A few years ago, Hanse were the Skoda of sail boats. However, like Skoda, they have come on in leaps and bounds - by all accounts they are good quality, seaworthy boats these days. James Jermain has tested them for the Mags (don't know if that includes the 371 though), so a pm to him might give some better insight.
We haven't tested the 371...we've done the 311,331 and the 411
I think comparing boats to the car industry isn't the fairest of comparisons, and comparing Hanse to Skoda isn't fair either, their sailing performace isn't bad, where as the top speed of a skoda could be surpassed by a yoof on a skateboard! ;-) When was the last time you saw a boat with the perfomance of an Ferrari with the interior to match? With sailing you can either have speed or comfort, the two rarely (if at all) come in the same package
The main different you'll find with them, to other yachts around, is the high gloss mahogany interior you'll love or hate...but all the models I've been on have sailed well
It was, one of your own journos that compared the early Hanse boats with early Skodas. The modern Skoda range of cars is right up there these days, in terms of performance and quality (and one at least will do in excess of 140 mph), as (again from magazine pages) is the modern Hanse range. Please read my original post once again, and I think you may see the point that I was making is not what you believe you saw (that does not read well does it - but you will see what I mean!) By the way,I have nothing to do with either products, just giving an opinion, which is what was asked for, and I believe that Hanses are worth a look these days.