Production Boats Fit For Blue Water

[smackdaddy]

Up until now, it's been a never-ending debate. And I've enjoyed discussing it in some other threads like "The Yard Guys", "Production Boats and The Limits" and "Rudder Failures". But I thought it best to cut to the chase. So here it is:

Modern Category A "Production Boats" - also referred to in forums as "BeneHunterLinas" and "Bleach Bottles" and other interesting names - are built for and perfectly suited to bluewater cruising. Period.

Now - there is a lot of debatable minutiae in there, and a lot of subjective viewpoints surrounding it, which is why the debate has continued way past its "sell by" date - but that's fact. "Production Boats" are NOT just "coastal cruisers" as some would have us believe. There's far too much evidence out there to debunk these kinds of claims.

My point in starting this thread is simply to provide some factual accuracy to what can be very silly and misleading arguments. So, I'd like this thread to be dedicated to examples of the many production boats out there very happily and safely cruising blue water.

For instance, you have years of very reliable information from the ARC as to how various boats perform, you have members around here like MarkJ who has circumnavigated on his Bene and is still going, and you have many other sailors out there like Michael of Sequitur who have successfully taken their "Production Boats" to some very challenging places (e.g. - Cape Horn). Then you also have very knowledgeable guys like Polux who can walk you through the design and construction advantages of 150 different modern boats.

Now, if you are one who believes that ONLY the "traditional bluewater brands" are suited to this type of cruising, you should probably find another thread. This one ain't for you.

But, if you're considering a boat for off-shore cruising, and have an even remotely open mind, hopefully you'll find some good facts in this thread as it goes to help you make a rational decision. Because when weighing cost and safety - you can easily go down an expensive, or even dangerous path, if you only hear one side of the story.