Design and Construction
Henderson's hull comes back very wide at the transom, though most of that beam sits above the waterline, and a special reflex shape beneath lets the hull behave as if narrower, cutting drag so the boat leaves surprisingly little wake. Below the waterline the bottom is solid fiberglass reinforced with Kevlar from the stem back to the keel sump, a protective forward layup intended for impact resistance. Above the boot stripe the hull is cored with Baltek, and the deck is Baltek and plywood-cored fiberglass. The hull-to-deck flange is sealed with 3M 5200, then through-bolted on 6-inch centers with a heavy-duty rubrail track screwed between the bolts and a stainless rubrail over it. The rudder is composite, lighter and stronger than conventional materials and impervious to corrosion. Cabin construction is modular: the entire cabin is built outside the hull in three sections fiberglassed to a grid and to each other, a technique Hunter developed with its parent, Luhrs Marine Group.
Rig and Handling
The 356 carries a fractional sloop rig with a 110 percent headsail and roller furling standard on the headsail, plus optional in-mast furling. Hunter's B&R rig uses two spreaders and reverse diagonals, eliminating the backstay and letting lower stays move inboard while uppers attach outboard of the walkway; the strut arrangement permits a smaller-diameter mast, which keeps the center of gravity low and minimizes pitching. A stainless arch carries the mainsheet close to the boom end and keeps the cockpit open. All lines are led to the cockpit so a crew of two handles her easily. Steering is Whitlock rack and pinion, which test sailors found tight and responsive, more like a sports car than a cable system, and the sealed rudder tube ties deck and hull together with no stuffing box or leaks. Writing in Cruising World, one judge described her as a paradigm shift for Hunter, and found that driven hard for a shoal-draft boat she balanced nicely and tracked easily.
Accommodations
The deck layout gives more room than usual for the size, and the cabin reads upscale with softer, rounder joinery, bullnose moldings, and upgraded hardware. A high-gloss teak and holly sole runs through a saloon with a convertible dinette for two and a settee opposite, a double berth forward, and a queen aft in the master suite that takes standard sheets and wears an innerspring mattress; total sleep count is six. Headroom is a generous 6 feet 5 inches for the most part. The head has a separate stall shower. Storage includes a pair of hanging lockers forward, one aft, and drawers in each sleeping compartment. The navigation table aft and to port takes full-size NOAA charts with bulkhead space above for electronics. The galley has an L-shaped Corian counter, double stainless sink, two-burner propane stove, teak fiddles that double as handholds, and optional refrigeration; a microwave and pressurized hot and cold water are standard. Cockpit storage is generous under aft seats and transom, with a cavernous port locker sized for genset, air conditioning, watermaker, and batteries.
Equipment and Standard Fit
Standard gear leans practical: molded two-tone skid-resistant decking, stainless grabrails, a pair of bow anchor rollers with a Delta plow on one, Raymarine ST40 depth and speed at the wheel, a cabin VHF, Windex vane, hot water heater, and a hot/cold cockpit shower. Deck hardware draws from Harken, Lewmar, Spinlock, Profurl, and Schaffer. The helm seat flips to steps at the transom, a telescoping ladder aids boarding, and the cockpit table folds from centerline storage.
The Verdict
The 356 is a spirited, easy-to-work coastal cruiser that test crews found comfortable for short and long passages alike, with a thoughtful deck and a modular cabin that reads refined. The shoal keel trades a little draft for stability, and the B&R rig simplifies the backstay-less rig for short-handed sailing.
Pros
- Reflex hull and Kevlar-forward solid glass bottom with low-wake, low-drag behavior
- B&R rig with small mast, cockpit-led lines, and easy two-person handling
- Upscale modular cabin with six berths, separate shower, and chart-sized nav table
- Whitlock steering and sealed rudder tube with no stuffing box
Cons
- Large sugar-scoop lockers drain into the bilge, a flooding-path concern
- Category B rating limits her to coastal and moderate offshore use
- Shoal keel trades ultimate windward ability for draft
