First 31.7 vs .....

[david_e]

Went for a test sail in a 31.7 at the week-end. (My first ever!) Wind was between 16-20 knots on average, on shore, boat had full main and No 3 jib up (kevlar 3dl sails). Upwind I found she heeled well over and had quite a bit of weather helm. Rode the waves well in the modern style but was overall quite lively. Not too dissimilar on a reach but more controlled reach, very nice on a broad reach. Upwind there was a low frequency vibration noise similar to that of the engine running coming from the hull which was explained as the noise of the water running over the hull.

Overall I quite liked the boat with it's accomodation layout, spec etc but it had me wondering how family friendly it is? (unfortunately they couldn't be there)

Interested to hear about people who have experience of this boat against other 32 ft cruiser racers such as Sun Fast 32, Hanse 311, or boats of that ilk etc.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Took a good look at one a couple of years back, and thought it was great fun as a round-the-cans racer, but couldn't get Beneteau's vision of it being an great family cruiser. Far too lively, trim sensitive and with not a lot in the way of stowage, creature comforts, etc. Most of those I've seen on the water since have been staffed-up for racing

 

[david_e]

Re: vision....

Good points you make, the stowage I can live with because compared to current 21 ' it seems cavernous, however I suspect that even if I de-tuned it with a cruising rig it would still sail as you mention. Bit of surprise because I had to some extent been drawn in by the Beneteau vision which may be OK for the Med but different out of Pwllheli. This is not a critiscm of Beneteau as such because current Ben more than lives up to expectations, however I am now back to the drawing board. One of the many pieces of good advice I have had from this forum (Bill McF) is to test sail wherever possible and this is a good example of it.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Re: vision....

David , you still looking then ? Glad to see you're test sailing the boat. You mention detuning the rig. Haven't Beneteau done this already and called it the Oceanis 311 ? Same hull , different keel and rig ?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: vision....

The 311 I sailed was a dog. A Sunsail dog.

 

[Guest]

Re: Good Boats

Hi there,
I have raced and cruised both the Ben 31.7 and to a larger extent, the Sunfast 32. The standard 31.7's are very lightly rigged and I would not feel very happy about a lot of the fittings and running rigging. In comparison, the Sunfast is a better rigged boat. Bigger winches, halyards, jammers, cars, etc. Also, if you intend to race, then the 31.7 has a silly IRC handicap of 0.968 whereas the Sunfast rates around 0.950. I raced a 31.7 recently in a club race and it had clam cleats for locking the car position...Scary. Neither of these boat are real family cruising boats but I know a few that have removeable roller reefing and cut down cruising mainsails that make cruising very pleasant.

Regards,

DH