Design and Construction
The 33.5 carries a conservative basic hull shape with a short bow overhang and a broad stern that Hunter used to extend sailing length, enlarge the cockpit, and open up room aft anchor. Below the waterline the hulls were solid fiberglass with no core material, finished behind the gelcoat with a skin coat of chopped strand mat applied by chopper gun, and the ballast was carried externally anchor. The keel program was unusually broad: Hunter designed four configurations — the house bulb-wing, a deep fin, an elliptical wing keel, and the Collins tandem keel — then ran polar plots and real-life trials on two identical hulls to settle the question anchor. The builder claimed the deep fin and bulb-wing proved superior, and that the bulb-wing showed slightly better performance in all conditions during those sailing trials. The bulb-wing itself is a modest appendage, with tiny wings angling down about eight degrees and a bulb shaped like a squashed ellipse.
Rig and Handling
The boat's tall fractional rig follows the Bergstrom-Ridder layout, with double swept-back spreaders, double shrouds, and lowers from inboard chainplates, while the backstay splits to keep the helm clear of interference anchor. One trade-off of the swept spreaders is that they limit how far the boom can be eased out. Under way the 33.5 handles well both under sail and power; the shoal-draft fin with bulb-wing and spade rudder lets it turn quickly in close quarters anchor. With a sail-area-to-displacement ratio around 17 and a displacement-length ratio near 243, the design sits in the moderate-performance cruiser band rather than the light-displacement racer category.
Accommodations
Below, the layout favors a sociable dinette to starboard and a split head-sink forward, with the galley pushed as far aft as the hull allows to keep the cook clear of traffic anchor. A large double berth is tucked back under the cockpit, making good use of the broad stern's volume. The standard equipment list even included a copy of Chapman's Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling, a telling marker of the boat's outfitting as delivered.
Known Issues
Owners of the 1990 335 report that the boat offers no option for an anchor roller and no practical way to add one, a real limitation for cruisers who prefer a roller-mounted ground tackle setup at the bow anchor.
The Verdict
The Hunter 33.5 is a thoughtfully packaged mid-size cruiser from Hunter Marine's late-1980s era, pairing a conservatively shaped solid hull with an unusually well-tested keel program and a roomy, forward-thinking interior. The bulb-wing shoal draft made the boat accessible to shallow harbors without giving up quick, confident handling, and the split backstay and fractional rig show a genuine attempt at performance cruising rather than bare accommodation volume. The anchor-roller omission is the one clear ergonomic gap for the dedicated cruiser.
Pros
- Broad, well-tested keel program with bulb-wing favored by builder trials
- Quick-turning shoal-draft hull with spade rudder
- Roomy aft-focused interior with dinette and large aft double
- Clear helm from split backstay and inboard chainplates
Cons
- No anchor roller option or retrofit path on the 1990 example
- Swept spreaders restrict boom ease-out range
