Hi Tom,

...oops, my bad, you did say "sailboats", didn't you? (grin)...

Well, you gotta love a boat on display at a boat show with signs plastered all over it claiming "This is NOT Bob Bitchen's Boat".... LMFAO!

Shannons have always been among my favorite boats out there, Walter Schultz has created a generous portion of some of the sweetest boats you'll ever see on the water anywhere, a boat I'd have no hesitation to jump right on and head across an ocean... Sadly, this latest incarnation is not one of them...

Schultz makes clear in his design brief/mission statement that this thing is the first boat he's ever designed that was a direct response to what he perceives "The Market" to desire... Unfortunately, I'm afraid he hit what what many people now desire in a cruising boat right on the nose, a big-ass centerline berth aft, and the capability to motor @ 12 knots...

I was touring the boats on Friday with Pete Linwick of Florida Rigging, and we both agreed that simply observing the way the jibsheets lead on this boat was one of the highlights of the weekend... They come back along the deck all the way to the transom, and then run up through a couduit INSIDE the stern supports of the back porch roof, then through a maze of deck organizers to a bank of about a dozen rope clutches at a big electric winch next to the elevated Helm Throne... UFB...

Other end of the scale, was the $5 million custom job from Hodgdon, a pure rocket ship... I bet the folks from Oyster want their money back from the show organizers, those Oysters looked positively Plain Jane and pedestrian across the dock from that thing... LOL!

best regards,

Jon