[Jim H]

[quote=Giulietta;408401
In the summer, I see many around here, most beached at low tides.altough I don't like the looks and design...I admire the boat's quality and all around "sea going stuff"....Its a boat I would have once I get old.[/QUOTE]

We put some thought into a used OVNI before our last purchase, but decided the prices were too high. When I sailed to France in June, I found 2-3 in marinas that I looked over that had some years on them. I'll admit that cosmetically, their decks and topsides were not the prettiest around. The aluminum had gone milky, etc.

That said, I've been on a new Ovni at the London boat show last year, and the interior struck me as a true cruising boat. Solid and sensible build.

One other note about the 42 foot Southerly-- the Shards were impressed by how stable the boat was during the Atlantic crossing when they put the keel fully down (9 feet deep). I believe the Ovni keel is more like a centerboard blade, but the Southerly is a faired design, like a keel. Fully up, the 42 foot Southerly draws just 2 feet nine inches (before it is loaded with cruising gear).

Jimmy Cornell wrote very well about how to handle the Ovni offshore. Like the Shards, though, I'm a little nervous about how to handle corrosion if it were to occur.