Jim-
"As for balanced boats, is it more common in "
AFAIK, it is simply Just Plain Rare. In order to balance well across a wide range of conditions, the hull also needs to present symetric or at least balanced lines while heeled through some range as well. That puts limits on hull designs. And until recently (pre 3d CAD design for the non-megabuck user
) it meant that if a designed wanted to do iterative designs and change the various centers on the boat so it would balance under more conditions...they had to do an awful lot of handwork an awful lot of times. Then I'm guessing that, like in any industry, some decisions were made about costs and using "standard" masts, or modifying existing molds rather than making new ones, etc, so balance wasn't always a priority. I mean, there's just no way a buyer can see or appreciate it--unless they know what it is and experience it on the water. Can't sell boats in a showroom that way.