Seatrial, seatrial, seatrial. Find a few boats you are interested in and try them. Plan the trials when the weather is snotty to really see how the boat handles. Run in up sea, down sea, quartering, beam to etc to get a real feel for the boat characteristics. You won't be sorry. Try to find people on this and other boards who have the boat you like and ask questions or even better yet try to get on them for a spin. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference.
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