OK, I'm going to give you my 2 cents worth. I have owned for 10 years an 11.7 Whitehaven by Mark Pescott. Glorious boat. Had 2 queen berths, a double,
shower head and
galley down. We had it built to a shell and I did the fit out. Total weight was around 4000kg--ie just over 8000 pounds. She is a daggerboard boat with twin
honda 20s. Motoring she could do 9knots and punched easily into over 35 knots of wind.
Depending on the type of sailor you are this is a great boat. She
sails like a dream, upwind we would do 10 knots (with white sails) and off the wind on flat
water 19.
Offshore the issue is not speed it is comfort. The boat will put up with more than you, yes we've sat on 12 knots in big seas off the coast of NSW but it was tough--reef the boat and bring her back a bit and you're still averaging 7-8 and very comfortable--basically anything under 10 is more comfortable. Pescots are hard to find and the main
builder has just retired--he was a craftsman. If you are looking for something similar, go for Schionning or Shuttleworth--both fantastic designers for people who really like to sail a boat.
Regardig Seawinds, whoever says they are fast have clearly never sailed a decent sailing cat. I've sailed the 1000 and the 1250--they'll get there but they are slow and their pointing ability is woeful--like any non daggerboard cat. We raced against them several times in
Sydney harbour and would beat them by nearly an hour in a 2.5 hour
race... Thankfully I was good friends with several of the owners so they would still invite me over for a
beer.
Re outboards, they are fantastic, 1/3 of the cost, soooo much simpler and no drag or folding props to worry about--however they use more
fuel.
we carried 500 litres of
water and when fully loaded up, ie living on the boat, our top speed upwind dropped to 8 knots but we still hit the 12s easily off the wind.
This philosophy is not for everyone, our take was a boat that was fast yet could be slowed down when needed, had the room we wanted without going
overboard, was simple enough so that I could pretty much fix anything on board and was a delight to take out for a sail--remember cruising has often been described as doing
maintenance in exotic places...
If you are not so worried about the performance or pointing side of things, go for the FPs or Lagoons Seawinds etc--they do have far more room but at a cost.
Phil