A major reason for wanting a lift keel/cruising version of the 5.80 is to reduce the cost of keeping the boat. I find the 5.80 a very enticing design, a wholesome, solid and very capable boat. The kit design and video is an amazing piece of work. However, with a fixed keel, the difficulties involved in keeping the boat look too hard, at least for me.
With 1.4m draft it will have to be kept on a mooring or in a berth. However, these are expensive and may not be available. Alternatively one could put the boat on a trailer/jinker and keep the boat on hardstanding but this would need access to a deep ramp or a crane with slings. Better still, if the design incorporated a single lifting point then it could be hoisted in and out of the water, like an Etchell, rather than having to use slings around the hull.
However, all these options require access to facilities that are typically only available at the more expensive yacht clubs or marinas. Maybe I am wrong but I fear the cost of keeping a 5.80 may not be that much different from keeping a 30' yacht. I feel this is at odds with the philosophy of a boat that you can build cheaply at home
If a cruising/lift keel version of the 5.80 was available it could be kept on a suitably designed trailer with the bulb nestling under the hull. Storage on hardstanding or at home is now easy. The boat can be readily transported to events in different locations.
Of course the keel trunk will reduce space in the cabin. However, if one is no longer concerned with meeting the racing specifications the keel could be redesigned with a foil section rather than a plate. This would allow the chord of the keel to be reduced to perhaps 500mm, maybe even less, which would help alleviate this issue.
I acknowledge that Don McIntyre may not be keen on fragmenting the 5.80 class but I do feel that a cruising version with a lift keel (and an anchor well!) would be well received.