Offshore performance of a Beneteau Oceanis 500 offshore

[JohnVerver]

I'm a SailNet newbie looking for comments from anyone with knowledge of sailing a Beneteau Oceanis 500 offshore or in tougher conditions. My wife and I have been looking for a boat to cruise the Pacific North West and then head down to Mexico, through the Caribbean and across to the Mediterranean over the coming years. We have sailed an Ontario 32 out of Vancouver for 6 years and are looking for something bigger and more comfortable inside. We had been thinking of a traditional bluewater boat and looked at some that had just completed circumnavigations - the last one was a Reliance 44 - and found them pretty cramped. We have now come across a 1991 Oceanis 500 which seems great for comfortable coastal cruising with friends and family - but my concern is how it will perform on longer ocean passages. I have raced a Beneteau 393 from Victoria to Maui and it suffered some structural strains when beating into 35 knots and big seas for a few days. Any comments, advice appreciated...

[imagine2frolic]

For doing bluewater. You don't want the interior too spacious. Getting thrown around in a bad sea can hurt. I know, and relive the moment now, and then in my mind......i2f