Hi All

I've been watching the Australian yacht market for about three years now looking for boats for cruising the east coast, and longer Pacific trips if my skill level gets that far.

My original criteria were: full keel, GRP, small (24 to 30 foot), good sea motion, and suitable for solo sailing (most in that range would be). I'm also keen on boats from mid-1980s on, as they tend to have better fit-outs, fewer problems with the GRP and so on.

Those criteria yield very few boats, because most 1980s-on boats were fin keels.

I'm fine with that now, and have expanded my search up to 32 feet, but longer fin keels and skeg-protected rudders are the minimum.
Recently I've seen a Quest 8, Yankee 30 mark III, a Laurent Giles Wanderer 30, Phantom 32 etc.

I'd buy a Duncanson 29 or compass 28 (not the compass 29), but most are pretty run-down these days. I'd also consider a Compass NZ H28, or a Walker H28 but only the sloop rig (yes, yes, I know the ketch sails better). And I'd consider TopHats if only they looked a little prettier!

There is a good Phantom 32 in Sydney right now,
yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/phantom-32/249799
but I'm wondering if the 'comfort ratio' for it is any good. If you want to know why that's important to solo sailor, have a look at the Comfortina 32 in this video - it's all over the place:
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So I wondered if anyone has any better suggestions for a sea-kindly, 1985-1995, decent-looking sloop rigged boat in the $20k-$45k bracket. And I'd be especially grateful for thoughts on that Phantom 32.

Thanks in advance!

As all boat owners would know there is a never ending list of things to do to keep your boat in A1 order and I think that this could be an interesting and informative ongoing topic.

Over the long weekend I was able to instal the two new AGM 110 AH batteries after a weekend long chase of terminal posts and bolts to fit and with my son's help removed the bent stanchion and took it to Viking Marine at Taren Point to be repaired or replicated.