Regarding your concerns with rc sailboats made in China such as the Phantom, Monsoon, the Vela and Thunder Tiger boats be aware that many rc boat are made in China including those you listed. The Phantom, Monsoon, Legend are made by Shunbo and sold to Hobbyking.com and other online dealers. Hobbyking is generally the least expensive and ships about any where on the planet.
There are volumes written on these particular boats on many different rc forums. Generally speaking they can make a decent starter boat, but will require some upgrades to make them fully sea worthy. Their prices are very attractive but cheap prices translate to some things on their boats not being the finest quality! An example is the metal parts on their boats are not high quality, usually painted low grade steel, and their sails are a bit heavy but are colorful and are designed to catch the buyers eye. There is a web site devoted to these boats - there is lots of good information there - one part of their site offers a book they sell that provides information and instructions on what and how to fix their boats issues, but much of their site is free. Here is a link to that site.
http://www.shipshaperc.com
Thunder Tiger boats including the Victoria, Voyager, Team China and ETNZ and are typically sold as kits which require the electronics be purchased separately and installed. I had a Victoria and it was a good kit and a fairly simple build. It is the smallest of their boats. They are generally thought of as a better products than the Shunbo/hobbyking boats which are sold as “almost ready to sail”.
Kyosho (made in Japan) offers a number of boats worth considering - you already know about their 1 Meter Seawind, they also offer a smaller 612mm or 24" version they call the Fortune 612 sold as a RTR = ready to sail - comes assembled with a radio. They just re-released their time tested Fairwind now on version lll (3) sold as an RTR and is a very pretty boat! It is 36" long. Sadly right now Seawinds are very hard to find. Not sure why, but one rumor suggested they will be back next years. Here’s a link with info on the Fairwind http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1695425&page=2
Horizon Hobbies/Proboat sells a some rc sailboats of which might be worth a look - the Serenity 36" which is a “dead ringer” for the Kyosho Fairwind lll, and their newest, the Westward 18 both boats are sold as RTR - here’s a link to info on the Westward 18 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1599975&page=5
Here’s a link to info on the Serenity http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1428180&highlight=seren
Aquacrafts 1 Meter Vela is another nice boat sold as an RTR - there are reports of there being a few issues with this boat, but once addressed makes a decent boat. Kind of a Seawind looking deal - here’s a link with info on the Vela http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1327983
Another boat sold world wide is the Graupner Micro Magic - one of the most popular boats out there. Sold mostly as a kit but just recently they are being sold as an RTR - Really a terrific sailing boat. Small in size but sails like a much bigger boat. Here is a link to info on the MM http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1372301
There are more, including the Nirvana ll, Victor Models like the Soling, V32 etc. Check out some of the links I provided and get back to us with questions.
Boomer
