Hunter Passage 450


The Hunter Passage 450 is an American sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team as a cruiser and first built in 1996.

Production

The design was built by Hunter Marine in the United States, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Hunter Passage 450 is a recreational keelboat, built primarily of hand-laid polyester and vinylester resin fiberglass. The deck is constructed as a fiberglass and marine plywood sandwich, while the hull above the waterline incorporates a Baltek end-grain balsa core. The design features a masthead sloop B&R rig, a raked stem, an oval-shaped center cockpit, a walk-through reverse transom with a swim platform and folding ladder, a fiberglass mainsheet arch, and an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a wheel. It displaces and carries of lead ballast.
The standard wing keel with a weighted bulb provides a draft of. Propulsion is supplied by either a Swedish Volvo or Japanese Yanmar diesel engine rated at. The fuel tank holds, and the fresh water tank has a capacity of.
Standard accommodations include dual staterooms with private heads and a transom-mounted hot and cold water shower. Factory options included air conditioning, a washer and dryer, a bathtub, and an in-mast furling mainsail. Below decks headroom is. The design holds Community of Europe certification for "unlimited offshore use".
The boat has a calculated hull speed of.

Operational history

Reviewer Quentin Warren, writing for Cruising World in 2002 praised the design's accommodations. He wrote: "This boat is comfortable to be aboard, light and airy, easy to handle from the cockpit, big on tankage, chockablock with amenities and perks - it’s no surprise that people are queued well down boat-show docks for the obligatory look-see. It isn’t traditional or classic or reserved; rather it’s a showcase of modern thinking with liveaboard focus."