boat feels solid and is relatively dry when bashing close hauled into the short chop of the Caribbean.  Pounds a bit but that’s modern sail boats.  A delight when broad reaching.  Sails set well and the jib remains well set no matter how much it is reefed – a yankee sail – and there is no need to move the genoa car.  The main also sets well.  Well done Doyles.  The Hunter is also easy to set up and sail singlehandedly, a great advantage when there’s only the two of us onboard for long sea passages.  Previous boats of this make and model have been sailed around the world and one singlehanded, so this influenced me to go for this particular model. 

BVI to St Martin over the Anegada Passage

Easily Handled. The in-mast mainsail furler and headsail furlers are quite easy to reef and let out, although a bit of muscle is required – good exercise but this might change as we get older.  I tend to use the winches while furling manually ie wrap the jib furling line on the winch and haul on the line without using a winch handle.  This way I don’t over tighten and break something if the line gets caught, for example (which has happened to others).  It is also quite easy to walk all the way around the boat, which makes anchoring, docking and handling lines & sails safer and faster.  My First Mate really likes WJ3’s flatter bottom, which keeps us on a more even keel, so “we don’t lean over too much”.  Ahem, we’re cruisers not racers…..