Cape 31
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 | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Mark Mills |
| Location | South Africa |
| Year | 2017 |
| No. built | 80 (January 2025) |
| Builder | Cape Performance Sailing |
| Role | One design racer |
| Name | Cape 31 |
| Boat | |
| Displacement | 3,902.18 lb (1,770 kg) |
| Draft | 8.04 ft (2.45 m) |
| Hull | |
| Type | monohull |
| Construction | glassfibre |
| LOA | 31.36 ft (9.56 m) |
| LWL | 28.97 ft (8.83 m) |
| Beam | 10.17 ft (3.10 m) |
| Engine type | Yanmar 2YM 15 hp (11 kW) diesel engine with saildrive |
| Hull appendages | |
| Keel/board type | Bulb keel |
| Ballast | 1,565.28 lb (710 kg) |
| Rudder | Spade-type rudder |
| Rig | |
| Rig type | Bermuda rig |
| I foretriangle height | 40.88 ft (12.46 m) |
| J foretriangle base | 11.81 ft (3.60 m) |
| P mainsail luff | 41.01 ft (12.50 m) |
| E mainsail foot | 14.27 ft (4.35 m) |
| Sails | |
| Sailplan | Fractional rigged sloop |
| Mainsail area | 292.61 sq ft (27.184 m2) |
| Jib/genoa area | 241.40 sq ft (22.427 m2) |
| Total sail area | 534.01 sq ft (49.611 m2) |
| Racing | |
| Rating | 1.135 (IRC) |
The Cape 31 is a South African planing sailboat that was designed by Mark Mills as a one design racer and first built in 2017.[1][2][3]
The design has been built by Cape Performance Sailing in South Africa, since 2017. A total of 80 boats had been completed by January 2025. As of 2025[update] it remains in production.[1][4]
Design
The boat was conceived by Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw as a "highly technical" boat to boost the Cape Town, South Africa yachting community. The boat was intended for production there and was designed to entice young sailors to get into keelboat sailing.[4][5]
The Cape 31 is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of glassfibre and carbon fibre. The hull is made from vacuum-bagged E-glass with a core of cellular foam. The design has a fractional sloop rig with a square-topped mainsail, a bowsprit, two sets of swept spreaders, a carbon fibre two-piece mast and aluminum boom, with steel rod standing rigging. The hull has a plumb stem and transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a carbon tiller and a fixed carbon fibre fin keel with a weighted lead bulb. It displaces 3,902.18 lb (1,770 kg) and carries 1,565.28 lb (710 kg) of ballast.[1][3][6]
The engineering was completed by Steve Koopman of composite engineering company SDK, with sails designed and made by North Sails, South Africa.[7][8]
The boat has a draft of 8.04 ft (2.45 m) with the standard keel and is fitted with a Japanese Yanmar 2YM diesel engine of 15 hp (11 kW) with a saildrive for docking and manoeuvring.[1]
For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a large gennaker, flown from the bowsprit. The design has a hull speed of 7.21 kn (13.35 km/h), although it will plane at speeds in excess of 25 kn (46 km/h).[1][9]
One of the design constraints was that it was made to fit inside a standard high-cube container for global transport.[7]
The boat's class rules specify that it is helmed by the owner, with a minimum crew of five sailors, with a combined weight of 1,124 lb (510 kg) minimum to 1,311 lb (595 kg) maximum. No more than three of the crew may be professional sailors. Boats are often sailed with a crew of seven or eight.[4][6]
