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julesmoto said.. 
I dunno if I agree about this comment from the YM article.
"There's also a move toward fine bows and wide sterns, making boats harder to steer downwind." I agree there is a move towards wide sterns, but fine bows I don't think is correct. I would posit that the trend on wide arse racing and cruising boats is for more volume in the bow, not less and they are easy to steer DW. I took out a French couple that had 10,000's of sea miles on their fine stemmed previous generation Class 40 hull. The biggest difference they commented on was how much drier the decks were and the lack of pitching. That extra volume meant it sat bow up even running in 30+knots and big seas. The latest designs post my 2016 era are even more voluminous forward.
The well credentialled NA houses I looked at all had one thing in common, you get quickly that stability is reflected in every aspect of their boat designs. Example: the deck, sheer, cabin top and companionway shape are resultant from inverted stability modelling. A CoG that is near, or near to, under the boat. Mainsail flaking that sits low on the boom. A boom that sits low on the mast. Window design and materials that are nearly as strong as the hull. Baffles in the bilge to stop free water from running forrard and aft preventing massive changes in pitch attitude. A roof and bulkhead design that does the same when inverted.
Proper watertight bulkheads. Weighty components are low and inboard, nothing high, in the beams or fore and aft.
Even weird things like its not just about getting a good AVS, but how a balanced sail plan that gives ample warning of impending broaches and takes seconds to recover from, even when under storm sails. The positioning of electrical connections at mid points and not in the bilges, under deck or cabintops apparently spun out of the inverted stability design modelling.
After now having done enough miles on both, I would unquestioningly prefer a scow bow Class 40 hull form for taking on filthy conditions. From a good quality NA that is. The low COG, lack of weight aloft, wide beams and ballast/weight ratio will give you some savage motion when near the beams, but IMHO that's far outweighed by the resultant stability and survivability. The 12.50 was more confidence inspiring the crappier the conditions got. It was still fun, it would go, steer and feel like a dirt bike or a go kart with all the grip in the world.
The inevitable penalty of course is its sticky light air performance and you're never gunna outpoint the canoes, so if light air sailing and gentleman like motion is a key buying decision, well the fine entry, canoe hull forms still rock.
The skinny canoe guys just have to learn to like the green decks when its gets sloppy

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Cool video, thanks Ramona!