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Originally Posted by Mkfcdl
So, while I don't think of my boat as a "bluewater" boat, I certainly have a lot of respect for its handling during a blow in sloppy conditions. My vote is to keep my Catalina.
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I think your post is an example of the most important part of the boat: the skipper. The fact that you were single-handing a 40 footer argues in favour of your experience and your ability to cope with "dirty weather".
I would keep your Catalina, too, in the Gulf or the Caribbean. It's a nice mix of the boat's design meeting the intended cruising ground.
Maybe being experienced, though, you have installed "after-market" handholds and jackline hard points and places to clip so that those big, entertainment-friendly cockpits are safer for 20 foot seas and the sort of motion they can inflict on a relatively light boat. That's sort of what I'm getting at in the "coastal vs. bluewater" argument. There are very few production boats today being made that can't be sailed well enough so that they can't survive horrendous conditions, but not everyone can sail well enough, and not everyone can safely move about such boats or can keep their dinner down and their bones unbroken in those currently popular, cavernous saloons.
So the boat itself is only part of the equation: a "bluewater" boat will give you an easier ride, and will come equipped with the sort of foresight that means you can't fall far in many directions, and you have ample places to stay attached to the boat.
Maybe the question should be: are you an offshore sailor?