Hunter 35.5 Legend Buyer's Guide
The Hunter 35.5 Legend was built from 1989 through the 1995 model year as the revised successor to the Legend 35, and on the used market it presents as a moderate-draft coastal cruiser with a standardized winged keel and a fractional rig. Shoppers will encounter both the original three-cabin owner layouts and ex-charter examples in some numbers, with the owner three-cabin version the more common of the two. Knowing the boat’s documented weak points and typical equipment tiers is the difference between a tidy coastal cruiser and a deferred-maintenance project.
Layouts on the Used Market
The 35.5 carries the 35’s general arrangement — v-berth forward behind double doors, portside dinette and starboard settee around a mast-supporting salon table, port galley and starboard head aft — but the 35.5 specifically gained a larger dinette, larger head, and smaller navigation station. Its quarter-berth cabin offers more room to move about than the 35 and replaces the earlier fore-and-aft berth with a huge 7' by 5' athwartship berth. Owner three-cabin boats are the more common on the used market, but both layouts are available, and ex-charter examples are common.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, a bimini, autopilot, chartplotter, and shorthanded setup are commonly fitted, while a dodger and electric winches are often seen. Heating, a swim platform, air conditioning, spinnaker, cockpit shower, and hot water fall into the sometimes-or-owner-upgrade tier and should not be assumed present. From the factory the boat carried the Hunter “Cruise Pac” inventory with a full-batten mainsail and Dutchman flaking system, a Yanmar 3GM diesel, a Harken furling drum below deck in the anchor locker, a Sampson-Lawrence windlass, and a permanently mounted swim ladder on the boarding platform.
What to Inspect
The documented trouble areas are consistent across the model. The factory 14-gallon aluminum holding tank is prone to internal corrosion, and the thin-gauge aluminum waste holding tank has a life expectancy put at a maximum of ten years, so tank condition and any replacement history matter. The balsa-cored deck is the other chronic concern: water penetration into the cored deck is a known potential trouble spot, and on the 35.5 the passage where the jib furling lines run through the foredeck is a common and persistent source of deck-core water intrusion. Check the chainplates’ inboard deck entries and the outward-flange hull-to-deck joint for any sign of staining or softness.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Used Hunter 35.5 Legend boats are typically found in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Netherlands. For a shopper, the short checklist is: confirm holding-tank material and age, probe the foredeck around the jib furling penetrations for core softening, verify the shallow-draft rudder’s condition given owner reports of limited control when over-heeled, and confirm which commonly fitted items (bimini, autopilot, chartplotter, shorthanded setup) are actually aboard versus listed as upgrades.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Hunter 35.5 Legend. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 15 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25 | 1 | $ 25,900 | — |
| May 25 | 1 | $ 29,897 | +15.4% |
| Jun 25 | 3 | $ 49,900 | +66.9% |
| Jul 25 | 3 | $ 39,500 | -20.8% |
| Aug 25 | 3 | $ 29,900 | -24.3% |
| Sep 25 | 8 | $ 42,950 | +43.6% |
| Oct 25 | 5 | $ 38,500 | -10.4% |
| Nov 25 | 4 | $ 27,500 | -28.6% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $ 32,900 | +19.6% |
| Jan 26 | 13 | $ 39,900 | +21.3% |
| Feb 26 | 5 | $ 39,900 | 0.0% |
| Mar 26 | 4 | $ 35,197 | -11.8% |
| Apr 26 | 8 | $ 36,034 | +2.4% |
| May 26 | 3 | $ 47,500 | +31.8% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 17,500 | -63.2% |
Where they're listed
Hunter 35.5 Legend listings appear across 4 countries. United States has the most listings with 49 (89.1%), followed by Canada and United Kingdom.
Country view
55 listings · 4 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 35,500 | 49 | 5 | 89.1% |
| Canada | $ 69,000 | 3 | 0 | 5.5% |
| United Kingdom | $ 45,459 | 2 | 0 | 3.6% |
| Switzerland | $ 44,514 | 1 | 0 | 1.8% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
10 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalina 355 | 35.42' | $ 196,750 | 80 | 24 |
| Hunter Marine 35.5 LegendYou are here | — | $ 39,000 | 56 | 6 |
| Gemini Legacy 35 | 35.33' | $ 173,000 | 51 | 13 |
| Hunter 40.5 Legend | 40.17' | $ 64,027 | 51 | 27 |
| Hunter 37.5 Legend | 37' | $ 49,500 | 48 | 14 |
| Hunter 37 Legend | 37.5' | $ 35,000 | 39 | 9 |
| Marlow-Hunter 33 | 33.5' | $ 79,900 | 13 | 12 |
| Hunter 35 Legend WK + 246 | 35.58' | $ 29,000 | 13 | 4 |
| Marlow-Hunter 36 Legend | 35.73' | $ 74,322 | 13 | 9 |
| Hanse 355 | 34.74' | $ 94,288 | 8 | 4 |