Im relatively new to the sailing world and nearly all of my knowledge has been gleamed from the many books i''ve been reading. My long term goal is to buy a boat that I can either singlehand or sail with a crew of 2-3 on long open-ocean cruises.
I understand the proverbial trade-off between functionality and comfort in cruiser desgin- what I don''t understand is specifically what these tradeoffs are. I don''t know enough about sailing as of yet to understand how design elements such as LWL, draft, beam, displacement, keel design,
rig setup, etc. affect performance. What I want to be able to do is identify a cruiser that is designed to be a strong sailer and stable in bad weather as opposed to a cruiser that is made for looking pretty at anchorage. What are the things I should be looking at?
Ultimately, when I do purchase a cruiser, I want its beauty and allure to be in its strength at sea. I just need to find out what that boat is. You''re free to answer this broad question straight out but I will gladly research any websites/past threads/books that you can recommend on this subject. Thanks in advance.