2003 Hunter 426 (unnamed in listing), Marina del Rey, CA

References

• 2003 Hunter 426 — YachtWorld listingotherACY Yachts, Marina del Rey (broker Will Petersen)[broker listing] The primary source for everything about this specific hull. Note how much of it is a dated equipment list and how little is condition or history: no standing rigging date, no survey history, no engine service records, no sail date other than the 2018 main, no anchor or chain specification, no keel or rudder comment.
• HUNTER 426 DS — sailboat specificationsmanufacturer specSailboatdataDisplacement 23,600 lb, beam 14.17 ft and ballast 7,237 lb all match the listing exactly, which is the strongest single piece of evidence about which keel is fitted — see the keel assessment. Records standard draft 6.50 ft and a shoal wing-keel option at 5.00 ft with 7,389 lb of ballast. Rig dimensions I 47.83, J 14.67, P 46.75, E 20.50, and separately an in-mast furling sailplan of P 50.0 / E 20.83. Designer Glenn Henderson, first built 2003. CAVEAT: this is the DS (deck salon) page and I have not established which variant this hull is.
• Hunter 426otherWikipedia[encyclopaedia] Tertiary source used to corroborate sailboatdata. Independently gives the fixed fin keel at 6.50 ft with 7,237 lb of lead and the optional shoal wing keel at 5.00 ft with 7,389 lb, an internally mounted spade rudder on a wheel, and a fractional B&R sloop rig with 962 sq ft of sail. Hull speed 8.39 kn, PHRF 117.
• Engineering:Hunter 426 — HandWikiotherHandWiki[encyclopaedia] Almost certainly a mirror of the Wikipedia text, so not independent evidence — recorded because it is the clearest statement that the 426 was built in two versions, the 426 AC (aft cockpit) and the 426 DS (deck salon, raised coach house and larger ports). The listing says only 'Hunter 426', so which one this is remains open.
• Hunter 426 DS — Finding the Sweet SpotreviewCruising World (Darrell Nicholson), 28 May 2003The single most useful reference found and genuinely contemporaneous — published in the model's first year. Source for the Whitlock steering with an emergency tiller in the port seat locker, the FIBREGLASS RUDDERSTOCK, the Seldén in-mast furling system and the caveat about outhaul tension, the 30-degree swept spreaders with no backstay, the ABYC-standard wiring in conduit, and two specific criticisms: a squeaking exhaust hose and swim-platform hatches about 32 inches above the waterline with small hinges and fasteners that need reinforcing for following seas. It reviews the DS; if this hull is the AC, the cockpit and coachroof comments do not transfer.
• Radically Swept-back SpreadersreviewAttainable Adventure Cruising (John Harries)may not fit this hullApplies to the rig type, not to this hull. The most important design-level source in this file because the objection is specifically about running downwind, which is what this voyage is. Records that the boom cannot be eased past roughly 30 degrees, that the mainsail chafes on the spreaders, that the boat becomes hard to steer and 'squirrelly' downwind, that preventer angles are unfavourable, and that the absence of a permanent backstay removes the main benefit of a fractional rig. Explicitly recommends a conventional rig for long-distance offshore work. This is a strongly-held expert opinion, well argued, not a test result — see the opposing view below.
• Reliability of B&R Rigclass associationSailboat Owners Forumsmay not fit this hullRECORDED AS THE OPPOSING VIEW, per your instruction not to adjudicate. Owners report a Hunter 49 with a B&R rig rounding Cape Horn and another completing an eleven-month circumnavigation, describe the rig as exceptionally strong, and note that Seldén of Sweden builds it. They concede the downwind mainsail point and reframe it as unimportant because dead downwind is slow anyway. No actual B&R structural failures are reported in the thread. Forum testimony, self-selected and unverifiable, but it is real ocean experience and it directly contradicts the source above.
• In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing — Convenience and ReliabilityreviewAttainable Adventure Cruising (John Harries)may not fit this hullApplies to the reefing system type. Records that three of the author's friends with offshore miles on in-mast systems have been up the mast at sea to clear a jam, that downwind reefing on the wrong gybe puts colossal loads on the system, and that in-mast sails have no roach and no full battens. The author states he would not set off across the Atlantic with in-mast roller furling. Same caveat as above: a strongly-held expert opinion, and thousands of in-mast boats cruise without incident.
• Rudder Issues — Hunter 426 owner threadclass associationSailboat Owners ForumsThe most directly on-point owner evidence found: the thread is opened by a Hunter 426 owner describing manufacturing voids between the rudder stock and the housing letting water into the blade, still draining after three months of attempted drying. The thread also records that Hunter composite stocks 'crack instead of bending' and can hide a flaw that fails later without warning, and that the outright stock failures were concentrated in a model using a carbon-fibre stock. Forum evidence, one boat, not a fleet statistic — but it is the same model.
