Allied Princess vs. Gulfstar 37????

[BVIslander]

HI y'all,
I'm about to buy my second boat...
First was an Ericson 25+, great little boat with good comfort below for such a small boat but when the baby came along the Ericson was a bit tender and liked to heal over pretty easliy, which of course made my girlfriend uncomfortable with the newborn.

We sold the boat a year later and are now (3 years later) looking for a nice comfortable boat to sail the Caribbean and Bahamas - we live in the BVI, I'm 31 (sailing since 7) my girlfriend 32 and our son is 4.

So it's down to a Gulfstar 37 (sloop) or a Allied Princess 36 (ketch).
I prefer the ketch rig but the real question is which one sails better. We have 8 weeks of vacation a year - we will be making passages but mostly weekending around the USVI and BVI.

I'm looking for knowledgable reviews of both. I want a comfortable cruiser that can perform because again most of our outings will be long weekends, but thats not to say we might not head over to St. Maarten and beyond at least once a year. Clearly only I know how we will really use the boat but I'm trying to paint a general picture of how we intend on using her.

I appreciate any help or guidance.
Thanks.

[randyrhines]

I too just bought an Allied Princess 36 Ketch, from my research i would say the Gulfstar 37' will sail better, according to everything written about the Princess, the Ketch rig limits its speed, but i bought it for its room below and rig options not the speed , its a cruiser, live aboard for me and my wife.