Yeah Bill,

I read John Rousmaniere's book "Fastnet Force 10" about this- a great read.
You quote "moderate beam" which sounds more like it than Frank's quote "plenty ** beam". I guess the boats in 1979 were so extreme that Carl's designs were comparatively beamy, and even a half WL length keel is certainly different from a short, deep fin.
I'm regularly racing on an Alberg 30, and we DO need the rail meat to stop from heeling excessively. I understand that eventually she stiffens and has tremendous safety by guaranteeing to right herself if capsized easier than beamier, lighter boats. However, to go on long trips with a constant heel of 20-25 degrees gets old fast, at least for me! It's great fun to dip the rail, granted, but it interferes with food and drink prep!
I myself was dead set on buying a larger Alberg 35 or 37 eventually for long distance cruising, but after reading a lot of posts on Sailnet I developed some doubts. There's even complaining about the motion comfort of those boats being rather poor on those forums. Jeff H is one of the most articulate of the critics there.