Light, beamy, and carrying an unusually large rig for her size, the 320 sits firmly in the modern performance-cruiser camp. She offers a responsive alternative to a heavy-displacement passage maker, with a usable interior and particularly strong light-air performance on paper.
Design and Construction
The Elan 320 measures 31.33 feet overall, with a 28.58-foot waterline and a 10.56-foot beam. She displaces roughly 8,135 pounds and carries 1,984 pounds of lead ballast.
Humphreys’ influence shows in the numbers before it shows in the lines. Her displacement-to-length ratio is 156, placing her among the “light racers” and making her lighter than 86 percent of comparable designs. A length-to-beam ratio of 2.97 makes her roomier than 69 percent of similar sailboats.
The hull is solid fiberglass. Elan’s construction history—including its partnership with Humphreys through the mid-1990s and its adoption of vacuum infusion—places the 320 firmly in the serial-production composite-yacht category rather than the boutique-build market.
Her ballast ratio is 24 percent, higher than only 1 percent of similar designs. That figure underlines how lightly she is loaded with lead relative to her peers, although her absolute stiffness benefits from a lead-ballast bulb fin keel. Draft ranges from 7.05 to 7.35 feet, depending on load.
Rig and Performance
The 320 carries a fractional rig with a stated 504 square feet of sail area between the mainsail and jib. With a 135 percent genoa, her sail-area-to-displacement ratio rises from 19.9 to 23.2.
That powerful sail plan drives her paper performance. She is faster than 88 percent of similar designs in light wind, while her rig is larger than those of 100 percent of comparable sailboats. In other words, she is significantly overrigged.
The running-rigging specifications reinforce that picture: the mainsail halyard is 31.4 meters long and 10 mm in diameter, while the mainsheet is 23.9 meters long and 12 mm in diameter. These details confirm a tall, powerful rig rather than a docile coastal setup.
Theoretical hull speed is 7.2 knots. An immersion rate of about 187 kg per centimeter (1,052 pounds per inch) describes how she settles under additional load. Her approximately 35-square-meter wetted surface helps keep the hull easily driven, while the spade rudder paired with the bulb fin keel provides the predictable tracking of a modern performance hull.
One figure stands out as a caveat: her capsize screening value of 2.10 would exclude her from ocean-race acceptance.
Accommodations and Comfort
Below deck, the 320’s beam translates into useful volume rather than excess. Fresh water capacity is 140 liters (37 US gallons), a practical cruising allowance for a boat of this length.
Her Motion Comfort Ratio is 18.4, making her more comfortable than 21 percent of similar designs. That’s an honest mid-pack result rather than a plush one, and it fits a light-racer hull form that prioritizes responsiveness over sofa-grade stillness.
Verdict
The Elan 320 is a Humphreys-designed light racer that trades absolute offshore credentials for lively light-air speed and a beamy, usable interior. On the brokerage market, she suits sailors looking for a responsive, heavily canvassed 31-foot performance cruiser rather than a heavy-displacement passage maker.
Pros
- Light-racer displacement and a beamy hull that is roomier than 69 percent of similar designs
- Significantly overrigged fractional sloop, faster than 88 percent of comparable boats in light wind
- Solid-fiberglass hull with a lead-ballast bulb fin keel and spade rudder
Cons
- Capsize screening value of 2.10 excludes her from ocean-race acceptance
- Motion Comfort Ratio is better than that of only 21 percent of similar sailboats
- Deep 7.05–7.35-foot draft limits her to major marinas
