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What makes a functional cruiser?
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.
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