A lot has to do with where you will be sailing. If in the higher latitudes, pilot house sailboats are great. If you are planning more tropical climes a center cockpit or aft cockpit works well as you will be outside much of the time anyway and you will catch the cool breeze easier than when it is blocked by a big pilot house. If I were crossing big water I would definitely go with a sail boat. Earlier this year I crossed the Gulf of Mexico with friends in their 47' center cockpit sloop and it was a great ride. We did run the Perkins 4-236 quite a bit, motorsailing to keep moving and make a weather window. The sails kept the ride stable and we burned less than 70 gallons of diesel including generator run time for 800 miles. in 7 days. We kept the beer and ice cream cold, made ice for drinks and ate like kings including fresh Mahi Mahi caught along the way. I doubt if even a Nordhavn would do much better. Yes being able to shut down engines and just sail with the rush of water past the hull the only sound, priceless. Now coastal cruising, hard to beat a trawler.
Kevin