My wife and I were lucky enough to get invited on to Bright Star in Anacortes and OMG!! If you are an "old salt" or just wish you were...you ABSOLUTELY can't help but fall in love with one of these woodies. IMO. She seems hell for stout. The wood hull makes her heavy and ride really nice and quiet. She's warm and with wood everywhere, she just feels like a boat should feel. To stand at the helm in the pilothouse is truly something to behold. Your imagination kicks into overdrive and you just kind of drift off into your own world. My wife felt this as well and fell in love with the boat.
Being a woody, almost impossible to get financing, we couldn't get serious about one we found in California a year or so ago. The GA53 totally sold me on Arthur Defever's designs and we began looking at the 49RPH. A very similar vessel to the 53 but available in fiberglass hull. Both seem harder to come by.