Sailing Truth Show: Can production boats make good cruising boats?
Can production boats actually make good cruising boats?
I recently stepped aboard a nearly new Hanse 588, and I’ll be honest—it was huge, beautiful, modern, and incredibly appealing. And it raised a question I hear all the time from sailors planning to cruise:
Are production boats actually good cruising boats—or just good marina boats?
In this Sailing Truth Show, we take an honest, experience-based look at production cruising sailboats without the usual forum nonsense. No bashing. No blind praise. Just a clear discussion of where production boats shine, where they fall short, and why smart sailors often disagree on this topic.
We’ll talk about:
What “cruising” really means—and why that word causes so much confusion
Why production boats are so attractive to modern sailors
Where comfort, space, and convenience genuinely matter
Where capability, structure, and motion start to matter more
When production boats make a lot of sense—and when they don’t
We’ll also look at real-world examples and listings to show how to evaluate boats beyond marketing language, specs, or dockside opinions.
This isn’t about telling you what boat to buy.
It’s about helping you think clearly about the kind of cruising you actually want to do—and what tradeoffs you’re making, whether you realize it or not.
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