Not sure of what other posts you are referring to as "bad" towards Arnesons, but FWIW my previous somewhat negative comments were referred to much smaller boats. I never denied that surface drives do have their place if you like fast cruising with an 80' boat, so of if that strikes a chord with you, that's absolutely fine. Pretty sure, for cruising at 17 or 18 kts, I'd rather have a shafts boat, but each to their own of course.
Dear Mapism, I am not making reference to any post in particular. In fact I respect you and pretty much all the members writing in this thread as they are all experienced, well informed and seem to know what they are discussing. The fact is that ASDs usually come out as difficult to handle in docks, have high maintenance costs, and with questionable seakeeping especially when compared to shafts. It may well be so. However, as I have illustrated, in my experience the numbers don't seem too bad, neither does the overall handling.