The Hunter 340 is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by the

Hunter Design Team Hunter Marine was an American boat builder, now known as Marlow-Hunter, LLC, owned by David E. Marlow. The company did produce the Mainship powerboat brand. Marlow also owns and manufactures the Marlow Yachts brand consisting of long range ...

as cruising sailboat and first built in 1997.

Production

The design was built by

Hunter Marine Hunter Marine was an American boat builder, now known as Marlow-Hunter, LLC, owned by David E. Marlow. The company did produce the Mainship powerboat brand. Marlow also owns and manufactures the Marlow Yachts brand consisting of long range ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

starting in 1997, but production ended in 2002.

Design

The Hunter 340 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

. It has a fractional sloop

B&R rig The B&R rig is a variant of the Bermuda sailboat rig, designed and patented by Swedish aeronautical engineers Lars Bergström and Sven Ridder. It employs swept spreaders that are usually angled aft, together with "stays" running diagonally down ...

, a slightly

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a walk-through

reverse transom In some boats and ships, a transom is the aft transverse surface of the hull that forms the stern of a vessel. Historically, they are a development from the canoe stern (or "double-ender") wherein which both bow and stern are pointed. Transom ...

with an integral swim platform and ladder, an internally mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

controlled by a

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel and with the optional deep-draft fin keel. The boat is fitted with a Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

of . The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . There is also a holding tank. Standard factory equipment on the 340 included a 110%

genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, dual two-speed self-tailing winches, a

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

mainsheet In sailing, a sheet is a line (rope, cable or chain) used to control the movable corner(s) (clews) of a sail. Terminology In nautical usage the term "sheet" is applied to a line or chain attached to the lower corners of a sail for the purpose ...

arch,

dorade vent A dorade box (also called a dorade vent, collector box, cowl vent, or simply a "ventilator") is a type of vent that permits the passage of air in and out of the cabin or engine room of a boat while keeping rain, spray, and sea wash out. Design T ...

s, a

marine VHF radio Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (for example with harbormasters), and in certain circumstances ship-to-ai ...

knotmeter Pitometer logs (also known as pit logs) are devices used to measure a ship's speed relative to the water. They are used on both surface ships and submarines. Data from the pitometer log is usually fed directly into the ship's navigation system. ...

depth sounder Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...

, stereo system, a

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

cabin sole, private forward and aft cabins, a dinette table that converts to a double bunk, a fully enclosed

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

with a shower, a

microwave oven A microwave oven, or simply microwave, is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces Dipole#Molecular dipoles, polar molecules in the food to rotate and ...

, double stainless steel sink, two burner

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, Butane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some ...

stove, icebox, kitchen dishes,

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

, four

life jacket A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suit that is worn by a u ...

s and an emergency

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

. Optional equipment included a

bimini Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The popula ...

, mast furling mainsail, autopilot,

mainsheet traveller In sailing, a sheet is a line (rope, cable or chain) used to control the movable corner(s) (clews) of a sail. Terminology In nautical usage the term "sheet" is applied to a line or chain attached to the lower corners of a sail for the purpose ...

, refrigerator,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

and a

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...

and related hardware. The design includes below decks headroom of . The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 141 with a high of 150 and low of 135. It has a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to- ...

of .

References

External links

Official brochure
{{Hunter Marine Keelboats 1990s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Hunter Design Team Sailboat types built by Hunter Marine

Production

Design

See also

References

External links