Capt. Rob wrote:
My limited experience would indicate that the 35s5 will feel like it's
going to come apart long before the Sea Sprite or Nordica. I think
that
ratings would favour the Sea Sprite.


Gary, that idea of a boat "coming apart" shows how little experience
you have. Even the lowest end boats will hold together just fine. The
35s5 has circumnavigated as a stock boat

You keep saying that. Where is the link? You did provide a link to a
partial circumnavigation, but it doesn't seem to have been completed,
even though its been ongoing for 5 years. And the almost no mention
of the actually traveling, what the passages were like, or what
repairs might have been needed.

Moreover, there are lots of examples of individual boats making long
passages. Almost any solid production boat can cross oceans,
especially if the take their time and chose weather windows and
company wisely. Your Bene, for instance, did its Atlantic crossing as
part of a large rally. Every larger boat I've owned or sailed a lot
has sisterships that have crossed the Atlantic, and that includes a
Rhodes 18 and a 24 foot Eastwind. And the Galaxy, which I've cruised
on extensively, is said to be the first production glass boat to
circumnavigate.

Webb Chiles certainly proved that small racing boats can be used for
circumnavigations. I got a lecture from him when, not realizing who
he was, I commented that his one tonner looked rather sea worthy for a
smaller boat. ("Well, this one, and another like it, have taken me
around the world a few times ...")

More interesting is the percentage of a given design that have been
chosen for passagemaking. I've heard claims for both Prout and
Valiant as having done the most circumnavigations. And its gotten to
the point where larger boats are manufactured away from their markets,
and then delivered on their own bottoms. Almost every charter cat in
the Caribbean has done an Atlantic crossing.

And of course, there's the question of how many people gave up their
plans after the first passage, and what type of boat they had. It
would be interesting to find out whats for sale in those spots where
some folks pack it in, such as Panama.

Here's a partial list of circumnavigators from the West Coast.
http://www.latitude38.com/features/circumnav.htm