Sailboats 31-35ft

This innovative family boat typifies Hunter’s design philosophy with its B&R rig, radar arch, circular cockpit and good value, but owners cite numerous niggling problems.

Alan Johnstone’s first design for J Boats is a roomy performance cruiser that suffers only from a lack of organized stowage.

An easy-to-sail sloop, this Freedom 32 with a fair turn of speed, beamy accommodations and surprising offshore capability.

A look at both the 1969 and 1985 designs by Bruce King finds more to like about the later model boat.

Ericson Yachts has gotten a lot of mileage out of 35-footers over the years. In 1965, the first Ericson 35 was a typical CCA cruising boat; in 1969, the Ericson 35-2 was introduced--an up-to-date racer/cruiser, with swept-back moderate fin keel, pronounced bustle, and semi-balanced shallow spade rudder. In 1982 it was replaced by the 35-3, a larger, more modern boat.

It doesn't take a lot of brains to see that Catalina is doing something right that a lot of other sailboat makers aren't. They're the largest sailboat builder in the country, and a terrible year for them would be Valhalla for almost every other manufacturer. With more than 1,000 built in seven years, the Catalina 34 has to be in the running as the most successful production boat of the 1980s.

More than 500 Tartan 34s were built between 1968 and 1978. By 1978 the CCA rule was long gone, PHRF racing was beginning to surge, and the MHS (now IMS) was in its infancy. The Tartan 34 had passed from a racer/cruiser to a cruiser, not because the boat had changed, but because sailboat racing had changed. The Tartan 34 was succeeded by the larger, more modern Tartan 37, a boat of exactly the same concept.

Conyplex, builder of the Contest 35S, is an established company that was a pioneer in fiberglass boat construction. In 1958, it began work on fiberglass Flying Dutchmans, and two years later introduced the Contest 25, its first cruiser. More than 5,000 boats have been built since, with about 600 of these being exported to the U.S. through Van Breems Holland Yachts of Westport, Connecticut.

The F-31 presents an aesthetically pleasing design with its fine entry; low, 27-inch freeboard; and fine lines. A flat aft section prevents the stern from burying when the bow rises in heavier breezes. Even when sailed on a broad reach with the windward ama out of the water, Farrier believes that his multis are more comfortable than a monohull sailed at a comparable angle of heel. Owners agree that being able to launch from a beach, or sail into a shallow anchorage, adds to the boat's overall utility and their enjoyment of the sport.

The Cal 31 is the thirteenth Bill Lapworth-designed Cal boat between 27' and 34' built by the Costa Mesa, California firm. Cal, a pioneer in fiberglass sailboat construction, later became a division of Bangor Punta Marine, whose boatbuilding group also included O'Day and Ranger. Cal boats went out of production in 1989. Cal and Bill Lapworth are best known for the breakthrough Cal 40, which many years ago began the trend toward moderately light displacement, fin-keel spade-rudder ocean racers.