Hunter 376
A beamy coastal cruiser with a large aft cabin and cockpit arch, valued for volume but check the shoal wing keel bolts.
Made to order: your copy is researched, fact-checked, and typeset to our standard, then delivered within about two weeks. We'll email you the moment it's ready.
About the Hunter 376 (1996-1998)
The 376 changed how people talked about Hunter. Cruising World named it Best Value in its 1997 Boat of the Year awards, and it still sails better than its reputation suggests. The formula is a beamy, high-volume hull with a sugar-scoop transom, a huge oval cockpit, and a stainless arch overhead carrying the mainsheet clear of the crew.
It is a two-cabin coastal cruiser, not an offshore boat. The B&R rig (fractional, swept-back spreaders, no backstay) flies a big fully battened mainsail and a small headsail, so a couple can sail it from the cockpit. Standing headroom and real berths make a week aboard comfortable.
Specifications at a glance
| Years | 1996 to 1998 |
| Designer | Hunter Design Team (Hunter Marine, Florida) |
| Length | 37 ft 3 in overall (11.35 m), 32 ft waterline (9.75 m) |
| Beam | 12 ft 7 in (3.83 m) |
| Draft | 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) wing keel, 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) deep fin |
| Displacement | 15,000 lb (6,804 kg), 5,400 lb (2,449 kg) lead ballast |
| Sail area | 684 sq ft (63.5 sq m), fractional B&R rig, no backstay |
| Engine | Yanmar 36 hp diesel, 35 US gal fuel, 75 US gal water |
Known issues to check before you buy
- Keel joint and keel bolts. The lead keel bolts to a deep fiberglass stub. Hairline cracks along the joint and weeping keel bolts are the common complaint. Insist on a haulout inspection and check the bilge for rust staining around the bolts.
- Grid-to-hull bond. The interior structure is a molded fiberglass grid bonded into the hull. Have the surveyor sound the bilge for hollow spots where it has separated.
- Wet core. The hull is solid glass below the waterline, balsa cored above it, and the deck is plywood cored except at load points. Run a moisture meter around stanchion bases, chainplates and the arch feet.
- Leaks that appear at the salon lights. Water entering at the sea hood (the cover over the halyard exit) or a deck fitting runs along the headliner and drips from the overhead lights. Aft cabin port frames leak too.
- The rig. Owners find the big main needs reefing earlier than expected. Check the mast extrusion at the spreader bases for dents and get the age of the standing rigging: a re-rig may be due.
Owning one
A 376 gives more accommodation and cockpit than an older 37-footer for the money. The expensive items are structural, so pay a good surveyor before you fall for the interior. This volume documents the Hunter 376 specifically: verified specifications, the documented weak points and how to inspect each, the service data, and the parts and owner community that keep them sailing.
Inside this volume
Known issues & a survey guide
The documented weak points for this exact model, how to inspect each, and what a proper fix costs, a checklist to carry to the survey.
Full specifications
Every published figure, hull and rig or engine detail, tankage, and running change, with the conflicts flagged, not guessed.
Systems & maintenance
Engine, electrical, plumbing, steering, and ground tackle, plus service intervals and the fluid and torque data.
Parts, yards & community
Where the parts are, what cross-references, and the owners associations and forums that keep the model alive.
Make it your boat.
We fold in your year, your engine and options, your refits and modifications, your hull number, and your own boat's photo on the cover. The book stops describing the boat that left the yard and starts describing the one in your slip.