Good day, Jacques, and welcome aboard Cruisers Forum.
My Jim and I hailed from a low level
racing background, and all the cruising
boats we've had have been
boats with good light air performance, and fin keels. It is where some of the joy of sailing comes from, getting her to make her own breeze and sailing along in light airs when the other guys are motoring, or motor-sailing. If you have that mind set, then you are going to want to have all the "strings", so you can tweak things when the mood is on you. Choose well your boat. She should offer you the joys of good performance, but also be able to take good care of you if you find yourself in heave
weather.
Our present boat is a 7/8 fractional, swept back spreaders, modern timber composite one offf, with a launch
displacement of 9 tonnes. She is a tad over 13 m overall, so bigger than we need now, but we have her. She was built by a guy and his wife for their use, and we are 2nd owners of her. We spent roughly 3 years looking for her, and she fit all but two of the criteria on our list.
Make your list of what you want, and what you don't want, too. Ignore those who say no such boat exists, you go find the closest to what you think will be best for you, and then go enjoy. You know what you're getting into. You know what you can and can not afford. You're actually well placed, too. The French make some fine boats!
Enjoy.
Ann & Jim