Have to haves and wants

[roverhi]

Canoe sterns were a design fashion of the '70s. They were wannabe semi look alike of boats like Vito Dumas' Lehg II, Robin Knox Johnston's Suhaili and Bernard Moitessiers Joshua that were true double enders. These designs were imitations of the North Sea Rescue boats that had reputation for Sea Kindliness and survivability in the rough conditions of the North Sea. The designs had evolved over centuries and followed a since discredited design philosophy so, while being robust, they weren't the swiftest knife in the drawer. People looking for a cruising boat in the early '70s were pretty much stuck with the Westsail 32 which was a derivative of true double ended designs of Dumas' and Johnston's boat. Those looking for the same purpose but larger boats were SOL until the builders went to the designers and asked for a pointy stern boat but only bigger. Bill Crealock (Westsail 42) and Robert Perry (practically every boat of the era that came out of the Orient) utilized modern design theory to design more efficient hulls and rounded off the sterns (canoe) so they'd look like their Scandinavian predecessors. The canoe stern lost the advantage of the true double enders, external attached rudder, and gained the disadvantage of limited stowage aft and difficultly hanging anything off the stern.

If I was looking to put large 6 figure sums into a boat, would buy one of the Aluminum French Center Boarders. Designs from Alubat, Garcia, Boreal and others would be the only way I'd go. The boats are semi custom so can accomodate a lot of the owners preferences. They are built hell for stout so can cruise safely anywhere including the high latitudes. The center board design allows them to get up close and personal with the beach, even on the beach, so you aren't restricted to the outer reaches of an anchorage by draft. Most feature some form of swim step so easy access to the dinghy and ocean that many people think are must haves is built in. Particularly like the design of the Boreal 44 with its semi pilot house design. You can sit in the saloon and survey the ocean around instead of being buried buried below like you are in most mono hulls. With the crash of the Euro, they are particularly to anyone with their money in dollars.

Its your money, spend it however you want. Would try and limit the size to mid 40 foot for ease of handling. Yes you can sail a larger boat with a couple, only, as crew UNTIL something goes wrong. Swapping out a medium sized headsail becomes a major under taking in moderate conditions and a truly life threatening adventure when it gets stinky. A crew will make all the difference in the world but, from experience, find guests/crew to get stale to down right rotten after a short number of days, especially at sea.