[JerryO39]

Hello,
I am still dreaming of cruising in a few years on a sailboat.Always reading about boats in the meantime.My question is,I see alot of racing sail boat websites and see the boats they are using.Some of them(Orion for example) have decent living quarters and claim to be able to "plane" on the water.Which I assume gives gains in the speed dept.They are raced from Calif to Hawaii alot.Most chat I see tends to be toward boats like Morgans,Contessa,CSY,etc.
Being new to sailing could someone tell me what I am overlooking in regards to these racing style boats ,and using one of these sleek craft for a singlehanded cruiser

Thanks,
JerryO