Hey there Max … hope you guys are doing well. Merry Christmas to you both ! I'll second Dave's suggestion for the Tartan 40. If your friend wants to give me a call I'm happy to give him what plusses and minuses I can think of. And what to look for with Tartan 40's if he has these boats on his list. For instance, they made about 80 of these boats in the mid 80's, I much prefer the drop-down & fold out Saloon Table as opposed to the fixed version mounted to the sole. They made the boats with a deeper keel, Sheel keel and also (most) of the CB/shoal draft version … we have the later, and I prefer that too … all have their advantages & disadvantages. She's a very pretty boat and fairly quick on all points of sail. As you know we have used ASOLARE in pretty much the intended cruising plans of your friends, and she seems to work well with that. A quick look on Yachtworld this morning and I see there are NINE Tartan 40's for sale … WOW … I have not ever seen that many for sale (usually 2 or 3), all are the $100k range, most within a day's drive of New England. Our boat fairly highly improved and I'm happy to share what we've done, not much left on my list ! If I was looking today, in this size & price range, of an older vintage, with the requirements you've stated here, aft cockpit, reliable, safe & well built, relatively fast, sloop rig and good looking also on the wish list, I'd have to agree the Nordic 40, Tartan 40 and Sabre 38-42 would be on my short list too. Cheers, John