Joe wrote
Thats the rub of it...looks fragile to me


Well, that's an issue for another discussion. Steel boats
have their disadvantages from my point of view, too


I'd rather sail a 470 in 30 knot winds and 10 foot waves
than most mass-produced keel boats, and any crab crusher.


unless it breaks:0)


Never broken one of them yet.


... that's partly a matter of goals... do you want a fast
responsive boat, or a home at sea complete with fireplace &
barca-lounger?


With RedCloud I have both


I will reserve comment until after I have sailed Red Cloud.
However I will say (not intending any insult) that a person
who begins sailing by learning to handle fast tippy racing
boats will have a totally different set of perceptions than
someone who learns to sail in big heavy slow boats.

There was a long discussion on this point some years ago,
and surprisingly enough Donal, who learned to sail in
keelboats and insisted that he had missed nothing by it,
changed tack abruptly after his dinghy sailing experiences.




Yeah that breaking problem keep appearing in bay boats that venture
offshore.


Like what?

Haven't seen any boats break up lately, what gear failures &
breakages I see tend to be maintenance problems rather than
construction flaws. Not that I'm saying one should jump in a
Catalina and head for Cape Horn, but the construction issue
is overblown most of the time.




.... dont like sail drive units

Less drag,


I don't think so if both boats use folding props, a strut is more
streamline than a lower unit.

That may be your opinion, but the test tank says otherwise.


more compact, quieter, better weight

distribution, no prop walk (some people consider that an
advantage), better isolation of the engine & prop from the
rest of the cabin.


OK, even if you repeated a few points

What did I repeat?

.... Still it's a big trade off, and
long term a mistake IMO


Hey, I'm not trying to sell you one!

DSK