K - You should spring for a copy of Nigel Calder's The Cruising Handbook. Half the book is devoted to the boat and it's systems. Very good reference guide.
While individual things affect a boat, it is how they are put together as a whole that is most important. Here's a link to a listing of "suitable" offshore boats http://www.mahina.com/cruise.html with a lengthy commentary on boat selection.
And to answer your one specific question, a cutter is a double headsail sloop.
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John
Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
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