[Irwin32]

I can only speak for my own boat, which the original owner ordered with beefed up stern and bow as well as oversized chain plates. Having been aboard lots of boats, I find mine to be feel quite solid except for an area on the cabin top aft of the mast which I am going to beef up this summer.

The interior is marginal in construction quality. I have a pan which flexes a bit on the floor. Locker interiors are crude at best. Windows suck. Hatches are marginal. Seacock were all gate valves, etc. etc.

Deck hardware was not back plated including cabin top handrails. I can find other shortcuts like print through on gel coat.

I am the butt of jokes at my yacht club about the strength of my mast - my sailmaker refers to it as a telephone pole. It is really too heavy for it''s length and its rigging.

But: The hull is solid glass and does not flex at the bow sections. I have seen Pearsons that do. Deck fittings go through solid glass - not a coring matierial.

Offshore: What do you mean by this. I sail L Michigan and don''t hesitate to make the 80 mile trip across. I would not be afraid to go from Florida to the Bahamas. I would be concerned about an Atlantic crossing and maybe a trip to Bermuda.

My plans are to do the single handed Mac race (333 mi.) within the next couple of years. Lake Michigan is tougher on boats than many ocean sailors realize and one must use caution on this inland sea.

Cruising World had an article about a couple who sailed their Citation to Austrailia. this appeared within the last five years. I wrote the couple through the magazine, but received no answer.

I plan to take this boat to Bermuda and the Carribean within the next 5 years. I do plan to do some modifications.