novice crusiers seeking info/opinions on Finnsailer 38

[almco]

My wife and I are new sailors (one and a half years) and looking to sail from Canada to the Bahamas for a year. My wife would like a bigger, more stable boat than the one we have, and saw a 1979 Finnsailer 38 for sale in our local marina. We can find little information on these boats, so would appreciate any knowledge that you would like to share.
What we can find seems to indicate that these boats are solid, well built motor sailors which are capable blue water boats. Our present boat gives us quite a ride on a rough day on Lake Ontario, so she is hoping that a bigger, heavier boat won’t be as lively when we reach open water.
We’ve been told that motor sailors tend to be neither fish nor fowl, not really good as a sailing or motoring boat, but this comes from people who have never tried them.
The one we’ve looking at is a cutter/ketch rig. Can anyone tell us whether this type of boat sails well and would it be a good choice for a trip to the Caribbean?
Thank you,
al

 

[smee]

I don't have any personal experience of this boat, but I have one next to me in the marina. The owners of that one plan to long term liveaboard/cruise on it, and from its shape it looks like it would have decent sailing capacity as well as motoring ability - it also looks a similar shape/design to my Master 30 (though bigger) which sails very well despite being called a motorsailer.
I suspect many of the people who comment on motorsailers (lack of) performance have little or no knowledge of the wide variety of boats available that come into that category, as while indeed it is fairly evident some types are plodders, there are just as many boats who have sparkling performance despite the motorsailer tag! Plus all the advantages of not sailing along on your beam ends with the spray in your face!

I believe Motorboat and Yachting did a report on it in July 1976, so if you want that you should contact the Copy Service on 01202 440832, its not listed on the report search but I know the report exists.