>I think it would be more helpful to me and the OP if you could give us the benefit of your experiences with your preferred kind of boat rather than making dismissive statements about other types.

Actually I'm a fan of all boats provided they are used for purpose - I certainly didn't mean to dismiss boats, even Hunters have their place.

For example it is possible to day sail from England to Turkey with just a few overnights. A lightweight boat can do that easily with no problems. Go the straight over Biscay route and you risk facing severe weather. So I'd choose a different boat for that type of sailing.

Specifically, if I was doing daysails and weekends (even long total distances as mentioned) I'd choose a lightweight boat (although I don't particularly enjoy sailing them), they are cheaper.

For offshore long distances I'd choose either a long fin and full skeg, encapsulated keel and straight spreaders or a long keel with cutaway forefoot.

In terms of going the lightweight route for short passages and heavier built/more seaworhty for long passages that's exactly what we did over the years. We now own a long keeler which we are very happy with.

Certainly the lightweights are faster but I'll give an example of why I wouldn't want one in certain conditions. We were in a force seven for twenty four hours, peaking at eight for an hour. Seas were about fifteen feet, wind from the east, there was a northerly swell of four to five feet and a south easterly swell of two to three feet, going downwind. So the sea and wind conditions were unpleasant but not severe. However the boat wasn't rolling it was corkscrewing violently. In such conditions spade rudders and keel bolts can fail - and do fairly often.

As I said, horses for courses.