Cape Dory 31

[David Brownlee]

My wife and I are once again entertaining the notion of buying something large than our beloved 27. We're thinking about a 31, and we recall an exchange some years back in which some opined that the 31 was tender. One sailor reported that Robinhood had added 300 lbs of lead to his, but another, from San Francisco Bay, said the boat was stiff and seaworthy as is. Any new thinking out there?

David Brownlee
CD 27 Windrush
Havre de Grace, MD



dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[Tom]

My wife and I are once again entertaining the notion of buying something large than our beloved 27. We're thinking about a 31, and we recall an exchange some years back in which some opined that the 31 was tender. One sailor reported that Robinhood had added 300 lbs of lead to his, but another, from San Francisco Bay, said the boat was stiff and seaworthy as is. Any new thinking out there?

David Brownlee
CD 27 Windrush
Havre de Grace, MD

I have CD 31 # 15 with no added ballast. I have never found her to be tender or have weather helm in spite of rumors. I don't have to reef until the wind gets in the 25 knot range. Don't tuck in the second reef until it gets in the 35 to 40 range. Of course it depends upon the seas and all of that, but my rule of thumb is that when the toerail gets wet it's time for another reef. The Yankee comes down first, on staysail and double reefed main you can handle anything up to about 50 knots - seas permitting. I'm rigged for cruising so have 200 feet of 5/16 chain, have a lot of extra gear such as water maker, refrigeration, windlass, 4 anchors, etc. Although that's stored higher than the bilge it's more than 300 pounds of extra weight which may have some bearing on stiffness. I wonder if people who think they are tender are coming from a fin keel - spade rudder background. Those flat bottomed boats are designed to sail upright like barges with sails on them. Full keel boats with wine glass sections are meant to sail a little bit heeled over -- that doesn't mean they are tender and they don't pound coming off waves like the watermelon sectioned flat bottomed boats do. CD31 is a great boat and much larger than CD30, for example. That foot and 4 inches does make a difference. I think you'd be happy with one. Take your trial sail on a windy day if you can arrange it -- to put your mind at rest about tenderness.



TacCambria@thegrid.net

[John Nuttall]

Hi'
I own CD31 #28. I am the second owner of a very well maintained and UNMODIFIED boat. She is fantastic, and absolutely not at all tender.

My opinion on the subject pretty much mirrors Tom's. I've carried even more sail pinched up tight in higher winds. Powered up she'll punch thru three foot wind chop like it isn't even there. Personally, I think people make comments like that to cover up for the fact that they can't trim. My sailing background was largly on Sonars (dimensionaly close to J24). I was delighted with the performance and handling of my CD31 right from the start.
I think for a cruising couple the layout is great. I daysail with 2 kids, and often an inlaw or two...very comforable(not the inlaw part !!). The aft head is great for a number of reasons: close to companionway, great wet locker, shower, and eliminating the quarterberth (a junk hole) provides much more storage in the cockpit lockers.
Friends always ask me how seaworthy they are. I usually remark there is/was a 31 for sale in Tahiti.........it didn't get there on an airplane!!!!!
Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

John Nuttall
s/v Aimless
CD21 #28
Oriental, NC



nuttallj@msn.com