Roger wrote: Can anyone identify the advantages of an inboard for a boat say in the 24 to 30' range? I'd like to know.
Yes: Keeping the prop in the water in rough weather.
As you describe, there are tradeoffs such as consumption of interior space, ease of maintenance, and overall weight. But if you ever come to spend time on a 25-28 foot boat, with outboard prop screaming and spinning in air as much as in the water as the boat is pitching up and down while trying to come home against a tall sea, you will envy the guy passing you with his little diesel inboard putt-putting away.
With respect to the boats CG (thus the point it is pitching around) the more central location of the prop of an inboard (rather than at the far end of a long lever arm) limits vertical motion and keeps the prop down in the water where it can do its work. The prop also tends to be deeper by nature and shielded by the hull.