• Hunter Factory Blends Old and New Technologymanufacturer specPractical Sailor (Darrell Nicholson), 22 June 2012may not fit this hullREAD WITH CARE. This is a 2012 factory tour describing how Hunter then built the 33, nine years after this hull was moulded, so it is indicative of Hunter's methods and NOT evidence about this boat. It records a balsa-cored hull above the waterline and solid below, a marine-plywood-cored deck with the ply cut into small squares to stop wicking, sub-assemblies bonded to a fibreglass structural grid, and — importantly — a hull-deck joint chemically bonded with 3M 5200 and THROUGH-BOLTED with stainless hardware all the way around, which is better practice than the screwed joints on some European production boats. Also records composite rudders with fibreglass skins over a stainless skeleton and foam. Whether the 2003 426 was built the same way is a survey question.
• Lewmar Obsolete Windlasses Information & ReplacementsotherMAURIPRO Sailing[vendor notice] Applies directly to the fitted windlass. Records that the Simpson Lawrence series is obsolete, that Lewmar retired the legacy Horizon, Sprint, Anchorman and Concept lines between roughly 2003 and 2006, and that 'support for discontinued units is limited'. Recommends a V3, V4 or V6 as the modern replacement for a Simpson Lawrence. Vendor content with an interest in selling new windlasses, so treat the recommendation as marketing and the obsolescence as fact.
• Tahiti Cruisers Guide — Marine suppliesotherThe Floating Lab / Tahiti Cruisers Guide[cruising guide] What can and cannot be had in Papeete, the only real repair infrastructure between San Francisco and Fiji. Sin Tung Hing Marine is the official Yanmar distributor AND the Raymarine distributor, so this boat's two most important systems are both supportable there — a genuine point in its favour. Against that: chain ordered in takes 'a few months to arrive', and the guide records cruisers reporting a damaged VHF and incorrectly set valve clearances from local workmanship.
• Yanmar exhaust mixing elbow — serviceengine manualSailboat Owners Forumsmay not fit this hullApplies to Yanmar diesels generally rather than to the 4JH3E specifically — the thread is largely about 3GM30s, which is why I have not leaned on it hard. Owner consensus is elbow replacement every five to six years regardless of hours, with soot buildup, overheating and eventually a cracked or holed elbow as the failure path. Recorded because the listing gives no elbow history at all and this is the cheapest catastrophic-overheat prevention there is.
• Average Cost to Replace Standing Rigging (with Examples)otherImprove Sailingmay not fit this hull[cost reference] General cost reference, not a quote for this boat and not a Bay Area rate. Gives $5,000-$10,000 for 30-50ft boats with a 40-footer at $6,000-$8,000, stated to include rigging and labour, and is silent on whether unstepping is included. Used only as the floor of the band; the figures in the cost item are built up from published Bay Area yard labour rates instead.
• Berkeley Marine Center — Yard RatesotherBerkeley Marine Center[yard rate sheet] No effective date published, which is a caveat in itself. General technician $125/hr, skilled $140/hr, haul and launch $19/ft for 40ft and longer, DIY lay days $2.50/ft/day, crane and Travelift $300/hr, mast lay day $25/day. Used as the low end of the Bay Area labour band, on the assumption you refit in the Bay Area as planned.
• KKMI Sausalito — Menu of ServicesotherKKMI[yard rate sheet] Effective 11/10/2023, so nearly three years stale as of August 2026 — treat every figure as a floor. General bottom prep $145/hr, finish painting $159/hr, skilled craftsperson $169/hr, sanitary systems $179/hr, crane and Travelift $380/hr, haul and launch $17/ft in the 40-49ft band, yard storage $4.00/ft/day, plus a 4.75% safety, health and environment fee on all labour and goods. Used as the high end of the Bay Area labour band.
• Survey Prices — Steve Jones Marine SurveyorotherSteveSurveys, Fairfax CA[surveyor rate sheet] Boats under 50 feet at $27 per foot with a $550 minimum — $1,188 at 44ft. The critical caveat for this candidate is the travel clause: no travel fee for boats in San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Alameda counties, and $0.80 per mile beyond. Marina del Rey is roughly 380 road miles each way, so a Bay Area surveyor would add several hundred dollars in travel alone. Use a Los Angeles surveyor.
• Survey Rates — Maritime SurveyorsotherMaritime Surveyors[surveyor rate sheet] Pre-purchase condition and valuation survey at $28.00-$35.00 per foot, used as the upper end of the survey band — $1,232 to $1,540 at 44ft. Also records that a sea trial is included at no charge if done the same day as the survey, and consulting at $150/hr. Not a Los Angeles firm; used for rate level only.
• 2026 Yacht Delivery Captain Rates: Complete Cost BreakdownotherCoastal Yacht Delivery[delivery rate sheet] Current-year rates: captain $400-$800 per day, crew $200-$300+ per person per day, provisions about $50 per person per day, with fuel, oil, dockage, port fees and any repairs on the owner. Vendor marketing content rather than a neutral survey, so treated as indicative. Used to price the Marina del Rey to San Francisco delivery.
• B&R Rig — advantages and disadvantagesclass associationSailboat Cruisingmay not fit this hullApplies to the rig type. A balanced secondary summary rather than primary evidence, used because it independently names the two failure paths that matter here: swept spreaders rubbing the mainsail when running dead downwind causing wear over time, and 'some older Hunter sailboats with B&R rigs have occasionally shown issues with welded spreader attachments', which it says may require costly repairs. That second point is the reason for the spreader-weld risk line below.

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