[THE_DorothyHEllis]

Its been a few years since this post, but we have a 44/47 Sovran and think she is one of the best hulls Tiara ever made. We have owned previously a 2004 Tiara 31 Open with diesels, and have been out cruising with may other Tiaras and ridden in many open, Cornet, Sovran, and Coupe models. As a side note, there are eight different Sovran models that Tiara made. DM me if you want more details as I have a list and difference between them. That said some of the Sovrans have IPS drivelines and some are shaft driven.
My wife and I feel the Shaft driven Tiara's have a better ride and MUCH better sea keeping and ruff water performance and stability then the IPS's. The IPS's are more fuel efficient, usually faster, along with the IPS docking all be it at the expense of much higher maintenance costs in the long run. All that said, the Open series will have a dryer ride due to the more flared front end, with slightly smaller living space in the forward berth. The Open models do provide more outside "open" space which is a nice feature if you do any fishing and/or allow for a more flexible seating and social area.
Personally, we are at the point where our 44/47 Sovran will take all the weather we would ever want to travel in. We have been out in solid 10-12 footers with the occasional 14-16 through in for fun. We were able to stay on plane and she handled it without issue. I will say the crew was not as happy, but the boat will always take much more then the crew will take.
Personally, we would never buy a boat we had not sea trialed on a bad weather day. All boats are great in calm seas. Most Tiara owners are very friendly and willing to take people out, even on the ruff days. If your looking to upgrade, walk the docks and see if you can bum a ride and fell the difference. Not every design and style of boat is for everyone. You may find you love some little feature of one or the other that you can not live without. Boating is about passion not necessity, Take your time and find a model that you love. you will know it when you get onboard and take her out.
The 44/47 Sovran is a WET ride, but not ruff. As she is a full hardtop, we do not care if she throws up a lot of water. We have found that most people, (just my opinion) don't cruise in ruff water with enough trim tap, or said another way, push the bow down and let the bow cut the waves. In a following sea, the 44/47 hull has very little push as the swim platform is almost 4 feet thick and rounded, leaving only about a foot of flat stern at the back for the following sea to push on. This is of course, only an issue if you are not on plane.
All this said, our next boat will have some type of stabilization that works both while at anchor or tied to a dock and while out cruising. We personally would give up a lot to get stabilization, but we live aboard for 4 1/2 month each year.