Three Big-Three 30s

The Beneteau 311, Catalina 310, and Hunter 326 represent what could be called 'entry-level' cruising boats from the major makers, and here's how they could be compared...

A Groupe Finot design from the world's biggest boatbuilder, the Beneteau 311 stretches for in- terior volume without having a 'bloated' look.

In an ideal world, all sailors would start in prams at the age of six, then move to small, forgiving sloops, and then one-design racing boats, and then bigger cruising boats. But that's rarely the way it works. In recent years there have been a considerable number of people able to proceed directly to "Go" and skip the early parts. This was a concept that stumped us while we looked for a way to compare "entry-level" cruising boats from the big boatbuilders. Obviously, people can enter cruising at any level, whether in a 50-footer, a trailer-sailer, or a battered old Rhodes 19 with a blue tarp and a cooler. …