Capt. Rob wrote:

We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.

The quality seems to be getting better - we rejected the Gemini because
of poor quality/finish; the one we saw in Newport at the '94 show looked
like it was pulled off the line a few days before it was completed.
Although one did an Atlantic crossing (with much fanfare), the rumor was
that they might not have made if they didn't have a factory engineer on
board, and people came off muttering "never again"! I was also a bit
freaked when I kept finding mentions of propane leaks caused by using RV
quality propane fridges that rusted in the marine environment. On the
other hand, as a sheltered water cruiser, (Chesapeake, LIS, etc.)
they're not that bad.

As for 14 knots, that shouldn't be too hard on any modern cat that isn't
loaded down, if you go looking for wind. During our first summer
(before we added an extra 1000 lbs of crap) we hit 13+ a number of times
reaching in about 22 knots, and were sustaining 11+ consistently. And
as I've said, we have the heavier LRC, plus cruising sails (heavy main
with stack pack, high cut 115% jib). This was also "low effort
sailing," with my wife reading magazines, me on the stern bench with the
autopilot remote, and the kid probably watching videos. The factory
guys always talked about 17 knots, but I never wanted to put in the work
to do that! If you really want speed, one PDQ was built for the CEO's
brother that had a dagger board instead of keels, a tall rig, one
outboard, and leaving out as much weight as their new CAD software would
permit. The result was a real speed demon, but the price I saw on it
was pretty high.

If you really want speed, the tri's (such as the Corsair) are the way to
go. A bit short on the accommodations, but you can be fairly confident
you'll get an exciting ride almost every time out.