Hunter 35 Legend Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Hunter Legend 35 or 35.5 means weighing two near-sister cruisers built from late 1986 with the 35.5 emerging mid-1989 after deck and interior changes. Both share a 35 foot 7 inch hull and 11 foot 9 inch beam, but the later boat dropped the fin-keel option and reworked the cabin, so a used buyer is effectively choosing between a 35 with optional deep or winged bulb keel and a 35.5 with only the shoal keel and a larger head.
Layouts on the Used Market
The base arrangement on either model puts a v-berth forward, a portside dinette and starboard settee amidships, a port galley and starboard head aft, and a navigation station between head and settee with a double quarter berth along the port side. The 35.5 differentiates itself with a larger dinette, larger head, and smaller navigation station, plus a quarter berth cabin with more room to move about and a huge 7 foot by 5 foot athwart ship berth instead of the 35’s fore-and-aft berth. A used-boat buyer who prioritizes a real sea berth for two and head volume will favor the 35.5; one who wants a fuller nav station keeps the 35.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Auxiliary power on all examples is a Yanmar 3GM diesel rated at 24 horsepower at 3400 rpm, and most boats were sold with a mainsail and 120 jib as standard on the fractional rig. The 35 offered a standard fin keel drawing 6' 6" or a winged bulb keel drawing 4' 6", while the 35.5 came only with the winged bulb. No market brief supplies prevalence tiers for fitted gear, so equipment expectations should rest on these documented standards rather than assumed refits.
What to Inspect
The documented failure points are specific. Where the jib furling lines run through the foredeck on the 35.5 model is a common and persistent source of water penetration into the balsa deck core, so any 35.5 demands close inspection of that penetration line for softness or staining. The thin-gauge aluminum waste holding tank has a life expectancy of ten years maximum, meaning most surviving boats are well past the design limit and the tank should be treated as a replacement item on survey.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Regional availability for this model is not stated by the available sources, so geographic search scope cannot be defined from them. For the used buyer, the short checklist is: confirm keel type on a 35 (fin or winged bulb) versus winged-bulb-only on a 35.5; inspect 35.5 foredeck furling penetrations for core wetness; budget to replace the aluminum holding tank regardless of stated age; and decide whether the 35.5’s larger head and athwart ship berth outweigh its smaller nav station for your plans.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Marine 35.5 Legend | 35.58' | $ 39,000 | 56 | 6 |
| Hunter 40.5 Legend | 40.17' | $ 64,019 | 51 | 27 |
| Gemini Legacy 35 | 35.33' | $ 173,000 | 50 | 13 |
| Hunter 37.5 Legend | 37' | $ 49,500 | 48 | 14 |
| Beneteau Oceanis 35 | 32.78' | $ 147,642 | 45 | 17 |
| Hunter 37 Legend | 37.5' | $ 35,000 | 39 | 9 |
| C&C 35-3 | 34.67' | $ 29,900 | 31 | 14 |
| Hunter 43 Legend | 42.5' | $ 49,900 | 27 | 5 |
| Hunter 35 Legend WK + 246 | 35.58' | $ 29,000 | 13 | 4 |
| Marlow-Hunter 36 Legend | 35.73' | $ 74,336 | 13 | 9 |