Kelly Wright wrote:
Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

Well, how fast do you want? An OD-35 or a Mumm 36 will smoke any
production "racer/cruiser" so badly you'll the other guys are going
backwards. OTOH it probably wouldn't be so much fun to sail without a
razor-sharp crew backing you up and it sure wouldn't be too comfortable
at that sunset anchorage.

Jeanneaus are, on average, a bit faster than most other mass-produced
racer/cruisers of comparable size... be sure to compare displacement as
well as (or instead of) length. The Kirie Elite and Beneteau First
series are also quick for their size & amenities.

Mathematically, an average PHRF rating for boats 34 ~ 36' LOA is around
140... that includes full keelers and rockets, but is obviously biased
towards boat that are raced. If you look at those with moderate D/L
ratios to get rid of the slugs and the skimming dishes, it drops to
around 120. Then the issue is picking one that won't be seriously
degraded by loading it for cruising... IMHO one with a high
ballast/displacement ratio will help a lot.

Some of the faster cruisable boats in that size range:
Thomas 35
Santana 35
New York 36
C&C 34X or 34+
Dehler DB2
Baltic 35
Jeaneau 35
Morgan N-M 36
Olson 34
Express 34
Express 35 (built by two different companies)
Sweden 340
Tartan 3500
Ericson 36

It may help to make a list of boats and go check them out, but you're
not ever going to find "the perfect boat" on paper. Get out there and
root around!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King