[mabwjm]

One of the problems with "which is better" type questions is one tends to hear from owners of one or the other who, understandably tend to defend their purchase choice. Are they wrong? No, of course not--in fact, they''re probably speaking from the advantage of seeing one boat or the other from a longer-term perspective.

You might consider looking at independent reviews of the boats you''re considering. I''m a big fan of Practical Sailor--you can probably find a review they''ve done on the boat(s) you''re looking for on the web or in a copy somewhere. If you''re shopping in the broader sense, you can purchase the 2-volume set of all their reviews. They don''t accept adverstising, and while I''m sure they''re not flawless, they appear to be very candid in terms of positives/negatives for a particular boat.

The only comments I see on the board here that I would tend to disregard outright are the ones that cast a blanket critique on an entire manufacturing line...Catalinas, Hunters, Beneteaus, as many others are quality boats--in a very competitive market, no one is going to have survived this long by offering a worthless product. Beyond that, as some have posted here previously, dealer support, owners associations, etc. can make a real difference in a happy boat relationship.

Hope this helps...

Fair winds, (and happy shopping!!)

Bill