[tdw]

A modern deck saloon should in most if not all circumstances be as reliable a yacht as not. Reality is that there's no good reason why a deck saloon's windows should not be as strong as the surrounding structure. When a lot of those old warnings against big windows in sailing craft were issued construction techniques and building materials were very different indeed.

If your intention was to non stop circumnavigate then sure, a DS may not be your weapon of choice but for almost anything else you should be good.

On a personal level I adore the deck saloon concept but for Australia those big windows allow a tadge too much heat buildup in the cabin and that is why we don't own one. If I lived in Canada, DS, no risk.

 

[tdw]

Simon pretty much nails it. The old timer's books need to be taken in context to the age in which they were written. Indeed if you read between the lines many of the boats that are thought of as classic cruisers had some serious shortcomings. Me, I grew up on a reading diet of those post WWII cruising guides but I have no wish to be sailing their craft. They are fabulous stories, written by great sailors and adventurers, in no way am I putting them down, but there is little correlation between their boats and ours.