To gain access to the board at the link below. It is far and away the best resource I know for choosing and equipping a blue water boat. There are articles on pretty much every aspect of info you are looking for, including numerous articles on 'boat design and selection', as well as articles and references by folks who have been out in survival situations, deployed drogues, you name it. The hosts of the board are full-time cruisers who have spent most of their time in the High Latitudes and are extremely well informed. I applaud your dream, but would encourage you to at a bare minimum do a few other long passages before heading for Cape Horn. Perhaps you can get a seasoned sailor or two to go with you, and help you learn. I sailed around the Horn 29 years ago last week, on a passage from New Zealand to the Falklands in a Westsail 32. Don't take it lightly. Good luck.

http://www.morganscloud.com/