The right boat is... well, the right boat for YOU
I suspect I'm one of very few people who has actually owned a Catalina (1988 C34), Beneteau (2000 331), AND a Hunter (1989 30G)-- so my statements here are more than mere hearsay. A production boat is a production boat, period. From the late 1980s to the present, there are NO significant quality differences among them. My current boat -- a 1989 30-ft Hunter -- is my favorite, but NOT because it's a Hunter. I finally figured out how to buy a boat that was perfect FOR ME -- my budget, my sailing habits, my spouse's needs, etc. It's a fantastic light air boat (great for Chesapeake), fun to sail, roomy below, inexpensive (relatively) to maintain.To select the right boat, you need to carefully consider how you will sail, how often you will sail, how many crew, whether you will use the boat for day-sailing only or would like to go on occasional overnight cruises (or longer), etc. Where will you keep the boat? Please feel free to e-mail me directly if you'd like to discuss this -- I like to see people get started on the right foot! My address is p f a f f [ a t s i g n ] v i r g i n i a d o t e d u (retype the address - I've typed it this way so that it doesn't get picked up by automated spam robots, damn them)