[Jeff_H]

My list included a pretty wide range of boats. I believed that I was responding to a request for a coastal cruiser but included boats that ranged from stripped out racer/cruisers to boats like my own that were intended for distance offshore voyaging in safety.

If you are truely concerned about primarily about stability, I have no idea why you are looking for a heavy displacement/full keel boat. As I have explained before and unfortunately do not have the time to explain in detail tonight, newer fin keel boats tend to have a much lower VCG (more ballast stability) than more tradition full keel boats especially relative to their drag. This means that they not only have greater stability over a wide range of heel angles but they also can get by with much less sail area in a blow.

When you say,"I want a boat with sufficient displacement and a full keel......to facilitate heaving to in heavy weather." I think that you have a very mistaken and outdated idea about what allows a boat to hove to safely in heavy weather. My fin keelers have generally hove to easier than the full length keel boats (Folkboat and 1939 Stadel Cutter) or long keeled boats (Pearson Vanguard) that I have owned.

Fractional rigs work best with high stability, easily driven hulls and so are ill suited to the high drag/low stability of a heavy displacement/full keel boat. If you are going the heavy displacement/ full keel route you pretty much are stuck with the relative inefficiency of a very large sail plan carried low and at that point the best compromise in order to stretch out the sail plan horizontally is probably a cutter rig with all of the disadvantages that come with a cutter. It is very dated thinking but certainly reflects one posible route.


Respectfully
Jeff