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We looked only at used boats. New would have been well out of our range in any of these models. We looked at Dufour, Dehler although we never found a Dufour to actually look at. There was very limited inventory but we did manage to look at a Dehler. It had been sailed pretty hard so we decided against it. We looked at JBoats. Specifically the 100 and 35 models. We also looked at Hanse and found a HalRas for sale in our area. Also, we looked at Alerion but it was out of our price range. All of these boats were late model and in the 32ft-35ft range. We wanted something that was reasonably fast but stable and some level of comfort below. We didn't want a condo however. We wanted something where at least 6 adults could stay in the cockpit or aft of the helm fairly comfortably and still handle all the sheets. Also, we tried to avoid boats that had been raced. The late model issue was important to me. I didn't want to spend our first year fixing a bunch of stuff. We looked at several 99's. Some were pricey and some had been sailed very hard. This particular boat was lightly sailed and well cared for. As for the pics and review with C&C, its just my nature to try to investigate as much as possible and being a novice at this, it seemed like a good idea. There are really no issues with the boat that I can say after our first year. The deep draft certainly makes us nervous at times but we're getting over it and our navigation and knowledge is getting better because of it. The Saildrive / Volvo runs very well. No issues with the hardware or rigging either. I'd say the only issue is handling in a 16kt + wind. She heels over quite a bit and needs to be reefed in those conditions. There is a loss of some helm if she heels too far. First time that happened, it was a bit of a surprise. We've grown accustomed to it at this point.
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