An interesting array of comments and opinions. Firstly I'd like to say that I am glad to have sparked a degree of discussion and a variety of viewpoints on what is a fairly lightly used forum. That is, after all, what it is for. I'd also like to thank those of you who penned various kind words of encouragement. Personally I'm not shy of the "pointed" remarks either. I was a Royal Marine for a few years and so am immune to a bit of banter. I thought that I would illustrate the thought process that Jo and I used in order to come to our choice of the 48:- 1. Attend boat shows and read a few magazines... 2. Whittle down to sometime live aboard boats designed to travel distances. Comfortable for two with occasional traveling companions. room for painting storage 3. Remove candidates with seven figure price tags. (sorry Malcolm and dude who builds in Chile, I'm an artist not a laywer) 4. Look for stability, flat surfaces to paint from, shallow draft, manuverability etc, etc, etc At this point you are probably at a catamaran. and hey you don't need to look at stabilizers and bow thrusters from here on in. 5. Have discussion with yourself and admit that the wise way to cross an ocean, if at all, will be dockwise. (this feature has already been activated when the mill $+ boats were scrubbed off the list anyway) 6. Seek feedback from other catamaran owners and ask if they would make the same decision again. Pay particular attention to customers who have bought several models from one builder. 7. Become wary of fly by night builders from far off lands with limited past pedigree, or one off small builders who can fold along with your $ 8. Run from cheesy salesman (just a personal one that) 9 .Discount used cats on the theory that it is a limited second hand market and so the used boats are generally not a big enough saving over the new to justify 10. At this point I was at an endeavour 44. however the 48 was on the drawing board and we came to the conclusion that it is a lot of boat for the money. We are now researching kayaks, on board wine chillers and bicycles and curves probably wont come in to it. regards jonah. http://www.jonah-art.com