On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:26:35 GMT, "jens teglman"
wrote:

Can anybody help me with the following.
We are new to northamerican sailboats, but have done a lot of sailing in
Denmark where the market a dominated by Swedish boats. We want to go from
Vancouver Island to Caribien and don't really know what is good boat for the
trip.Any tip or suggestion welcome
Thanks
Jim

There's nothing wrong with Newports or Catalinas but I think even the
owners would agree that they are not offshore boats, but decent
coastal waters sailers. They are too light and too open...have you
seen the size of the companionway and cabin in a Catalina 30? and
although I doubt they would sink in under 50 knots, I bet they would
provide an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous ride.

I also do not think that the hardware and rigging on such popular
production boats is sufficient for offshore. You would be better with
a 30 year old North American design, if only because before the
mid-'70s they were overbuilt.

Come to think of it, I see a lot of '70s boats still, and not as many
'80s boats, and then more '90s and later boats. I am under the
impression that economic factors that saw a lot of North American boat
builders close in the '80s led to a lot of shortcuts and quality
compromises in many manufacturers' vessels.

R.