"DSK" wrote in message

Maxprop wrote:

Nope. It will be in the 40'-44' range, which should easily do 7kts.
under power, and somewhat better under sail in the right conditions.
We've looked at a Cheoy Lee Pedrick 41, a Passport (Perry) 40, and a
Baltic Doug Peterson 42, any of which would fit the bill.


Look at a Nordic 40 or 44. Another Perry design.

I remember when those boats first hit the market, and they looked great.
Unfortunately they seem rather rare. None anywhere around here, and not too
many on Yachtworld.com either.

The Baltic DP is a great boat.

The one we saw was a bit beat up, but could be reconditioned. I'd like to
find a better example. We also saw a Baltic J/V and it, too, was a touch
under the weather. The Baltics are among our first choices for a
replacement to our current boat.

The quality of the Sagas is excellent

Not my impression of them. Have you looked carefully in all the nooks &
crannies?

Not really. A friend has an '02 Saga 43, and on the surface it looks like a
quality machine, but we didn't actually did into the boat. It is very fast,
however, and handles wonderfully in a trailing sea.

... and they are very fast for boats with such an accomodating cruising
interior.

Again I disagree. They're pretty fast, but not to touch a *fast* 43
footer. And they're not all that roomy, they're too narrow. Makes them
tender, too.

I didn't detect this when sailing our friend's boat. We had 20-30kts. with
5-7' rollers on the port quarter for a 35 statute mile trip, which we made
in just over 3 hours, pierhead to pierhead. I tend to favor narrower boats
for some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with watching all the
newer, beamier plastic fantastics pushing tons of water out of the way,
leaving a substantial wake, dragging transoms, etc. Probably a visceral
reaction, rather than one based upon facts and performance.

I understand there is a Saga 43 that sails to a 78 PHRF rating on the
Chesapeake, but the one here that I've sailed would have a hard time being
competitive at 100+. And that's not fast for a 40+ footer.

But I should be careful, we have a friends with one. It's a really really
nice boat. For the money, they could have had a Baltic or Dynamique, but
they are happy with the Saga and that's what counts.

As I mentioned earlier, they're all too new for us to consider. I'm not
willing to take the whopping first several years' depreciation on any boat,
so we're not considering anything newer than roughly eight years old. No
Sagas in that category. I'd rather have a Swan or Baltic anyway. And I
just got a lead on a pristine Passport 40 today. We'll take a look at it
when the snow begins to melt, if it's still available.

Max