I'd take the Swan, but not the Wauquez or J. We could have had either,
but the designs were not comparable to the 35s5. In the case of the
Wauquez we looked at one in CT in very good shape. Bunks were too
short, head was tiny, no swim platform.


A swim platform is a necessity for a sailboat to be worthwhile?

A feature you want is "worthwhile" and being able to sleep comfortably
on a 60-80K boat is not a "tall" order, but tough to find if you're
tall. The J-Boat had sleeping room, but no swim platform and no aft
cabin. Great boat for a couple, but less so for a family of 3 or 4.

Or, if maintained properly, they might be just fine. Best non-skid
available.

25-30 years is the typical lifespan for teak decks. Some go longer.
Teak decks can also hide expensive problems. I love them...but don't
want them on an older boat.
I'd have to try a Swan to know if it's a good boat for me. I don't
accept any boat by virtue of it's name. I looked at some pretty "good"
boats that were huge let-downs because of poor designs. The Tartan 34
MK2 and Briistol 35.5 were near the top of my list....and they I got
aboard them.
We looked at the Beneteau 35s5 and I had little hope of liking it. Life
can be funny. The 35s5 had the features we wanted and light air
ability. We then looked into the specific quality points and
history....we had found our boat. An added bonus...there are few
around. We have plenty of Bristols and Tartans, even Swans and a single
Nordic 30. But the 35s5 is rare enough here that I won't see it on the
road too often so to speak. Of course the main thing were the test
sails and the 35s5 was a blast, or as someone else wrote, "a screamer."
Anyway...I think you understand my choices as the group also does in
reality. But measured non-trolling posts like this one only drives them
deeper into a frenzy.

RB
35s5
NY