It really depends on a number of things, and most of those things are specific to the individual buyer. I can tell you that in my case it was the right decision. I was very lucky, considering it was the right decision for many reasons I didn’t even know about. I didn’t do much research before making the purchase, and I really did it on a whim. Not that I hadn’t thought about buying a sailboat before, I had thought about buying a sailboat for years, just never serious enough to give me reason to reach for a checkbook.

This time was different. A friend of a friend was selling a 1994 Hunter 29.5 in hopes of moving to a larger boat. Two-foot-itus they call it. In his case, it was actually six feet, but I digress. We are looking to move on, I was looking to start, and I knew the previous owner was meticulously careful about taking care of his things. That included his boat. We finalized the deal, signed the paperwork, wrote a check, and took possession of my shiny new boat (it was 9 years old, actually). Six years have passed since then, and I have been more than satisfied on several different occasions with our boat.

One of the nice things about buying a relatively new Hunter is the space. At one point, sailboats were built primarily with performance and speed in mind. Little attention was paid to accommodations below deck. That is, they were small, few and somewhat uncomfortable. If the boat was only meant for racing and a place to hang out and have a few beers before heading home, then it wasn’t a huge inconvenience. But as time went on, a slightly different demographic of users became interested in the boats.

Families. Sailing was becoming a family activity. Families mean husbands, wives, children, and possibly even pets. This means more space, better amenities, and maybe a little less emphasis on speed. Five knots. . . six knots. . . it doesn’t really matter. Also, the ship became more of a socializing place. Since today’s pleasure boat spends much more time at the dock than on the open sea, it made sense for the boat to be highly functional at the dock. AC/DC, running water, ice machines, refrigeration, microwave, and protection from the elements all included.

The Hunter 29.5 I sail tries to do a bit of everything. Both in terms of performance and on the dock. For a sailboat under 30 feet, she has an incredibly large cabin. Larger than many boats at 35 plus feet in size. Our record is 14 people in the cabin at the same time. On the pier of course 😉 It was a cozy 14, but 14 anyway, and I think we still had an empty aft seat.

Downstairs, it’s more or less the same story. The sofa is shaped like a “C” so it’s quite easy to fit our family of 5 with room to spare. Even six or seven would be possible if necessary. It sleeps six quite comfortably, when the living room table is lowered. Hunter also makes good use of the space available for storage. They manage to put cabinets and small storage niches throughout the ship. Enough to outfit her for a two-week sailing up the North Channel for a family of 5. Of course, there was some extra provisioning along the way.

The Hunter rig is also fairly easy to handle for first time “family” boaters. They incorporate what is called a B&R fractional rig on many of their boats of this size. What that means is a smaller headsail for easier handling and a larger mainsail to have the power to propel the boat when you want. Design and accessibility are another factor when working on your boat. Engine belts are one simple thing that comes to mind. While my internal Yanmar diesel is easily accessible from all four sides, I have a friend who used to own a 1970 Mirage, which needed equal parts mechanic and contortionist just to tighten the engine belts. Something to keep in mind when looking for a boat.

All in all, I consider myself very lucky with our boat. When buying it I knew next to nothing about sailboats and somehow managed to get a boat that fit most of our needs, as well as being reliable and well designed. The only advice I would give to new boat buyers is to seriously consider how you plan to use the boat before you buy. All types of boats are suitable for all different boaters for different reasons. As long as you match your needs with what a boat has to offer, you’ll have many happy memories at the dock and on the water.