Beneteau 31 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The hand-laid solid-fiberglass hull draws its stiffness from an internal grid that is bonded and glassed into place while still in the mold, a method that lets the structure carry load without relying on a cored laminate below the waterline. Above, an injected cored fiberglass sandwich deck rests on the hull's turned-in flange and is glued and screwed in place, with bulkheads bonded a full 360 degrees to hull and deck using a polyurethane adhesive. At 31 feet 8 inches overall with an 11-foot-1-inch beam and a displacement of 8,933 pounds, the 31 carries 2,207 pounds of cast-iron ballast on the standard 6-foot-1-inch keel, yielding a ballast-to-displacement ratio of.25 and a displacement-length ratio of 172. A shoal-draft version trades one foot eight inches of draft for 205 additional pounds of ballast. The spade rudder and Goiot steering give the boat a lively and responsive feel under sail, and a low coachroof with genoa tracks along the cabin leaves the decks clear for movement fore and aft.

Rig and Handling

The boat we sailed carried a full-batten main that stows in a boom-mounted pouch, paired with a 105-percent genoa on a Profurl furler — both described by Cruising World's tester as easy to handle. Primary winches are a pair of Lewmar 30s, and the mainsheet leads to a third winch on the cabin top, though reaching it requires leaving the wheel. With a 100-percent sail area of 463 square feet and a mast height of 46 feet 7 inches, the fractional sloop presents a moderate sail plan suited to short-handed cruising. Coamings end at the binnacle, and teak handholds on the cabin top are stylish but open only on one side, a detail the reviewer noted as characteristic of this new breed of Beneteaus.

Accommodations

Below, the layout centers on a drop-leaf table flanked by purposeful and comfortable seats, with a spacious athwartships aft-cabin berth and a V-berth forward where 6-foot headroom and a hanging locker for clothes make the bow usable for real sleep. The saloon and V-berth both have opening hatches, and five opening ports keep ventilation good. At the foot of the companionway a head and shower sit to starboard; forward of that, the nav station faces aft and uses the end of the settee for a bench. To port, the L-shaped galley is equipped with a two-burner propane stove and oven, and an icebox with 12-volt refrigeration sits outboard of the double sinks. Solid fiddles on the desk and galley counters double as good handholds, and the electrical panel above the nav desk opens to reveal neatly organized wiring with automotive-style fuses that can be reset.

Cockpit and Deck Gear

The cockpit itself is generous: seats are long enough for a nap and close enough to provide bracing when heeled, with a standard 36-inch wheel and ample room going forward past it. A fold-up transom seat gives the helmsman a place to sit and eases access to the swim platform, a dinghy, or the dock. A fold-up hatch in the port quarter provides space for a life raft, a conventional locker is to starboard, and a good-size anchor locker on the bow has a mounting space designed for an optional windlass. The companionway weatherboard and hatch are both clear Lexan, with the hatch pushing forward into its seahood before the weatherboard lifts out and slides into place.

The Verdict

The Beneteau 31 reads as a thoughtfully packaged entry to modern cruising, pairing a Finot hull with a Nauta interior that makes use of a modest footprint. The construction approach — solid glass below, cored deck, fully bonded bulkheads — is straightforward, and the cockpit and companionway details show attention to liveaboard comfort. The single notable ergonomic compromise is the cabin-top mainsheet that pulls the helmsman off the wheel, and the one-sided cabin-top handholds are more style than security.

Pros