You have a great boat there for cruising. I owned a Centaur for over 25 years and there is no question that it is capable of offshore cruising. There will be some modifications to make, as with anything less than a Westsail or Pacific Seacraft, etc. But nothing major.
Let me address some of the common questions about the boat and twin keels:
"Is it slow?"
Compared to
what, exactly?
A similar waterline length, similar displacement
and similar sail area? No.
But therein lie all the details that matter.
A typical US made sailboat of similar length will likely be much lighter weight, less displacement, but
more sail area. So of course they will be faster,
in light to moderately light winds. The Centaur was built for people whose nearby pool of water might be the North Sea. So it is strong, with the weight necessary for strength of construction, and appropriately canvased with sail area less than what we have here for a boat used for sailing Long Island Sound in August.
But offshore, and coastal in moderate to strong breezes the Centaur - and similar vintage Westerlies of all sizes - is in it's own. You'll be cantering along while the lightweights are well reefing down. You'll be in a stiff boat while they are heeling waaay over. And even more significantly, your boats mass will carry it through the seas that are knocking the lightweights around, especially going to windward.
Which brings the next question:
"Do twin keel boats not point as high?"
In my experience I see no signifigant difference. Other factors are of more importance.
Consider a single keel boat heeled over. The keel is at an angle to the water, not vertical. But when a Centaur is heeled the leeward keel is vertical and that provides more resistance to leeway than a keel that is angled favorably to slippage. (I also think that twin keels are more resistant to rolling, too).
I had the opportunity to sail my Centaur in company with a Pembroke, which is the single keel variant of the same model. We found no significant differences in pointing ability or speed. With same basic model - apart from the keels - we concluded that such issues as how clean your bottom is, how well your rig is tuned, what condition and how well designed are your sails, and how good are you at trimming, are more likely to affect the boats performance.
Both of us could pinch up high, but both found that a bit more speed was attained by easing off a tad. Close hauled, on a reach, or running, our trimming and steering mattered. My sails were newer and probably better, but he was a better skipper. We went back and forth. In the end we concluded there was no significant difference based on the keels alone.
FWIW I used to be able to take Tartan 27's most of the time. That's a single keel, full w/cutaway forefoot. Now, compared to a modern fin keel designed for speed rather than comfort in a chop, no, I would not try.
Enjoy your Centaur. And pocket all the money you'll save by beaching on a bar at high tide and skimming the bottom at low. I used to go 2-3 years between bottom painting.
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