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Great thread, i went through the same process over and over in my head. The Southern Cross is a GREAT boat. You don't need 200k though. I paid 10k for mine last fall and have been working on it ever since...so far i have spent about 600$ for parts. They are very solid boats. Re-coring the deck is way easier than everyone says (i think its a way to scare people into spending $), so even one that needs work will still be way cheaper if you do it yourself. For my first "big" boat I settled on a Pearson 26 because i had been sailing hobiecats until then and i was afraid I wouldn't be able to solo a bigger boat...within 1 month i was wishing i had a bigger boat! A boat like the Southern Cross track's better and has a much better motion at sea than a lighter fin keeled boat. This makes foredeck work easier when alone. I can also reef later and be out in much worse conditions with more confidence. The sailplan is also a big consideration. My Pearson has a 150 rf genoa with a tiny main. It barley moves under the main alone, thus is hard to steer in harbor w/o the auxillary. When the wind kicks up i have to reef the 150 so much it has very poor shape so i slow down. The boom on my SC is 2x the legnth of the Pearson's and the main is huge. It easily powers the boat alone. The Yankee cut headsail (allows geat visibility when soloing) and staysail on a rf allow a much better sail combination than one large geny and when the weather fouls I have way more options. Because of the full keel and sailplan the boat easily heaves-to as well. The Pearson handles great but any time spent away from the tiller means your changing course! I also have a wife and 2 kids, and the extra room makes a HUGE difference. Pearson=5'8" (can't stand up inside) Southern Cross 31= 6'3" plenty of headroom. The V-berth is so big i'm making 2 kids bedrooms out of it! Now i'm stuck with the Pearson's storage/haul/mooring costs for another year, and the loss i will take on it to sell it quickly. If i had just gone for the Southern Cross first i would have saved several thousand dollars and the headache of already having to sell a boat i just bought. Bigger boats are faster, safer and more stable but not that much harder to solo!
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