Hi Brendan, Good to hear from a prospective Fisher owner. Fishers are about comfortable cruising. They aren't what you want if your sailing requires a lot of tacking at close wind angles. If however you want to sail in comfort in the open sea and are happy with 45 degrees to the wind being close hauled, 50 degrees is so much better, then they are just the job. You say you have had a look at the Newsletter, so you will see I made the passage from Gigha to Larne a passage of 52 miles under sail in something like seven and a half hours in winds from force 3 to force 6 and a favourable tide. It doesn't get much better than that. The autopilot did the work for most of the time. the angle of heel was about 10 degrees and we watched the sea, read books , and enjoyed lunch. What more do you want? Oh and if it gets cold put the heater on! Regards, Terry