Before I reply to Arcb's comment, I would like to apologize for an error in my earlier post. I had mistakenly panned the Bristol 29. I had mentally thought the question was about the Bristol 29.9 rather than earlier the Bristol 29.
The Bristol 29 should actually a reasonably nice boat for the original poster's purpose. These were unusual boats for their day in that they had a little longer waterline relative to overall length, higher stability, a little less superfluous weight, finer bow, and flatter run than was typical for boats of that era. It meant that they were easier boats to sail and do better in a chop than was the norm for the era.
In response to Arcb's comment :
Here is my take on Albergs 30's for your purposes. You live in mid town Toronto and for the immediate future plan on sailing in Toronto and on Lake Ontario.
Alberg 30's were designed by a Torontonian for racing in Toronto and on Lake Ontario and built 1/2 hour outside of Toronto. They are a popular boat locally with an active class association. Not only that, but they were such a such a well designed and built boat they earned an international reputation and are appreciated by budget minded long distance sailors around the globe.
You don't need to ask any one who sails in different waters with a different sailing style what kind of boat you like for sailing in your home waters.
That might be useful information it if was accurate, but its not. The design for the Alberg 30 was commissioned by Annapolis yacht importer George P. Walton for a syndicate of Annapolis Yacht Club based racers. Walton wanted the boat designed by Phillip Rhodes who had designed the Chesapeake 32 for Walton a few years earlier. At the request of the syndicate, Walton also approached Rhode Island based yacht designer Carl Alberg about the design. Walton and the syndicate chose to hire Carl Alberg because he was less expensive and more readily available than Rhodes to take on the project.
The Annapolis syndicate requested that the boat be designed to be more competitive than the Triton under the CCA racing rule and optimized for the light air of the Chesapeake Bay.
According to a conversation that I had with one of these original syndicate members, Carl shifted from the hollow bow of the Triton to a fuller bow on the Alberg 30 which Carl believed would more effectively increase waterline length at the large heel angles that these boats were intended to be raced at. The syndicate had requested the shift from the Triton's fractional rig to the Alberg 30's masthead rig under the belief that the masthead rig allowed a larger amount of unrated genoa and spinnaker sail area under the CCA rule, which was intended to help in lighter air sailing.
Because the Alberg 30 was designed to heel a lot in order to stretch their waterline lengths, and they were going to be raced in the relatively light air of the Chesapeake, the Alberg was purposely designed to be heeled more easily than the Triton. That purposefully reduced stability came both in the form of less ballast (A30 37% vs T 43.5%) and in the shape of the hulls, with the Triton having firmer bilges for a little more form stability.
When it came time to choose a yard to build the Alberg 30, Walton bid the construction to three yards: Whitby, who had built the Walton 25/Continental 25 for him, Grampian who had built the Classic 31 and Classic 37/Walton 37 for him, and the Danish yard who built the Chesapeake 32.
Walton wanted to use Grampian, who he thought did better work than Whitby, but Whitby offered a better deal and the Syndicate chose to go with Whitby. Depending on who you talk to, the original 14 boats (some say up to 17 boats) were sold to members of Annapolis Yacht Club. the boats sold well in Canada in large part because in those days Canada had large tariffs on boats entering Canada.
When I came time to name the boat, Whitby wanted to call it a Whitby 30, Walton wanted to call it a Walton 30, and the AYC syndicate wanted to call it an Annapolis 30. Alberg 30 was chosen as a compromise in part because it was thought that it would be better for marketing purposes.
So in reality, Alberg 30's were designed by a semi-retired yacht designer from Rhode Island, for racing in Annapolis, Maryland for the light air of the Chesapeake and built by the low bidder boatyard a 1/2 hour outside of Toronto. Decades ago, A-30's were a popular race boat locally on the Chesapeake. They do have a cult following as cruisers but in terms of having "an international reputation and are appreciated by budget minded long distance sailors" the Alberg 30 gets recommended as a cruiser because you can buy these boats very cheaply, and with a mix of proper maintenance and restoration, they make a better cruising boat than many similar priced boats. But that in no way makes them a particularly good choice for the requirements of the original poster.
Having spent a lot of time sailing Alberg 30's in a variety of venues, these are not great boats to sail in heavy conditions. With modern reef gear, and decent properly sized headsails, they can be sailed in 20 knots of wind, but not as easily and comfortably as other better designs such as the Bristol 29 mentioned above.
Respectfully,
Jeff