Hunter Marine Corporation is a U.S.-based sailboat builder and a subsidiary of Luhrs Marine Group, which also produces Silverton, Mainship, and Luhrs brands of powerboats.
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In the 1800s Henry Luhrs, a German immigrant, outfitted trading ships and owned a chandlery. His grandson, Henry, continued the family heritage on the New Jersey coast, building and repairing recreational and fishing boats. By the early 1960s Henry and his sons, John and Warren, were building over a thousand powerboats a year. Hunter Marine is now an ESOP company with partial ownership available to all employees, and is part of the Luhrs Marine Group, which consists of Luhrs Sportfishing boats, Silverton Motoryachts, Ovation Luxury Motoryachts, and Mainship Trawlers.
The Hunter sailboat line began in 1973 when Warren Luhrs decided to combine his building skills with his passion for sailing. Among his goals was producing an affordable boat. The early Hunter boats, designed by John E. Cherubini, targeted the value-priced market and developed a reputation for respectable quality and good value. Hunter gradually evolved into one of the largest sales volume producer of mid-priced sailing yachts, in direct competition with Catalina Yachts and Beneteau. Hunter is responsible for several market innovations, including their trademark stainless steel cockpit arch and their use of the B & R rig. Hunter also began the construction of sailboats whose hulls make use of bow hollow and stern reflex, marine architecture design elements that maximize thrust under sail.
Hunter Marine is easily confused with the similarly named British boat builder, Hunter Boats (now British Hunter). Consequently Hunter Marine uses the brand name "Legend" for boats sold in Great Britain.
Hunter builds and sells through 140 dealers/distributors about 2,000 boats per year. The Hunter main factory produces about 800 larger keel boats, and roughly 1,200 smaller trailerable models.
For the 2011 Model Year, Hunter builds a selection of fifteen models, with six being new releases:
| NEW 15 Trailerable | |
| NEW 18 Trailerable | |
| NEW 22 Trailerable | |
| 27 Aft Cockpit | |
| 27e Aft Cockpit w/ELCO Electric Motor | |
| 27/theEDGE Powersailer | |
| 31 Aft Cockpit | |
| 33 Aft Cockpit | |
| NEW e36 Aft Cockpit | |
| NEW 39 Aft Cockpit | |
| 41 Aft Cockpit | |
| 41 Deck Salon | |
| 45 Center Cockpit | |
| 45 Deck Salon | |
| NEW 50 Aft Cockpit | |
| 50 Center cockpit |
Hunter changes its designs and model designations frequently, with the aim of closely following market trends for aesthetics and amenities. However, it limits the development of owner fleets built around "one design" models which promote sailboat racing.