on the list the below, a Roughwater 33, a Southern Cross 31, an Aries 32 (along
with a Weatherly 32) are all the same hull built by the same people in the same
factory. The decks were different.

4. Roughwater 33
5. Fantasia 35
6. Westsail 32
7. Baba 30
8. Tayana 37
9. Ingrid 38
10. Freya 39
11. Ohlson 38?
12. Southern Cross 31, 35, 39
13. Aries
14. Westsail 42
15. Spencer 35 Mk II
16. Cabo Rico 38
17. Oceanic 36
18. Young Sun 35/Windward 35
19. Hans Christian 34, 36, 38
20. Mariner Polaris 36
21. EO 36
22. Mao Ta 36
23. Union 36
24. some CT's (Ta Chiao)
25. Nan Tai 37
26. Explorer 45 aft cockpit
27. Shannon 37, 38 (normally rigged as ketches and may have centerboards
28. Alajuela 39 ( very narrow sterns)
29. Cape George 36 (wooden decks)
30. Fraser 36
31. Jason 35
32. Rival 38
33. Tashiba 31, 36
34. Kogen 38 (centerboards)
35. Bayfield 36
36. Ta Shing panda 38
37. True North 34
38. Lord Nelson
39. Bentley 38
40. Globe/Falcon 38
41. CT 34
42. Pacific Seacraft Mariah 32

The 3 biggest issues for me are safety, a sea kindly ride and the ability
to carry a lot of weight. Do not underestimate the amount of stuff you
will be filling your boat with. 6 anchors, 300' chain, scuba tanks, 80 gal
diesel, 100 gal. water, big big batteries, liferaft, rodes, inflatable
dinghy, outboard, propane bottles, refer compressor, redundant spares,
etc., etc., etc. You get the idea.... and your boat gets 4000 lbs heavier.
A light dispalcement boat is no longer a light displacement boat when
loaded for cruising. Up to a point, the heavier the displacement, the less
that 4000 lbs. affect the ride of the hull.

A fin keeled boat almost always has a fairly flat bottom in area ahead of
the keel. You would not beleive how these boats pound when going to
weather ESPECIALLY when they are overloaded for cruising. In race trim,
the may dance over the waves, but loaded down they pound and oilcan. Plus
that flat botton means no bilge sump and if you have a leaking hatch while
heeled, you will find all your food floating in your lockers.

Of all the boats on that list, I think that you would be hard pressed to
do better than a Tayana 37. There have been several sold in the past year
for less than $50K FULLY LOADED/CRUISE EQUIPPED with modern gear that
worked (not somebody's beat up yard sale finds). I ended up buying a
Rafiki 35 for $7,500. A much lower price, but with some deck leak issues.

David
S/V Nausicaa