"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...
I would much prefer a boat that can actually make it to China, but you
do have a very nice boat. We wish you well with it.

Witty comment, Jon. Good one.

Jonathan, even Neal's boat could make it to China just fine.

You'd have been correct had you stopped after the word "China."

A Nordic
30's advantages are also disadvantages. As you know there are many
schools of thought on this, fast light boats vs. heavy for passages.

True. Most who've raced in rotten conditions, such as the Sid-Hobart,
believe that light, fast boats are great if you have the crew to man them.
But they will fatigue crew and skipper quickly in nasty wind and waves.
Those same sailors tend to prefer heavy displacement boats for cruising
shorthanded in those same conditions. The heavy boats will allow the crew
some latitude w/r/t the need to keep the boat on its feet and moving along
with minimal input. The light boats require constant vigilance and input to
keep them on an even keel, and they punish their crews. There was an
article about a decade ago in SAILING magazine about this subject. The
racers mostly prefered heavier boats than their racing machines for
cruising.

Since I won't be going to China and neither will Mooron, I think the
35s5 represents more sailing fun, but this is based on the prevailing
conditions we have here. If Mooron has heavy air often, then his boat
makes sense as well.

If you and Mooron were headed for China, I'd go with him. For a number of
reasons. :-)

Max