A popular choice among coastal cruisers and liveaboards, the Hunter 35.5 represents Hunter Marine's commitment to building accessible, family-friendly sailboats that prioritize comfort and ease of use. Designed as a sloop, this mid-sized vessel offers a practical balance between manageable handling and enough interior space to make extended coastal passages genuinely enjoyable. Hunter built their reputation on creating boats that appeal to sailors who want a capable yet forgiving platform, and the 35.5 fits squarely into that philosophy. The sloop rig keeps sail handling straightforward, making it well-suited for short-handed sailing — an important consideration for couples or small crews exploring coastal waters and protected anchorages. Hunter's characteristic emphasis on interior volume means the 35.5 typically offers a surprisingly spacious cabin arrangement relative to its overall length. While not primarily a performance racer, the 35.5 holds its own on casual club racing circuits and is equally at home on a weekend cruise. For buyers seeking a reliable, approachable cruiser with a strong builder pedigree and a healthy resale market, the Hunter 35.5 continues to earn consideration as a solid and well-rounded choice.
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What years was the Hunter 35.5 built and how many were produced?
The Hunter 35.5 was produced by Hunter Marine in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, representing one of the company's mid-range offerings aimed at the coastal cruising and liveaboard market. Hunter Marine, based in Alachua, Florida, was prolific during this period and built the 35.5 in reasonably healthy numbers, though exact hull counts are not publicly documented by the factory. If you're researching a specific hull, the builder's plate and USCG documentation records are the most reliable way to pin down the build year. The 35.5 designation itself reflects Hunter's naming convention tied loosely to overall length, and it sits in their lineup between the Hunter 34 and the larger Hunter 37, carving out a distinct niche for buyers wanting slightly more interior volume than the 34 without stepping up to a full 37-footer.
Does the Hunter 35.5 have a shoal-draft keel option, and what are the draft variants?
The Hunter 35.5 was offered with keel options to suit different cruising grounds, which was a hallmark of Hunter Marine's approach to making their boats accessible to sailors navigating shallower coastal and inland waters. A shoal-draft configuration was available alongside the standard fin keel, giving buyers the ability to explore anchorages that would be off-limits to deeper-draft vessels. This flexibility made the 35.5 particularly appealing along the U.S. East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and the Chesapeake Bay, where thin water is a constant reality. When inspecting a used Hunter 35.5, it is important to confirm which keel variant is fitted, as this directly affects stability characteristics and offshore suitability. The keel-to-hull joint on Hunter fin-keel boats of this era is a known inspection point — look carefully for any signs of weeping, rust staining, or bedding compound deterioration around the keel bolts, which can indicate water intrusion into the stub or the bilge area.
What is the Hunter 35.5's PHRF rating and how does it perform racing against similar-sized boats?
The Hunter 35.5 typically carries a PHRF rating in the range of 150 to 165 seconds per mile, though local PHRF handicapping committees adjust ratings based on regional fleets and any non-standard equipment such as roller-furling headsails or fixed propellers, which are penalized. This places the Hunter 35.5 squarely in the cruiser-racer category — not a fast boat by any measure, but competitive within its PHRF band against other comfort-oriented designs of similar displacement. The boat's relatively beamy hull and emphasis on interior volume come at a cost to upwind performance, and owners commonly report moderate weather helm in fresh breezes, which is characteristic of Hunter's hull designs from this period. Downwind, the 35.5 is more rewarding, and its sail area-to-displacement ratio supports decent reaching speeds in 12–18 knots of breeze. Buyers looking to race competitively at the fleet level should weigh the 35.5's PHRF handicap carefully against faster fin-keel designs in the 35-foot range.
Is the Hunter 35.5 suitable for offshore passagemaking or is it a coastal-only boat?
The Hunter 35.5 was designed and marketed as a coastal cruiser, and that is where it genuinely excels. Its wide beam and high freeboard deliver exceptional interior volume and comfort at anchor or in a slip, but those same characteristics create handling challenges in steep offshore seas. The boat is not rated or intended for Category 1 offshore work under ORC or US Sailing standards. That said, numerous Hunter 35.5 owners have made extended coastal passages — including offshore legs in settled weather — without incident, provided the crew is experienced and the passage is weather-routed conservatively. Key considerations before any offshore use include verifying the integrity of the chainplates, which on Hunter boats of this generation were often deck-mounted and are prone to leaking and eventual delamination around the attachment points, as well as confirming the standing rigging has been recently replaced. The Hunter 35.5 is best understood as a capable, comfortable coastal and near-offshore vessel rather than a dedicated bluewater passage-maker.
What are the known chainplate and deck hardware problems on the Hunter 35.5 that buyers should inspect?
The Hunter 35.5 shares a common vulnerability with many Hunter Marine boats built in the 1980s and early 1990s: deck-mounted chainplates that are prone to leaking over time. Because the chainplates pass through or attach at the deck rather than running down to the hull structure, the seal between the chainplate and deck is exposed to constant stress from rig loads and thermal cycling. Once the bedding compound fails — which it typically does within 10 to 15 years — water tracks down the chainplate and into the surrounding deck laminate, causing core saturation and delamination in the fiberglass sandwich construction. On a used Hunter 35.5, buyers should probe the deck around every chainplate location with a moisture meter and check for soft spots by pressing firmly on the deck surface nearby. Additionally, inspect the compression post under the mast for signs of checking or crushing, particularly where it bears on the cabin sole. Stanchion bases and any other deck hardware with aging bedding are secondary leak points worth probing with the same moisture meter.