So I'm curious. The recent sinking in San Francisco was a Merit 30. It
seems
rather unacceptable that a 30 foot boat could be rolled and sunk in a few
minutes. Of course, they did apparently get inside the surf line, but still it
didn't speak well of the boat.

Is the Merit 25 more seaworthy than the Santana?

I would like to see the story on that sinking since as far as I know Merit
never made a 30. Plus you say a it's unacceptable for a boat inside a surf
line to get rolled? Get real!
Merit made around 1200 25s which by the way were the only 3+ time winner
of the MORC Internationals. They made 650+ 22s. They also made a winged keel
version of the 22 which they called a 23. They made 2 or 3 28s which were
designed by NM and were screamers almost winning the Internationals out of the
box with a private owner.
I would say the 25 is pretty seaworthy. They have been singlehanded to
Hawaii more than once. The Merit 25 is a great boat.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"