I think one of the problems with production boats being "offshore ready" has a lot to do with the market and pricing. If 99% of the market will not go offshore, and the boat is not sold as an "offshore ready ocean crossing boat" why would the builder... spend the money to make it so. It would price the boat out of its intended market.
Most boats can go offshore with relatively minor changes and additions.
Let me be a little more specific:
Yes, I agree but one thing is a boat having an offshore capability, another is a boat designed primarily for it.
As you have said, 99% of the boats are never used offshore and even the ones that are used sometimes for that, are used most of the time onshore. Between the optimization for the two uses, there are some design criteria that are contradictory (sailing and living aboard in bad weather or sailing with weak winds and living aboard anchored or in a marina). That means that a production boat will be always a sort of compromise because simply there is not a market big enough for sailing boats designed with the sole purpose of offshore work.
Of course you can have one made; it will be probably a steel one, cutter rigged, heavy (with almost half of its weight in ballast), slow, with few openings, with a relatively small and dark interior, and of course, the bigger the better.
Most boats can go offshore with relatively minor changes and additions.
Things like handholds added, minor rig changes, extra tankage and other changes/additions as required for the individual boat. On the other hand if the bulkheads are not tabbed, furniture is only held in with a few screws, and the companionway opens to the cockpit floor and is a lot wider at the top than the bottom I'd suggest another boat be chosen. A boat like this would require way too much in both dollars and time to make it "offshore ready". Maybe I'm wrong but at the moment I can't think of any mainstream boat in the mid price range that is specifically advertised as an ocean crosser. The basic design has to be compatible with the idea of offshore use, the small non structural things can be modified.
Yes, I agree, but even in what regards compromises on the boats available on the market there is a big difference between several categories of sailboats, regarding seaworthiness and stability. Unfortunately those categories have a close correspondence in price levels.
Seaworthy boats, the ones that are generally called oceangoing boats are more expensive for a number of reasons: They have a Weight/ballast ratio bigger (more final stability) than the ones normally considered as coastal, they are stronger and heavy (they have to be because the extra weight on the ballast generates bigger forces to be distributed on the hull that has to be stronger). Because they are heavier they need to carry more sail and therefore they need bigger winches. They also have hatches and portlights stronger and more expensive.
Because these boats are more expensive and most of the people don't need what they offer, the demand is limited and they are built in small numbers. Those numbers don't justify expensive robots on the production line. Most of the work is manual and that contributes heavily to the final cost. As the boats are expensive anyway and only wealthy people can buy them, these manufacturers finish the boats with the level of interior sophistication that appeal to their buyers and, of course, all this costs even more money.
That's why Najads, Malos, Halberg-Rassys, Moody's, Southerlies and the like are more expensive. Much more, sometimes more than 2x a similar size mass production boat.
They are 2x more seaworthy? I don´t think so. If you pick a less expensive bigger good mass production boat, properly equipped for the job and compare it with a smaller "called" oceangoing boat, you can end up with a more seaworthy boat.
What's that difference in size? I would say that the stability of a Malo 37 roughly corresponds to the one of a mass production modern 42ft, as for instance, a Dufour 425. The 42ft will cost about 1/3 less than the 37ft. We are talking about 60 or 70 000 euros and that's a lot of money, at least for me and the Dufour will be a lot faster.
Sorry about the long post but I would like to say one more thing about what Jeff calls the"performance way" to have an offshore boat.
Most cruiser-racers have better overall stability, better final stability a better weight/Ballast ratio and are stronger than the correspondent cruiser boats from the same brand. I mean, a First against an Oceanis, a Performance line Dufour against a Grand Large Dufour.
As modern boats are very easy to reef (and anyway, if you want you don't need to carry all the sail) the cruiser-racers are generally more seaworthy than the correspondent boats from the cruiser line. They offer also a much better control of the mainsail (nearer the wheel) and that is important for a solo sailor. If you are a relatively experienced sailor, they are a better choice to go offshore, comparing with the sibling cruisers ( even considering that if you sail them on the limit, they tend to be a lot more nervous than a cruising boat).
]Unfortunately and for the reasons I had explained these boats are more expensive than the cruisers even if the interiors are poorer.
That is ridiculous? Yes, as the name of the lines "Oceanis" and "Grand Large". Those names imply boats designed primarily for offshore work and certainly that is misguiding, to say the least. Of course, by definition a purely cruising boat should be safer than a cruiser-racer that supposedly is meant to be sailed with a full crew.
That's a distortion of the market that has to do with all that has been said and has to do with the use the vast majority of buyers give to their boats, and with PRICE, not to mention marketing.
But not all the boat manufacturers misguide their clients. If you have a look at the line of x-yachts you are going to see that their cruisers, compared with their cruiser-racers have a bigger Weight/Ballast ratio, a better overall and final stability. In a word they are more seaworthy, but also a lot more expensive than their cruiser-racers (that are already among the more seaworthy).
I have seen last weekend at the Dussoldorf Messe the new Xc-42. What a boat!!! If I had the money I would not hesitate. But I don't and I believe not many would have the 450 or 500 000 euros that are needed to have that boat. But if you dream higher than me, you can pic the Xc-45. That one is more seaworthy
[URL="http://www.x-yachts.com/seeems/40086.asp[/URL]
X-yachts is a Danish medium production boat builder, the boats are very well made but not with the luxury touch you find on the Najads or Rassys. I believe that price is the price that you have to pay for an almost perfect fast bluewater cruiser and that´s why there are so few on the market and that's why me and the other less fortunate sailors have to look to mass production boats and to their compromises to afford a boat with offshore capability.
Regards
Paulo