We love ours
We've lived aboard, cruised and raced ours for about 2 1/2 years now. We're still working but manage to log around 50 days and 1500 miles of sailing on the West coast of Florida. We are also active in most of the area regattas in the true cruising class. Here's the unvarnished pros and cons as we seem 'em:Cons* Uncomfortable cockpit. The raised sole which yields that sumptuous aft stateroom eliminates nice tall comfy coamings for good seating.* Mineshaft for a companionway. It's a long way down if you stumble. Trust me.* Tiny V-berth. Almost uninhabitable for two people if one is over 6 feet. Keeps company from staying too long though.* Two heads. I know others will disagree but I think two heads on a boat this size is a ridiculous use of space. We never used the forward head so we yanked it out (capped the plumbing) and now use this bounty of space for storage. It's a godsend when you're on the hook for weeks at a time.* Traveller on the bridgedeck. Prevents an attached bimini/dodger combo when underway.* Aft holding tank is prone to leakage and a pain in the ass to repair. E-mail me or search archives if you want details.* Most of these on the market have been absolutely trashed. I flew and drove all over the country looking for one and most were absolute disasters. We held out for our nice one owner example. It's worth it. Be patient.* Poor joinery and untinned wiring.Pros* This is a biggy, this things sails like a bitch. We have regularly raced against boats like the Erickson 38-200, Beneteau First 41s5, C&C 37/40 and can beat or place with them. We've even got the shoal draft and it points very well. The deep draft would do better but you can kiss off any real gunkholing in Florida and the Bahamas. We go to windward in the 6 - 6.8 range and off the wind we've surfed it to high 9's regularly. It's quick in light air with our 150 genoa. We reef way early. It's definately a throwback to the big foretriangle/small main IOR designs.* Stout rig. This counts for a lot.* Great steering. Nice big wheel. Deep blade rudder. Easily accessible linkage and quadrant.* Traveller on the bridgedeck. In deference to what I wrote above, we love the traveller where it is. We thought it'd be a real pain but it's not generally in the way, and if you like playing with sail trim it's the only way to go. It's also saved our bacon a couple times being able to get to it quickly in a knockdown.* Aft stateroom. Need I say more? As liveaboards this was huge. The airflow at anchor on the hot sultry nights at anchor sucks though. Hammocks on deck, windscoop over the V-berth or lots of fans solves that one.* It's just got beautiful lines. To be really vain we awlgripped our topsides flag blue. We're usually mistaken for a C&C or a Tartan (that's a Hunter?!!!)We've made lots of upgrades and if you care, e-mail me.Good luck with your search!Rick Sylvesters/v Anthem'85 H40